Malt whiskey quality improves with the years. By law, a single malt whiskey must have aged at least three years – but may be aged 10, 12, 16 or more years. The finest whiskeys have aged most. Climate Emergencies are the same – but the other way around. The fewer the years, the better they are. Extinction Rebellion calls for a strong, 6-year climate emergency (2025), whilst most campaigners plump for a slightly less fully flavoured 11 year (2030) emergency. The United Nations' panel on climate change recommends everyone (i.e. the whole world) become “net zero” by 2040 – so that’s 21 years. Emergencies require urgency and action. Malt whiskeys require patience and inaction - not the other way around. If you declare there’s an emergency, but don’t then act, then you didn’t really believe it was an emergency - you've sealed it up in a dated cask, to be worried about decades hence. The UK government have proposed a climate emergency date of 2050. Since then, they have decided to increase VAT on solar panels. To lead the world to net zero by 2040 requires a target that is before 2040, not a decade after.
Lastly for the whiskey lovers: I suggest you have a cask laid down now. In 12 years time, we will know whether you can toast the success of a wise species, committed to saving the planet, or sip a consoling dram as the sea levels rise.
