Brief summary of May

The major event of May was, of course, the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. 

Source: Belfast Telegraph

It was a spectacular event, as it was 70 years ago on June 2nd 1953 for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, which I also watched on TV, a flickering black and white image on a 12 inch screen.

Despite the pomp and splendour of last month’s ancient ceremony, it was not easy to watch this display of wealth and privilege without thinking of the many people in this country and elsewhere who are struggling to find enough money to eat and to heat their homes.

In 1953 our TVs were powered from electricity mainly from coal, which generated 95% of the UK’s energy. Today more than 40% comes from renewable energy, and only about 2% from coal. In the first quarter of this year wind turbines have generated more electricity than gas for the first time in the UK. Nuclear provides about 15% but we are still reliant on oil and gas at around 40%.

Last month the oil giants Shell and BP reported  staggering profits of $9.6 billion and $5 billion respectively in the first quarter of the year. It is hard to imagine such huge amounts, but suppose a hypothetical company started a business in Egypt at the time of the building of the Great Pyramid, and made a profit of $3 million every year until now, then their total profit over 4500 years would be about the same as the combined profits of Shell and BP after only 3 months. Surely an obscene amount in today’s economic climate?

Last month the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that Covid-19 no longer represents a "global health emergency". 

The statement represents a major step towards ending the pandemic and comes three years after it first declared its highest level of alert over the virus. It is great news for MEI and other conference organisers, who can now hopefully press ahead with confidence for the deeply missed face to face events. However, in a May 5 news conference, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to keep their Covid-19 systems in place and remind people that SARS-CoV-2 is still dangerous. 

So as we enter an intensive month for international conferences, we must all bear this in mind.  In three days time our Falmouth conferences begin, with Biomining '23 starting on Sunday, followed by Sustainable Minerals '23. The following week I will be in Zambia reporting on the SAIMM Copper Cobalt Conference, and there are many other international meetings, particularly in Europe, Australia and South America. We must never drop our guards.

@barrywills