Stand up and be counted

It's a shame how many people whine about their MPs. Whilst there may be many that have abused their privilege on expenses, the majority do what they do to make a difference. Here's what my MP, Stephen Crabb had to say about 10:10

Thanks for your email regarding the 10:10 climate change campaign debate in the House of Commons yesterday.

I am pleased to inform you that I did vote in favour of the motion as I believe that that the imperative for acting on climate change is more pressing than ever and we must set real goals if we are to make significant reductions in carbon emissions. You may be aware that I have also, personally, signed up to the pledge. See: http://www.stephencrabb.com/press/pressdetails.aspx?ID=255 for further information.

Finding the missing link

Adam Corner wrote a useful article in the Guardian today entitled "Pyschology is the missing link in the climate change debate", going on to say "From 10:10 to the government's Act On CO2 campaign, it is now widely accepted that tackling climate change will require tackling behaviour change too. But until now, a key piece has been missing from the puzzle – psychology. The study of human behaviour has been conspicuous by its absence from the climate change debate."

I agree with his views, and what amazes me is how long it's taken for talk of pscyhology to get to the table on this topic. Clues to finding the answer why the time delay is measurable in decades lies in the title - it's a climate change debate that's been largely led by scientists and environmentalists, rather than business people, marketeers, entrepreneurs, or, god forbid, psychologists. With a fair wind, there will, in a short time, be a move away from dominace of single-discipline, slanted views of the world to more holisitic, 'Triple Top Line' design lens that a) starts with intended outcome, b) connects the knowledge and action needed to bring operational, environmental and social results, concurrently.

Still on the numbers: Government not up to 1010

Yesterday afternoon, despite much last minute emailing and phone lobbying, the UK government decided, by a majority of 79, not to support a LibDeb to mandate all public sector organisations to reduce their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010. This is their response, blogged by Cllr Alexis Rowell of Belsize ward in Camden in London:

"This House welcomes the 10:10 campaign as a motivator of public action to cut carbon emissions through individual and collective behaviour change, recognises the value of such campaigns to build public support for action by governments to agree an ambitious effective and fair deal at Copenhagen, recognises the significant effort made by individuals and organisations to cut their emissions through the 10:10 campaign, supports the world first Climate Change Act introduced by this government and the system of carbon budgets that enables Britain to set itself on a low carbon pathway, notes that carbon budgets ensure active policies by Whitehall departments and the public sector that deliver long term sustained emissions reductions not just in 2010 but through to 2022 and beyond, supports the efforts of local councils to move towards local carbon budgets by signing up to the 10:10 campaign, welcomes the allocation of up to £20m for central government departments to enable them to reduce further and faster carbon emissions from their operations, estate and transport and further welcomes the cross-cutting Public Value Programme review of the low carbon potential of the public sector, which will focus on how the sector can achieve transformational financial savings through value for money carbon reductions"

There comes a time when some behaviour, such as smoking in public places, selling cigarettes to children and excessive alcohol consumption, needs legislation for effect. Getting public sector organisations to reduce their CO2 rapidly is one that requires both carrot and stick.

Little Do: if your council and/or employer hasn't yet signed up to 1010, write a letter today asking them to commit.

24% and counting

CCW, the Countryside Council for Wales, have just joined the 1000+ organisations worldwide who have committed to support the 10:10 campaign. Signing up to a ten percent CO2 reduction in 2010 is only part of the story though, as it's a step that we were already on the way with our existing commitment to reduce emissions by 24%, by 2012.

Here's the text of the press release:

THE Countryside Council for Wales has signed up to the 10:10 challenge being promoted by The Guardian - to reduce carbon emissions by 10 per cent in 2010.
Already one of the greenest organisations in Wales, CCW is also encouraging other organisations to step up to the mark in the run up to the Copenhagen climate conference in December.
The10:10 initiative aims to unite every sector of British society behind one simple idea – that by working together we can achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions by 2010. The 10:10 campaign is both achievable and meaningful.
John Lloyd Jones, CCW Chairman said: “At our Council meeting in Aberystwyth yesterday, we agreed that reaching a 10 per cent cut in carbon emissions by 2010 would be a significant step towards our even more ambitious target of reducing emissions by 24% by 2012.
“As a national leader in measuring and tackling public sector greenhouse gas emissions, both these targets reflect the pace at which changes are needed to avoid the more damaging climate change scenarios.”

1010 launch

Franny Armstrong and her amazing team from the Age of Stupid have created a new campaign, 1010, which launches at the Tate Modern in London on Tuesday 1st September. The idea is simple, and impact potentially huge: commit to reducing your carbon footprint by 10% in 2010, by targetting the four biggest areas of carbon and reducing each of those by 10% relative to this year as a benchmark:

• Grid elecricity
• On site fossil fuel use
• Vehicle use
• Air travel

One thing strong and noticeable about the measures is that the 1010 team do not recognise any form of carbon offsets or green tariff electricity as counting as part of this reduction. Reductions are for real.

Sign