‘I have watched politicians failing yet and yet again’: lessons from a life as an environment writer

Paul Brown: ‘The Guardian’s then editor-in-chief once encouraged me by saying you could not write about anywhere properly unless you have been there.’ Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi/The Guardian

Paul Brown was the Guardian’s environment correspondent from 1989 until 2005 and has written many columns since. He submitted his last column last week after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. From his hospital bed in Luton, Paul offers his reflections on 45 years writing for the Guardian.

We, in the climate business, all owe a great deal to Mrs Margaret Thatcher. Her politics were anathema to me and to many Guardian readers. But she prided herself on being a scientist before she was a politician.