"No generation has a freehold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy -- with full repairing lease”. So said Margaret Thatcher two decades ago. She was right then and what she said is right now as we go towards the Copenhagen Climate Change conference. While people may disagree about the reasons for climate change they cannot disagree that the climate is changing. They also cannot disagree that fossil fuels are a finite resource and we had better start using some alternatives fast or we will pay a heavy price in the future. Margaret Thatcher was describing the concept of stewardship, one that has gone much out of fashion in recent times:  this is the idea that we are only the custodians of our world and should pass it on in better shape to future generations. That must be something we can all sign up to.

The other non-controversial side to the whole climate change debate must be that of the need to encourage thrift. If we lag our lofts, turn down our thermostats and switch off electrical appliances we save money as well as saving natural resources. Isn’t that what it is all about? Surely we can all agree on that. There are those who look you in the eye and tell you that climate change is all nonsense. They tell you it is all about sun spots or the elliptical shape of our universe or some other factor we can’t possibly verify or refute. If they are scientists or climatologists they may deserve to be listened to. Most of them, like most of us, are neither. We therefore have to make a judgement. Do we go with the prevailing view of the vast majority of scientific and expert thought and say yes, man is part of the problem and therefore part of the solution? Or, do we go with the minority and say it's nothing to do with man and we should stop seeking expensive solutions to climate change? It seems to me that the latter is a very big gamble to make on behalf of ourselves but more importantly the future “life tenants” of this planet.