The Unreality Principle

Went to two meetings on Tuesday 13th. The first, by a local activist was small but perfectly formed and contained useful information. The second was a big ol' thing organised by Manchester University and with a “star” intellectual. It was dia-fucking-bolical.

Andrew Leask, of Trafford Eco-house and Transition Hale/Altrincham gave a talk about “Aquaponics and Manchester's Food Security” at the latest Manchester Green Drinks.
Here are some of the stats I scribbled down-

3% of our food is locally grown in Greater Manchester
9 days of food in the supermarkets
12% is the Council's guesstimated ceiling of the amount of food that could be grown locally
80% of the UK population lives in cities.

Cited by Leask from the Ecologist;
600,000 of the UK population working in agriculture, with 60,000 new farmers required in the next 10 years. Or 1,000,000 small holders. According to Richard Heinberg, you'd need 12,000,000 people working in oil free agriculture in the UK
There's 200,000 allotments in the UK, with 100,000 people on the waiting list. There were 1,500,000 allotments at the end of world war two, growing 50% of the UK's fruit and veg. Of course, we had fewer people then, and more land available for growing.

He then launched into an interesting account of using fish, water, bacteria in a (relatively) 'closed loop' to produce yummy protein. (Protein, as Marvin Harris points out in his wonderful book 'Cannibals and Kings', makes the world go round).

So, by the time I'd necked a second pint (thanks Chris!) and staggered up to the Fiends Meeting House, Will Hutton (for it is he) was mid-flow. Oh dear.

Facile boosterism for the north west, breathless talk of 'commercial space travel by 2150, jargon around 'agglomeration'. [What's the matter with David Harvey's Spatial Fix? Oh, right, liberals didn't think of it- Not Invented Here Syndrome and all. Sigh.]

Hutton. Just. Would. Not. Shut. Up. He overran his time dramatically, (asking for “permission” to do so) spouting ever banaller banalities and observer, sorry, 'absurder' absurdities. Apparently we're all going to retire later. That's fine if you're a white collar worker (as everyone in the room was. Significantly more males than females too). But what if you're a knackered manual worker? Sigh.

In the q and a, which had to be squeezed because of his needless and self-indulgent over-run, he was explicitly asked about the possible teensy-weensy contradictions between continued economic growth and a habitable planet. He first admitted that the atmospheric concentration of C02 was climbing every year, and then raffled (that is, rambled and waffled simultaneously) about clean coal, more efficient use of water and how we can't tell India and China to stop developing (er, does that mean you support contraction and convergence? If so, say so.)

And that was it. For one of the foremost progressive public intellectuals in this country (we are in deeper trouble than I thought) to give such an ill-informed answer about the real challenges that face us was unsurprising, but shocking all the same

He then, mercifully, buggered off back to London. Don't let the train doors hit your arse on the way out.

After a brief tea break, we were supposed to hear four talks, each of 5 to 10 minutes, framed as a letter to the new Prime Minister on the “main challenges” around Economy, Environment, Housing and I can't quite remember what.

We got to hear a bit about General Purpose Technologies.

Then Professor Alan Harding did a mini-Hutton. Five assertions and five challenges. David Harvey's spatial fix and Aidan While's sustainability fix still ignored. Sigh.
Asked about a steady-state economy (see Tim Jackson etc) Prof Harding at least had the good manners to admit that he didn't see what such a thing would look like. That's OK, neither can I, but the difference is I can see that we need it. The business as usual approach of extracting copious raw materials from t'planet and expecting it to absorb the waste is not going to work anymore.

Again, if our public intellectuals can't see the dangers, explain the dangers and suggest some ways forward, then what are they for??

Next up came Caroline Downey, director of MERCi.

She, surprisingly, took some pot shots at other people in the room, and at the NWDA for its faith in nuclear power and GDP (that was me applauding, Caroline). She gave a shout out to the Mersey Bioregion group and new economics foundation.
A good trick she had, too. Asked us to close our eyes and imagine a sustainable city. Most everyone's included water and wildlife, which Research Shows is what makes us happy.

She gave a shout out to the “Third Sector” (though I believe the politically correct terminology is first sector” At least according to that nice young and trustworthy Dave Cameron) and gave some examples of making the bioregion more resilient and self-sufficient with vertical gardens and increased access to green space.

She, in her letter, thanked the incoming PM for the Environment Bill that mimics Ecuador's bill on the right of nature to persist.

She also congratulated the PM on the Energy Descent planning that was taking place

Asked the standard (and entirely justifiable) question of How to Pay for it all, she said scrap trident, tax the rich and pull out of Afghanistan. She was less successful on the question of what MERCi has done lately for the deprived wards around it, but then that IS a tricky question!

By this stage, your intrepid reporter had had quite enough, and cycled home, missing the transport and housing sessions.

