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. TBA including Mark's graphics
Our energy efficiency campaign has been helping West Somerset households to obtain grants for insulation and heating, and offering behavioural tips. For more than ten years we have focused mainly on helping people in fuel poverty but there is now interest in home improvements because there is some funding available through the Eco3 scheme. See https://www.housewrapped.co.uk/ECO3 Measures available include installing central heating, upgrading electric heating, insulating lofts, cavities, solid walls, under floors and installing renewable technologies. Solar PV, ground and air-source heat pumps may be available. There have been developments in all the technologies making them cheaper and more efficient, including electricity storage
How is Somerset doing in general with respect to climate change and carbon emissions?
Most new homes are now being built to EPC rating B (80-90% efficient) and we need to ensure that standards do not slip. However, over 90% of the homes in our district are already built and over 6,000 of then are less than 40% efficient. Most of the people in fuel poverty live in these homes. The Government's retro fit scheme upgraded ONLY 250 homes a year over the last 7 years. Our councils need the necessary funding to tackle this problem
Check out here: https://www.somersettrends.org.uk/topics/climate/ (see button below)
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The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting held in January 2020 informally known as Davos for the Swiss ski town where it’s held, is typically a conference about the economy and geopolitics. It makes sense that in 2020, as Australia burns and activists turn out by the millions, Davos approximated a climate conference.The conversation held over the past few days showed that it’s become impossible to ignore reality: a warming planet is reshaping geopolitics and threatening the economy as we know it. Around the halls of the conference center in Davos, CEOs and government ministers, politicians and celebrities, talked about big solutions to fix that. They discussed how GDP has failed us as a metric of societal health and the need for new government support for climate mitigation.
https://time.com/5771889/davos-climate-change/
Our energy efficiency campaign has been helping West Somerset households to obtain grants for insulation and heating, and offering behavioural tips. For more than ten years we have focused mainly on helping people in fuel poverty but there is now interest in home improvements because there is some funding available through the Eco3 scheme. See https://www.housewrapped.co.uk/ECO3 Measures available include installing central heating, upgrading electric heating, insulating lofts, cavities, solid walls, under floors and installing renewable technologies. Solar PV, ground and air-source heat pumps may be available. There have been developments in all the technologies making them cheaper and more efficient, including electricity storage
How is Somerset doing in general with respect to climate change and carbon emissions?
Most new homes are now being built to EPC rating B (80-90% efficient) and we need to ensure that standards do not slip. However, over 90% of the homes in our district are already built and over 6,000 of then are less than 40% efficient. Most of the people in fuel poverty live in these homes. The Government's retro fit scheme upgraded ONLY 250 homes a year over the last 7 years. Our councils need the necessary funding to tackle this problem
Check out here: https://www.somersettrends.org.uk/topics/climate/ (see button below)
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The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting held in January 2020 informally known as Davos for the Swiss ski town where it’s held, is typically a conference about the economy and geopolitics. It makes sense that in 2020, as Australia burns and activists turn out by the millions, Davos approximated a climate conference.The conversation held over the past few days showed that it’s become impossible to ignore reality: a warming planet is reshaping geopolitics and threatening the economy as we know it. Around the halls of the conference center in Davos, CEOs and government ministers, politicians and celebrities, talked about big solutions to fix that. They discussed how GDP has failed us as a metric of societal health and the need for new government support for climate mitigation.
https://time.com/5771889/davos-climate-change/
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.