Saving the environment.

Speech delivered on Sun 18th Sep 2005

Speech by Paul Burstow MP to Sutton 4 Churches, Trinity Church

Saving the environment.

A challenging title. A vital topic.

Perhaps better put as a question.

Can we save the environment?

Last year the Government's Chief Scientist Sir David King said

"climate change is the most severe problem we are facing today, more serious even than the threat of terrorism."

Even after the London suicide bombings Sir David is right: climate change is the most severe problem we are facing TODAY.

Some - notably the Bush Administration - would have us believe that the science of climate change is still unclear.

So it was significant that in June the science academies of the worlds leading nations - including the UK and US - took the opportunity of the G8 summit to urge their Governments to take prompt action to tackle climate chance.

Perhaps even more significant was that signatories also included the world's three fastest growing economies: China, India and Brazil.

Their joint statement read:

"It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities.

"The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action.

"Action taken now to reduce significantly the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will lessen the magnitude and rate of climate change."

The message was clear: climate change requires action now.

It requires action globally, nationally, locally, personally.

Many of you here tonight have actively supported the Make Poverty History campaign aiming at reform of the global economy. Greater trade justice and more debt relief are amongst the targets.

But climate change has been largely overlooked in the debate.

Like a smouldering fire in the basement, it threatens to burn down decades of work to reverse global poverty, and all the progress built up by community groups, governments and development agencies.

A report earlier this year called "Africa Up in Smoke" made it plain that the world's riches nations have failed to join the dots between global warming and Africa.

It made clear that unless climate change is tackled, development gains will disappear.

For example, fourteen African countries are already subject to water stress or water scarcity, and they will be joined by a further 11 in the next 25 years.

Rainfall is predicted to decline in the Horn of Africa and some parts of the south by as much as 10 per cent by 2050.

The land in Africa may warm by as much as 1.6°C, which can affect crop harvests for hundreds of millions of people.

The potential for famine and for wars over access to scarce water resources will grow.

Combating climate change and helping Africa must be two inextricably linked goals.

There is a long way to go.

The Kyoto Agreement is but a first step.

137 nations have signed.

It seeks a reduction in green house gas emissions of 5 per cent by 2008-2012 compared to 1990.

But the USA, China and India have not signed and in 1990 they accounted for 40 per cent of global emissions.

And the most recent assessment suggests that the UK and most of our European neighbours will fall well short of the Kyoto target.

It would be easy now to simply take pot shots at President Bush and his Administration for its slavish support of the interests of the oil industry.

To point to the terrible disaster that has befallen the people of New Orleans and Louisiana.

Or to point to the new evidence that sea ice around the Arctic is reducing at an accelerating rate and scientists say that the Arctic is the warmest it has been in over 400 years.

But that would be to obscure a far more interesting and optimistic picture emerging in the USA.

At a state and city level Governors and Mayors, Republican and Democrat are taking action.

In California, the worlds 6th largest economy. Governor Schwarzenegger has set in place a climate change plan with targets to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to 2000 levels by 2010.

In Washington State, Seattle's Mayor has signed up dozens of his fellow Mayors in cities across the US. Each has agreed to the tough target of cutting their cities emissions by 7 per cent.

The ground is shifting in the US.

It has not have shifted enough yet.

But the days of the Bush Administration are numbered and Republican opinion is moving.

Let us hope and pray that the platform of the next occupant of the White House, Republican or Democrat, will recognise the need for an effective global framework to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.

That means both developing policies that are climate proof and climate friendly.

It also means recognising that it is already too late to prevent climate change having an impact.

The reports this week about the speeding up of sea and land ice in the Arctic and Greenland suggest that forces are now at work that will result in rising sea levels and profound climate change.

Making sure that the poorest countries are able to adapt to climate change and cope with some of its effects has to become clear part of aid policy.

At the moment, spending priorities are perverse.

For every $1 spent on preparing for disaster, a further $7 is saved in the cost of recovering from it.

Yet, as in the case of Mozambique, requests for resources to prepare for disasters before the great floods went seriously under-funded, leaving a huge disaster-relief bill to be paid after the floods.

And we here in the UK are not immune from the effects of climate change.

Perhaps one of more attractive consequences is the news that a French Champaign House is contemplating moving its operation to the UK.

But there are plenty of changes that should give pause for thought.

By the end of the century the Thames barrier could have to be raised as many as 325 times a year.

OK that seems a long way off.

Between 1994 and 1999 the barrier was raised 12 times.

Between 1999 and 2004 this jumped to 55 times.

On current forecasts in five years time the barrier will have to be raised on as many as 20 occasions a year.

In just 15 years the barrier could be deployed up to 35 times a year.

And by 2050 London may need the barrier up to 75 times a year.

If London's defences were breached the lives and livelihoods of 1.25 million people would be at risk.

Other effects of climate change include the loss of some native flora and fauna. Increased pressure on water supplies.

So what is to be done?

What can be done to save the planet from climate change?

