Press Release - 17th May 2024

Response to Enquiry from DeSmog [link]:

It is a matter of public record that I am the owner of AML Global an international aviation fuel broker.  It is also a matter of public record that I have made political donations in recent years to both the Conservative Party and The Brexit Party (now Reform UK).

In response to an enquiry dated 14th May 2024 from a journalist, Sam Bright, at DeSmog (https://www.desmog.com/about/), an investigative journalism team and website that focuses on providing accurate information about climate change matters, I thought it would be helpful and informative if I were to make public my personal views on Climate Change, Net Zero policies and my political donations.

Firstly, I am not a climate science denier and secondly, I do not seek to influence any government through donations or lobbying regarding their policies on climate change or in favour of corporate interests.  

Quite the contrary:  

Climate change is a continual process that has been going on since before human life on earth. During the human era it has created much survival and evolutionary pressure and has driven much migration for example: before during and after the recent ice ages.  In the current era there is overwhelming scientific evidence that human activity and in particular the use of hydrocarbons as an energy source is accelerating climate warming due to the greenhouse effect.  Although there may be some offsetting counter effects such as greater cloud cover, the effect of hydrocarbon use by humans is likely to overwhelm any counter effects such that the climate in which most humans live will be substantially changed and will be on average warmer.  This effect is already measurable. 

The impact of this will drive accelerated migration of many flora and fauna species in search of new places to live and the extinction of many species which fail to migrate or adapt. Humans will not be exempt from this. Although we do have extraordinary capabilities and resources to counter it or adapt if we choose to use them.   

Two crucial points for us to understand is that the impact of climate change is not linear over time but in fact tends to happen in catastrophic bursts. And by the time a catastrophic change is in process it may be too late or simply impossible to reverse.  An example of this is the potential loss of the ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica which would result in the rise of general sea levels by perhaps many metres and perhaps over a relatively short period of years. Making it challenging for many humans and their communities to adapt or mitigate in such a short time.  Although scientific modelling of climate change is subject to much uncertainty there is a risk that catastrophic events such as these may happen much sooner that we are currently predicting and before we have prepared to avoid or mitigate them.

Catastrophic climate change impact represents a serious threat to the survival of a significant percentage of the human population.  However we do not know how soon this risk might manifest itself. Current consensus seems to be that ice cap loss leading to very substantial sea level rise is at least one hundred years away.  

However we also face quite a number of other threats to human life including: war, nuclear or full spectrum hybrid war, pandemics including potentially weaponised genetically engineered pathogens, the rise of hostile self replicating machine intelligence to name just a few that are currently in vogue and any of which could quite evidently pose an existential threat to humanity within much less than a hundred years from now. 

So what to do:

Avoiding or mitigating the impact of climate change or any of the other potentially catastrophic threats to humanity requires at least these three things:

1: Healthy economies and well aligned incentives.

2: Successful scientific, engineering and commercial effort at huge scale.

3: Broad political and social consensus on how to prioritise and what to do.


I do not have time or consider myself well enough informed to expand the above into meaningful detail.  But my key belief is that humanity faces many threats and we need to collectively keep working on finding solutions to many all at the same time.  We must not become obsessively focused on one unless it is an absolutely imminent and existential threat. 

What have I done and what am I doing now?

I am passionate about improving the quality of the environment by reducing pollution especially in inner cities. 

Since my early adulthood in London I have experienced the adverse effects of pollution mainly from road traffic and was compelled to leave in my twenties to avoid the adverse effects on my health.  For over ten years the only cars I have owned and driven have been pure electric.  I know the transition to EVs is not at all easy or affordable for most people.  But it really does make inner cities healthier places to live. 

I am fortunate enough to be the owner of a successful business (AML Global) that arranges jet fuel supply to aircraft operators.  I support aviation industry initiatives to improve fuel efficiency and the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). I also am the owner/major shareholder in other businesses and startups that are investing significantly more towards achieving carbon sustainability than the profit from the jet fuel business.  In particular I am financing a business that is creating ambitious and innovative new designs for next generation aircraft that will have a radically lower carbon footprint.  This and other efforts that I support are not low cost or quick fixes but I am only able to support and continue investing towards the eventual goal of Net Zero from the profits generated by my current successful businesses such as AML Global. 

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published on 17th May 2024 

comments welcome to: info@amlglobal.net

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