Climate Change - The Greatest Threat to the Planet
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Forum 21 agrees with Sir David Attenborough that climate change is an existential threat to the human species and much of the natural world. Recent figures show that CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have passed 400ppm, the highest level for 3m years (IPPC May 2013 ). There are already noticeable changes to our climate.
So all the work of the Forum is dedicated to a sustainable future that reduces our dependence on fossil fuels and cuts our carbon emissions. |
Energy Efficiency
Saving energy is essential to reduce carbon emissions and avoid climate change. Figures have suggested that if all our homes became fully energy- efficient it would reduce our national energy needs by around 40%. Since most of the homes that will still be around in 50 years time have already been built there is an enormous retrofitting task to be done. Making the problem more acute in West Somerset are the 60% of homes with solid walls, making insulation more difficult and more expensive.
So for the last seven years our energy efficiency campaign has been helping West Somerset households to obtain grants for insulation and heating, and offering behavioural tips. For five of those years our team of trained energy volunteers has been carrying out home energy surveys which mean that we can make more targeted suggestions.
World leaders are meeting in Poland in December 2018 to decide how to implement the Paris Agreement. Here is 15 year old Great Thunberg's speech to that conference from the first week.
So for the last seven years our energy efficiency campaign has been helping West Somerset households to obtain grants for insulation and heating, and offering behavioural tips. For five of those years our team of trained energy volunteers has been carrying out home energy surveys which mean that we can make more targeted suggestions.
World leaders are meeting in Poland in December 2018 to decide how to implement the Paris Agreement. Here is 15 year old Great Thunberg's speech to that conference from the first week.
current affairs
26/3/19
Hear what's happening in the U.S:
After her Green New Deal failed in the Senate, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) gave a fiery response to claims that her climate change legislation was elitist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3pY5o0g-lU
twitter.com/i/status/1110700996282343424
Food
Every year in this country we throw away over 4 million tonnes of food costing each household at least £420. The figures are staggering. Every day we throw away: 5.1 million potatoes, 4.4 million apples, 7 million slices of bread,1.3 million yoghurts and yoghurt drinks,1.2 million sausages, 0.7 million eggs 0.7 million bars of chocolate and unwrapped sweets
Financially this is appalling. Not only does it cost us personally to throw away food, it also costs the country another billion pounds to collect and dispose of it - mostly to landfill. But we are not just wasting food and money. We are wasting energy too. Everything we eat has had some energy used to produce it.
This is all bad news for the environment. When we know that we have to reduce our carbon footprint to avoid disastrous climate change, it is shocking that we waste so much. And it's a moral issue too. When millions of people in the world don't have enough to eat, how can we justify being so wasteful about our own food?
There are some things we can do. We can buy local food instead of food that has travelled miles to get here. We can buy less processed food. We can be smart about only buying what we need. And we can be imaginative about using what's in the fridge or the store cupboard. All skills that will be essential in a climate changing world.
Financially this is appalling. Not only does it cost us personally to throw away food, it also costs the country another billion pounds to collect and dispose of it - mostly to landfill. But we are not just wasting food and money. We are wasting energy too. Everything we eat has had some energy used to produce it.
This is all bad news for the environment. When we know that we have to reduce our carbon footprint to avoid disastrous climate change, it is shocking that we waste so much. And it's a moral issue too. When millions of people in the world don't have enough to eat, how can we justify being so wasteful about our own food?
There are some things we can do. We can buy local food instead of food that has travelled miles to get here. We can buy less processed food. We can be smart about only buying what we need. And we can be imaginative about using what's in the fridge or the store cupboard. All skills that will be essential in a climate changing world.