The old Friends of the Earth slogan comes to mind:

THINK GLOBALLY ACT LOCALLY.

Kyoto was just the beginning.

There will need to be a successor agreement.

Ideally the next agreement should be based on the principle of contraction and convergence.

The aim would be to fairly share the task of halting the accumulation of greenhouse gases.

Rich countries contracting or reducing their emissions; while poor countries could actually increase theirs, so that global emissions converge at agreed levels.

I said think globally, act locally.

There is plenty of domestic policy that needs to change to make it both climate proof and climate friendly.

Energy and transport policy to name but two.

But I want to talk about what can be achieved locally here in Sutton.

How our actions as a community and as individuals can and are making a difference.

As many of you may know on our doorstep is the UK's largest carbon neutral eco-village.

If you catch the train to Victoria you have probably seen the distinctive and colourful wind cowls or chimneys as the train trundles through Mitcham Common.

BedZED or the Beddington Zero Energy Development comprises 100 homes, community facilities and workspace for 100 people. Residents have been living at BedZED since March 2002.

Just down the road from here on top of Killick House on the Collingwood Estate is the largest solar water heating unit in the UK.

The scheme will save the equivalent of 36 tons of CO2 emissions a year. And it will supply tenants with half of their annual hot water requirement.

Thanks to the energy efficiency work undertaken in the borough CO2 emissions were reduced by over 4,000 tonnes last year. That's equivalent to 400 double-decker buses. Just picture that.

Our local Council has been pursing environmental concerns for almost two decades. It started when it was still seen as fringe - something for people with beards and sandals.

From recycling to green energy to nature conservation to electric vehicles and car sharing we have one of the greenest Councils in the country.

But change is slow.

It is about winning hearts and minds.

Some things are easier that others.

Take recycling.

The Council has provided the infrastructure and residents have responded.

Last year 26% of household waste was recycled.

The highest in London. One of the best in the country.

But waste is increasing by 2 per cent per annum.

If we are to affect the sorts of changes in lifestyle necessary to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions then we need to develop practical policies for what is being called 'One Planet Living'.

The Worldwide Fund for Nature Living Planet Report suggests that globally, we are consuming 20% more than the planet can sustain in the long term.

If everyone in the world lived as we do in Europe, we would need three planets to support us. If everyone in the world lives as they do in North America, we would need seven planets to support us.

One Planet Living Communities adopt the following guiding principles:

Zero carbon

Efficient water use

Zero waste

Conservation of flora and fauna

Sustainable transport Respect for cultural heritage

Sustainable and local materials

Equity and Fairtrade

Local food

Happy and healthy lifestyles

Earlier this year Sutton Council launched its One Planet Pledge scheme.

The idea is to encourage and support people to make three pledges under the headings:

Towards Zero Waste

Towards Zero Fossil Fuel

Towards Sustainable Transport

Lots of practical ideas are given on the Council's website.

So for example.

One pledge on towards zero waste is to use real nappies instead of disposables.

Three billion nappies are thrown away every year; each takes 500 years to biodegrade.

In a household with just one baby, half of the waste is made up of disposables, most of which end up in landfill sites.

Another way of reducing waste suggested on the site is to compost your organic kitchen waste.

Pledges for zero fossil fuel include switching to a green energy supplier or choosing an A rated domestic appliance on your next purchase.

And pledges on sustainable transport range from making sure that the tyres on your car are inflated to the right pressure to using a dual fuel vehicle.

If you take the one planet pledge you won't be left on your own, support and encouragement will be on hand.

Have a look at the website. See what you can do.

I mentioned buying A rated electrical products.

Every year one million tons of greenhouse gases is pumped into the atmosphere as a result of televisions, DVDs and other home appliances being left on standby in this country.

Each year they waste enough electricity to power a city the size of Birmingham for a year.

A staggering 85 per cent of the power used by an average video recorder is consumed while it is not in use. Dishwashers left on at the end of their cycle consume 70 per cent of the power used when they are running.

Household power consumption contributes to climate change

So switching off appliances not only good for people's pockets.

It is good for the environment.

As a member of this church community I know how committed you are to trade justice and tackling global poverty.

Your initiative to become fair trade churches helped to breathe life into the issue locally.

So why not carbon neutral churches?

Taking actions to reduce and off-set greenhouse gas emissions.

I very much welcome the setting up nationally of Stop Climate Chaos by Christian groups such as Christian Aid, Cafod and Tearfund alongside Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups.

I hope it will bring a new moral dimension to the debate on climate change and mobilise people to campaign for change.

I hope you will take up the cause.

Climate Change is happening and when all the impacts are added up, everyone will lose out sooner or later.

Some people will adapt more successfully than others.

Climate change may well result in a polarisation of wealth and well-being in ways we have not seen before.

We only have one planet.

There is no escaping the consequences of our failure to act.

So to answer the question can we save the environment?

My answer is yes.

But we all have a part to play.

We can all take steps to reduce our ecological footprint.