What will we tell the next generation?

Last month, the chief scientific adviser to the British Government, Professor John Beddington, predicted a global catastrophe by 2030 on the simple premise that while global demand for food, water and energy is escalating, the supply of these three essentials is diminishing.

He predicted civil unrest and international conflict.

If this scenario was to come true, I can imagine a voice in the future asking us — particularly those of us who had the privilege and responsibility of a public voice — the following questions.
Did you know of the catastrophe predicted by Professor Beddington? Well, yes, I did.

Did the fact that he was the chief scientific adviser to the British Government not give you some cause for alarm? Well, yes, it did.

It would be unlikely for the chief scientific adviser to the British Government to be a crackpot, one whose opinions could be dismissed as frivolous? You would have thought so.

And Professor Beddington wasn’t alone in the general tenor of his views, was he? No. He was not.

Brisbane Times