Issue 10- The End of the World is "NI"?

Despite warnings of dire consequences if carbon dioxide (C02) emissions aren't cut, local authorities (LAs) throughout Greater Manchester are still not taking the problem seriously. Figures obtained (see table) by Manchester Climate Fortnightly (MCFly) from official DEFRA data show that most LAs are either standing still or even getting worse. The main offender is Manchester City Council, with a 2.9% increase between 2005 and 2006, the last year for which figures were available.
Only seven of the ten Greater Manchester LAs- Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford- have agreed to adopt a “National Indicator” (number 186) aimed at reducing emissions within their borders. The three who haven't- Bolton, Bury and Wigan- are still obliged to cut CO2 emissions. When asked why they hadn't, Bolton and Bury Councils did not even bother to respond to MCFly. Wigan council replied “we did not adopt NI 186 for a number of reasons. We have adopted NI 188 (adaptation) as a priority indicator related to Climate Change.” National Indicator 188 is designed to ensure that LAs are 'prepared to manage risks' from a 'changing climate' and so is basically a reactive policy, albeit a necessary one.
Your local authority should have set a target for reducing CO2 emissions. For example, Trafford have set a target “of 9.4% reduction by 2010/11 based on figures gathered in 2005/6.”
It would be worth writing to your Council and ask what target they have set and perhaps encourage them to be a little bolder, given what is at stake.
"The Ferret"
For more information on National Indicators-
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localgovindicators/ni186.htm
www.localpriorities.communities.gov.uk

Climate Bill. YOU can make it stronger, if you phone NOW.

Manchester Climate Fortnightly will NOT normally endorse campaigns, or post stuff on the blog asking you to do things. But Friends of the Earth have worked so hard on this campaign, and it is so important that the Climate Bill includes international aviation and shipping, that we beg you to do what the FOE email below asks you to do.

Dear Friend,

As someone who has signed up to and been closely involved in these final stages of the Big Ask campaign for the Climate Change Bill we wanted to tell you of our recent success, and ask you to take a quick action.

The Report Stage votes on the Bill – i.e. THE big votes we've been waiting for all summer – will happen on *Tuesday 28 October*. That's /this /coming Tuesday! At these votes, MPs will vote on a list of amendments to the Bill.

The Government will be suggesting an amendment that will be to raise the 2050 emissions reduction target from 60% to 80%. This follows the advice of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) two weeks ago. But it is also, to a huge extent, a result of the pressure you have put on
MPs over the last few months. Well done! We are sure that this amendment, with Government support, will pass. So we have won on our 80% ask!

The Government still opposes one crucial improvement we are tabling, calling for international aviation and shipping emissions to be included in the Bill. This is despite the advice from the CCC that these emissions should be included.

Thanks to your efforts we know that all the opposition parties as well as significant numbers of backbench Labour MPs support the inclusion of international aviation and shipping emissions in the Bill. But the Government will try its best to stop MPs from voting for this amendment. So...

*Urgent Action:*

A few more minutes of your time will make a real difference to the way MPs vote. Please call your MP and ask them to:

"Please vote for the amendments that include international aviation and shipping emissions in the Climate Change Bill."

You can contact your MP by calling the House of Commons switchboard on 020 7219 3000 and asking to be put through to your MP's Westminster office.

Please do try to find the time to make this call if you can – you will be making a /huge/ difference.

Thanks and congratulations on your efforts to win this amazing Bill. We're nearly there.

Best wishes,

Julian Kirby
Parliamentary Unit

Sombre reminder of climate disarray

Yet another reminder of the perilous disequilibrium of earth's climate
has come our way, via the Royal Society and the Tyndall Centre for
Climate Change Research. Two of the sharpest brains at Tyndall, Dr Alice
Bows and Prof  Kevin Anderson  (both at Tyndall North here in
Manchester),  have  put together an assessment of the politically driven
aim to restrict global average temperature increase to 2 degrees
centigrade. They find this aim to be seriously defective, and in a
closely argued and densely referenced 20 page paper they offer their
reasoning.

