The COP26 Climate Change Conference has begun in Glasgow, with the UK and Italy co-presiding. There is not much hype about it in the media and nobody really expects it to achive an awful lot. But why is this?
We all know that climate change is the biggest threat facing our world and the consequences of inaction could be catastrophic for life on this planet. So why aren't our politicians treating this as their number one priority?
The answer to this is multi-layered. Politicians are elected and they know that their voters have more immediate concerns - healthcare, crime, the economy etc. - so big picture thinking doesn't get much attention when it comes to policy making - although the environment is climbing higher in the list.
Lobbying systems also have a large part to play. Fossil fuel companies spend millions lobbying to block or change climate change policies and, while many of them are using ad campaigns to make us think they are investing in green technologies, they are still investing hugely in expanding oil and gas extraction.
So it comes as no surprise that, in his latest budget statement Rishi Sunak, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, made no announcements of consequence on environmental policy, instead actually reducing taxes on internal flights and fuel, very much a retrograde step. As for Boris Johnson's bluster about this being a "turning point for humanity" - does anyone really believe anything that he says anymore?
Against this background of political inaction, and indeed negative actions, we begin to see why activists like Greta Thunberg, who recently castigated politicians for this, are extremely angry.
Their future is at stake and nothing appears to be being done about it.
Ok, that's all very negative so far. What can be done to change this very worrying state of affairs?
Well, the truth is that green technology presents great economic opportunities, if the public can be made to see this and can push it into the politicians' agenda. It is also becoming more apparent that the negative effects of climate change are already upon us and becoming more severe year on year, pushing the need for action firmly into most people's minds.
However, to obtain fast action we still need more advocates. As an engineer with knowledge of power generation, I have been letting people know my thoughts on the way forward for many years now, and will continue to do so until the radical changes required begin to happen.
When enough of us make a big enough noise, something will have to change.