Prime Minister
We have had a wonderful time discussing with the scientists in this marvellous Institute all their latest research and the research that they are hoping to do. They monitor very much the thickness of the ice and the movement of glaciers both at the South Pole and at the North Pole. We have many more methods than we used to have in the past because we can do a certain amount with satellites and we can do certain other sonar measurements which were not available years ago and they also have people here who study the ecology of what happens which is all very important and, of course, the circulation and movement of currents in the oceans. And, of course, we want very much more data because there have been enormous climatic changes in the past. There have been ice ages. There was a time when the Thames froze over and we did not quite know as much then as we do know, so we really want more and more data to monitor precisely what is happening. [end p1]
The other great thing about it is that there is a tremendous amount of cooperation from one nation to another and therefore these people know what is happening in other countries and just upstairs, I was very interested to see an article written by one of our scientists here reproduced in the last fortnight in one of the Soviet scientific magazines.
Question
How concerned are you that the greenhouse effect is happening faster than had been anticipated?
Prime Minister
This is precisely what we are saying: we need to monitor precisely what is happening so that we do not come to wrong conclusions. We know there have been very considerable climatic changes in the past—we do not know the why and wherefore. So first, we are trying to get as many measurements as possible so that we can get the practical facts and then see if there are any factors we have not taken into account.
Question
Will the Government be taking any action to get industry to cut the CO2 level? [end p2]
Prime Minister
You are assuming to get industry to cut … we breathe out CO2. It is a matter, I think, for all of us. It is a matter for all of us to be economical in the use of our fuel, whether it is at home, whether it is in our cars. It is a matter for us not to use the aerosols which use CFCs—we got on very well without aerosols many years ago—and it is a matter for us to try to persuade people who have large tropical forests to keep them going and generally not to be wasteful.
Question
Has it strengthened your resolve to actually do anything to try and protect the environment?
Prime Minister
Look! We are doing a very great deal in this country to protect the environment. This morning, as you know, I was with the other natural side—the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds—we are doing more for their protection than any other country; we have more in agricultural areas of special scientific interest than any other country in Europe; and we have more environmentally-sensitive areas than any other country in Europe. Our rivers are 95 percent good or fair—that does not help the 5 percent we still have to redeem and the ones which we need to get up to better quality but they are the best in Europe. So we are doing a very great deal and this Institute is an example of the work we are doing, which can have a very far-reaching effect. [end p3]
Also, of course, there is the other work—the British Antarctic Survey—as you know, which of course was the Institute that discovered the hole in the ozone layer. So we are, I think, more active here than many other countries. We shall continue to be but, of course, the environment of the world will be affected enormously by what happens in the very highly-populated countries, China and India, but when we had the Ozone Conference which I took the Chair at in London, they too came. We also cooperate on the polar work with the Soviet Union because they obviously have a lot of experience of polar work because they have more of that territory than we have.
So it has been an absolutely fascinating day and we will keep closely in touch, but the message that I get is that we must continue to monitor the data very very carefully indeed and also, to look back at our records of past time, over past history, where it has been recorded of course by various people in their diaries or by people who went out to make new discoveries the world over and see if, from the models we have now, we could predict what happened.
Question
Is the Government doing any more, though? [end p4]
Prime Minister
The Government is doing a very very great deal but what the Government does will not succeed unless people like you and many other people are economical in their use of fuel, are very careful in the things which they use, do not use aerosols if they do not need to and above all, as far as the other kind of environment is concerned, see that the streets are clean and tidy, which is another matter of the environment.