Their assessment of our capacity to restrain temperature to bearable
limits focuses on (a) the recent acceleration of 21st century CO2
emissions, well beyond the bounds of the working assumptions of the IPCC
4th Assessment Report (AR4) (2007) and of the Stern Report (2006); (b)
the neglect in current political thinking of the powerful role played by
deforestation and by other greenhouse gases; (c) the implied naivety of
the generalised (and politically useful?) belief that the route to a
stable atmospheric concentration of CO2 (and the other greenhouse gases)
can be attained without detailed attention being paid to the emission
"route" through  which this supposedly ideal, or at least tolerable,
concentration will be attained. This route necessitates defining a peak
year for emissions, and then defining a steeply decreasing year-by-year
curve  in emissions down to a near-zero "no-regrets" minimum.
They show with rigorous argument and calculation that it will be much
much harder - and possibly politically impossible - to hold the
anticipated temperature increase below 2 degrees, and show that a more
honest assessment of the way things industrial and political are going
is that an increase of the order of 4 degrees is likely - and that
society should plan for the appropriate adaptation.
The politically possible and the physically necessary demands in carbon
emissions are thus in unreconcilable conflict. The extremely steep
annual drops in emissions needed by the biosphere and its human
inhabitants do not seem to be achievable.

"Reframing the climate change challenge in light of post-2000 emission
trends" by Kevin Anderson and Alice Bows.

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A
doi:10.1098/rsta.2008.0139
Published online

News flash- delay in UK Climate Projections

This just arrived in MCFly's inbox-

"Defra, Met Office Hadley Centre and UK Climate Impacts Programme have taken a decision to delay the launch of the UK 21st Century Climate Change Projections (2008) project (UKCIP08). This decision has been taken based on information provided by the Met Office Hadley Centre which needs more time to consolidate the climate projections. The Met Office is using ground-breaking science to produce the new climate projections – combining information from the widest possible range of global climate models. This complex process requires further analysis which will unfortunately take more time than initially expected. The projections are now likely to be published in Spring 2009. Further information will be available as soon as possible."

This is really, really interesting. The UK Climate Impacts Programme was set up in April 1997 (www.ukcip.org.uk). Its work has been used by local authorities, insurers etc who want/need to know what sorts of weather patterns will be happening in 2020, 2050 and 2080 and their implications for "construction, working practices, demand for goods and services, biodiversity, service delivery, health" among others.

David Attenborough relied on these projections heavily in his BBC documentaries last year.

The last projections were in 2002, and the 2008 ones have been very eagerly awaited. The more pessimistic commentators may be inclined to point to the recent conference at Exeter as the reason for the delay- that conference heard lots of evidence that the impacts are coming faster than harder than thought. (this I overheard at a "Climate Clinic" event at Labour Party conference- the link below is merely about the conference itself
http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/newsclimatechange.shtml

We live in interesting times

MCFly 8- hundreds attend green events

The Labour Party's annual conference was held in Manchester between the 20th and 24th of September. Internal strife, low poll-ratings and economic turmoil over-shadowed environmental issues inside the conference, but campaigners from Manchester and across the UK met at fringe events to formulate responses to the climate crisis.

A stones throw from Labour's maximum security fortress, The Convention of the Left met over the course of the conference, bringing together a wide variety of Leftist activists for a series of free public seminars and debates. Monday 22nd was 'Planet Day', which involved well attended events tackling subjects such as the link between environmental destruction and the economic system, whether climate change can be solved without nuclear, and how to build strong grassroots environmental movements. The Convention was followed by the launch of the Manchester Campaign for Free Public Transport on Thusrday 24th, an initiative greeted with enthusiasm at the convention.

Meanwhile on Portland street the Climate Clinic created, in the words of the organizers, “a forum where party leaders, ministers, renowned scientists, opinion formers, environmentalists, low-carbon associations, business leaders and the public come together to debate the issues, spotlight the solutions and press for urgent action and vigorous political leadership.” Seminars covered topics including fuel poverty, moving beyond growth based economies, the feasibility of 'eco-towns', and the future of renewable energy in the UK. The event was organised and sponsored by a 20 strong coalition of environmental and development NGOs and think tanks. Sources close to MCFly report that government Ministers were less than confidence-inspiring (and occasionally absent), but the free buffet food was of exceptional quality.

