News
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About The U.N. Climate Talks
Mon, 6 July 2015This November will see historic global talks in Paris on climate change. Find out more about the talks and their potential impact with this guide, the first in a series by Environmental Journalist Fiona Harvey, which addresses such questions as ‘What is supposed to happen in Paris?’, ‘What is at stake?’, and ‘What can go wrong?.’
www.greenbiz.com/article/everything-you-always-wanted-know-about-un-clim...
Paddy O’Connell’s Zero Food Waste Challenge
Mon, 6 July 2015The radio presenter Paddy O'Connell is embarking on a zero food waste challenge. Learn more about it, and join him: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05y178z (23:04 minutes in).
Pope Calls for Action on Climate Change
Mon, 6 July 2015Pope Francis has released a 180-page encyclical on the environment, calling for action on climate change and for the world’s rich nations to pay their “grave social debt” to the poor. The release of the statement has been timed to coincide with the Pope’s upcoming visit to the US, where he will speak before the United Nations and a joint session of the Congress. In the encyclical, Pope Francis argues that we are in the midst of an “ecological crisis” and that climate change is a “global problem with serious implications”.
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-fra...
Onshore Wind Farm Subsidies to End In 2016
Mon, 6 July 2015Government subsidies for onshore wind farms are to end on 1st April 2016, a year earlier than initially laid out by the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition. There will be a grace period for projects that already have planning permission. According to figures from the DECC, in 2014 over £800m of Government subsidies helped onshore wind to generate 5% of the UK’s total electricity, and the UK is well on the way to meeting its climate change targets for 2020.
Since then, the government’s climate change advisors have asked the government to explain how this withdrawal of support will affect the cost of meeting our greenhouse gas emission targets and urgently set out plans for alternative electricity generation. Wind is the UK’s cheapest renewable energy source and any alternative plan is expected to cost more. The government must respond to this request by the autumn.
In another move that could further impacts the development of wind, the government has also announced that new planning rules will means wind turbines will only get the go-ahead if they have been clearly backed by local people in a Local or Neighbourhood Plan. (See the item below titled ‘Neighbourhood Planning Support’ if you would like support in this area.)
9000 People Take Part in 'For the Love of' Lobby
Mon, 22 June 2015
We all love something that could be affected by climate change - from your morning coffee, to walks on the beach, or your local community.
Which is why on a beautiful sunny day in Westminster, 9000 people from around the UK came together to speak up for what they loved, to over 330 MPs. The message to leaders was loud and clear - act now to protect what we love from climate change.
It was an incredible day. Find out what happened in this roundup of highlights, and check out a photo gallery to see everyone who joined in, from beekeepers to surfers, from snowboarders to nuns.
People spoke up, and the government listened. The Energy & Climate Secretary said: 'politicians can’t deliver on the ambition without the public saying ‘We need you to do this’. So I really welcomed the campaigning today… Perhaps not all MPs have engaged with this to the same level, but today they had to do so, and that was quite an achievement.'
If you weren't able to be there, there's still time to take action - send your MP a message now and tell them what you love and want to protect.