Interview with Dr Jeremy Carter, the "Green Guru"

In previous MCFly's we've reported on Manchester University's search for what we labelled - in a foaming fit of terrible tabloid alliteration as a "Green Guru." Dr Jeremy Carter was appointed to the position, and has kindly answered our questions, which we post here in their entirity.

He began with a preface:
"I should point out that the research fellowship to which I was 
appointed only accounts for 40% of my working time. The other 60% 
relates to an EU climate change adaptation project and a study for the 
Environment Agency on future challenges for the Northwest's water 
environment, with climate change nevertheless featuring prominently. 
My answers relate to the research fellowship, which is part of a 
initiative known as Eco Cities. I have combined answers to some your 
questions, and have focused on the ones that relate to the project and 
the issues to which it relates."

In a nutshell, what have you been asked to do?
The Eco Cities project aims to create a strategy to help Manchester adapt to climate change. Previous research undertaken at the University has demonstrated that climate change is likely to have a significant impact on the city. For example, temperatures may increase by up to 5ºC by the end of this century. Rainfall patterns are also set to change with winters becoming wetter (with up to 30% more rainfall) and summers drier (with up to 60% less rainfall). These changes will have a wide range of impacts such as greater risk of flooding and increased incidence of heat waves.

The project will aim to increase our understanding of how these changes will affect the city, and will also consider how we may best respond to increase our resilience and reduce our vulnerability to these impacts. Initially, we will be looking at past climate events and their impacts in the city-region to give an indication of the impacts which might be expected in the future, albeit with greater frequency and intensity. We will also be developing links with key individuals and organisations who have the potential to contribute to the adaptation strategy. Indeed, in order to enhance the utility of the adaptation strategy, we will need to work with key stakeholders who influence the development and use of land in the city.

How does this job fit in with the other work the University is doing on Climate Change?
Climate change adaptation is a key theme running through research being undertaken at the School of Environment and Development. Recently completed and ongoing projects address topics such as how urban environments can be better adapted to climate change and the urban heat island effect. The Eco Cities project will build on this work.

Are there "easy wins" that can be made on Climate Change adaptation in the North West? If so, what are they?
Green infrastructure (trees, gardens, green roofs, parks etc.) has a crucial role to play in adapting to climate change. For example, green spaces reduce the volume of run-off water reaching rivers lessening flood risk. With the threat of more heat waves, particularly in urban centres, the role that plants and trees can play in moderating temperatures is also vitally important. Increasing the amount of green infrastructure in our towns and cities, both around new and existing developments, would certainly help the adaptation cause.

Aside from climate change adaptation, green infrastructure provides a wide range of other benefits such as providing space for recreation (with knock-on health benefits), enhancing biodiversity and even increasing foot-fall into shops. It is important to begin to see green spaces as ‘critical infrastructure’ along the same lines as water, energy and transport infrastructure. They should be protected and enhanced wherever possible.

What's the best popular book you've read on Climate Change?

In the interest of picking something that everyone can access, I am actually going to choose a recent article written by James Hansen in which he sets out the climate change issues that Barack Obama is going to have face during his presidency.

http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/20081229_Obama_revised.pdf

What would you like to see campaigning/community/ voluntary groups doing on Climate Change in Manchester?
We need to collectively raise awareness of and argue for increased attention and action on climate change adaptation. Recent research from the Tyndall Centre (reported in the Guardian at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/09/poznan-copenhagen-global-warming-targets-climate-change) highlights that keeping temperatures to less than 2ºC above pre-industrial levels is going to be a difficult task indeed. Lack of action to reduce emissions levels is committing us to an increase in frequency and intensity of impacts related to climate change such as floods, droughts and heat waves. We need to take steps to adapt to these impacts.

Issue 13- Sustainable Energy

Two Manchester University academics have led work on a report about sustainable energy in the UK. Professor Simon Guy and Dr Patrick Devine-Wright have authored a study with the predictably cheesy title ‘Powering Our Lives: Sustainable Energy Management and the Built Environment'. Over 213 fun-packed pages, it looks at how the UK’s buildings and spaces will need to evolve to help cut carbon emissions and cheerfully concludes that the UK is ‘locked-in’ to using certain forms of energy not because they are better but because 'that's the way we've always done things around here...' i.e. It would cost too much to change the infrastructure and create and enforce the regulations to support it.
Professor John Beddington, the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser and Director of the Foresight Programme, the government think tank that co-sponsored the work with the Department for Communities and Local Government, said: “The energy used to power buildings is responsible for over 50% of UK carbon emissions.... We need to think again about how we produce and use energy and this report explores the link between the energy we use to power our lives and the places we use it in.”
The report says there is no ‘magic bullet’ to reduce carbon emissions or ‘decarbonise’ the energy we use. However, it does propose behavioural and regulatory changes which could be introduced over the next 50 years, to overcome this inertia. Three key areas for change are: Upgrading of buildings and spaces to be more carbon neutral, a move to decentralised energy systems and changed human behaviours in the built environment.