It wasn't all talk though. On Tuesday 23rd over 100 people converged on Albert Square to reveal red t-shirts emblazoned with 'STOP AIRPORT EXPANSION'. The protesters lay on the ground to spell out 'Take the Train' with their bodies, referring to the 29% of flights from Manchester that are domestic.

Almost as many police supervised the 15 minute stunt, which was hailed a success by orgainsers. Robbie Gillet commented, "we got the message across with a great photo opportunity for the local press".

The event also launched a new campaign group- Stop Expansion of Manchester Airport (SEMA), an umbrella organisation linking local environmentalists with wider anti-aviation campaigns. SEMA are holding an open meeting at 7pm on Thursday 16th October at the Green Fish Resource Centre to form a plan of action.

Review of "Muslim Green Guide to Reducing Climate Change"

“Corruption has flourished on land and sea as a result of people’s actions and He will make them taste the consequences of some of their actions so that they may turn back.”
(Qur’an 30:41)

A Muslim Environmental group has joined forces with anther two charities to publish a green guide which gives Muslims practical advice on how to reduce climate change.
The Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES), founded in the mid-80s, states that since Muslims comprise one fifth of the world’s population, any positive change in attitudes towards the environment could have dramatic results.

The Green Guide is a basic introduction which explains what causes climate change and utilizes Islamic references to explain why Muslims need to do their bit for the environment. For example it states that ‘Islam teaches Muslims to respect Allah’s creation and maintain the balance He created’ and so they must reduce their consumption of fossil fuels. The booklet is split into four sections which tackle issues of waste, transport, household consumption and the final section which gives some useful information and a ‘How green is my family?’ checklist.

Each topic such as air travel or electricity use is explained clearly and an action list is suggested as ways to tackle the issue. Nothing ground-breaking just simple and practical advice which everyone can do. The guide works really well as an introductory booklet for Muslim families who may have not really understood the issues behind climate change and want practical advice on what they can do. It’s a good balance between Islamic references which support the need for change and facts/figures (e.g. the majority of car journeys in the UK average only 2 miles).

However, for Muslims who are quite aware of environmental issues, it may be too basic and not really offer anything substantively new. It would also be good to have the booklet available in a couple of languages so that it could be an effective resource to a wider community.

http://www.ifees.org.uk

Universities and Climate Change- more information

Further Information- continuing the student guide
Points of reference

HEEPI have a guide to assess the sustainability of your University under 'Good Campus: www.heepi.org.uk

The Environmental association for Universities and Colleges. www.eauc.org.uk

Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future; multimedia education programme
www.unesco.org/education/tlsf

Education for Sustainable Development by The Higher Education Academy
www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/sustainability

The National Union of Students (NUS) and NUS Services Limited- the trading arm of the NUS- have strict ethical and environmental statements which they follow when engaging in policy and commerce. They operate the Sound Impact scheme and the Carbon Academy Project which develops and promotes green practice- such as reducing carbon emissions and reducing waste- among student unions.
National Union of Student Ethical and Environmental Policy
www.nus.org.uk/en/About-NUS/Ethical--Environmental

The University and Colleges Union ("the largest trade union and professional association for academics, lecturers, trainers, researchers and academic-related staff working in further and higher education throughout the UK") has recognised the importance of climate change and has made a commitment to playing a part in 'greening the campus' and 'greening the curriculum. It aims to achieve these encouraging health and safety reps and others to train as 'environment reps' who would negotiate locally greener workplace practices.
Pressing employers in every college and university to develop local carbon reduction strategies in conjunction with staff and students the union has also pledged to support other unions- such as NUJ and the TUC- in campaigns for secure greener government policies. UCU has also stated that it is still awaiting recognition from DIUS that they they alongside other FE/HE unions are key partners and should be involved in college/university carbon reduction strategy.
www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3386