The run up to a general election next year appears to have begun with recent pronouncements around net zero and climate change. As is the case with most political pronouncements they tell us that what they are suggesting is what the public want but is it? I thought it would be interesting to find out what the general public really think about these issues. One way of doing that is to knock on doors and ask them. Helen Brown, Gordon McKay myself and two other people from Greenpeace did just that last Saturday morning in Marple for the Greenpeaces ‘Project Climate Vote’ campaign to ask them about these issues and if these issues would influence the way they would vote.
There is nothing quite like the personal experience of speaking to the general public on these issues to gauge the general mood and range of views. However, it is not a very scientific survey in terms of sample size and demographic etc. Fortunately, the government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) have a Public Attitudes Tracker (PAT) that regularly surveys the public using random probability sampling. The latest survey in the summer 2023, on Net Zero and Climate Change DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker: Net Zero and Climate Change Summer 2023, UK – GOV.UK, was published on September 21st and makes for some interesting reading. It is 21 pages long and covers the topics – Awareness of Net Zero, Attitudes towards Net Zero, Concern about climate change, Behaviours to tackle climate change, Trust in information sources and Attitudes towards climate change. I found all the results very interesting and I have picked out just a couple of the figures below one on ‘Net Zero’ and one on ‘Concern about climate change’. In the report there are another 10 figures covering all the topics mentioned.
Even before the announcements about Rosebank and electric cars etc. you can see in figure 2.4 71% of the population were not confident we would reach Net Zero by 2050 and in figure 3.1 82% were fairly or very concerned about climate change. I wonder if these views of the general public will have a significant influence on the general election results? I hope so for the sake of our life support system, our children and grandchildren and that is why some of us were canvassing last weekend for Greenpeace’s ‘Project Climate Vote’.
If you do not agree with the Prime Minister’s announcements about their climate commitments and would like to tell your local MP the ‘Climate Coalition’ has made it easy for you with a draft letter that you can easily modify here. Use our form. Just fill in your postcode and anything else you would like to add. I know some members of CAM have been so enraged they have already written to their MP.
Good News
- From ‘sponge cities’ to beavers: 17 ways to protect against climate change. Global warming remains a huge challenge worldwide, but there are things we can do now to protect ourselves in the future
- How community gardening could ease your climate concerns
- Far more Conservative voters back net zero climate target than don’t, survey finds. More Tory voters blame mistakes by former PM Liz Truss than the net zero climate target for cost of living woes, the survey by Onward found
- Tory swing voters switch to Labour after Sunak’s green retreat, poll finds. Survey shows nearly 90% of 2019 Conservative voters say green industry is vital to UK’s economic growth.
- Redonda: Tiny Caribbean island’s transformation to wildlife haven.
- Airlines are being hit by anti-greenwashing litigation – here’s what makes them perfect targets
- Guerilla gardening: how you can make your local area greener without getting into trouble
- A slacker’s guide to climate-friendly gardening
- How to make your lawn wildlife friendly all year round – tips from an ecologist
- Hidden carbon: Fungi and their ‘necromass’ absorb one-third of the carbon emitted by burning fossil fuels every year
Not so Good News?
- England’s single-use plastics ban does not tackle takeaway boxes, warns Greenpeace
- EU faces ‘make or break moment’ for green transition, report says. Researchers see political risks to decarbonisation plan across forthcoming elections, but also suggest steps to win support
- Water firms want bill rises to cut leaks and spills
- New single-use plastic ban takes effect in England – here’s why its impact may be limited
- Tree-planting schemes threaten tropical biodiversity, ecologists say. Paper reveals scientists’ concerns that single-species carbon plantations threaten native flora and fauna, while delivering negligible benefits
- British diners warned off more fish types due to low populations in waters. Pollack from the Channel and dover sole from the Irish Sea among those to avoid, Good Fish Guide says
- Warming world nearing ‘point of no return’, says Pope Francis ahead of COP28 climate change conference. In a new document – Praise God – released ahead of the conference, the pope highlighted the transition to renewable energy from fossil fuels was not progressing fast enough, which could have a devastating impact on the planet and its people.
Bad News
- Switzerland has lost 10% of its glaciers in just two years in ‘catastrophic’ ice melt, study shows. The country has lost as much ice in the last two years as it did in the three decades before 1990, researchers said, describing the ice melt as “catastrophic”.
- ‘Exceptional’ Antarctic melt drives months of record-low global sea ice cover – Carbon Brief. Global sea ice extent is at a record low for this time of year, due to rapid Antarctic sea ice melt and below-average Arctic coverage, new data reveals. This is a detailed and wonderfully illustrated account by the excellent ‘Carbon Brief’.
- Extreme global warming could eventually wipe out humans, first-ever supercomputer climate models warn. Temperatures could spiral to 70C (158F) – transforming Earth into a “hostile environment devoid of food and water”, scientists warn – as the first ever supercomputer climate models are published, projecting a “very bleak distant future” for humanity.
- Autumn heat continues in Europe after record-breaking September. Countries including France, Germany and Poland all had their hottest Septembers on record
- Net zero U-turn will raise the cost of living and cost Britain jobs, economists warn Rishi Sunak. The Prime Minister says he is seeking to reduce the burden that new environmental rules will place on the British public
- Rosebank shows the UK’s offshore oil regulator no longer serves the public good
- How oil and gas company tax reliefs could lose the UK billions
- Rishi Sunak is introducing the polarised climate politics of the US, Canada and Australia to the UK
- ‘Gobsmackingly bananas’: scientists stunned by planet’s record September heat. The carbon emissions driving the climate crisis and rapid arrival of an El Niño event are to blame, researchers say
- Slow route to net zero will worsen global climate crisis, IPCC chief warns. Even if the 2050 goal is still met, postponing action – as the UK has done – will cause more heat and damage
Recent Events
The 6th Greater Manchester Green Summit 2023 was on Monday 2nd October at the Lowry. Gordon McKay, Greg Pike and myself went together for the second year running and we all enjoyed it once more. We find it motivational and very good for green networking. The poster below was drawn during the course of the summit and summaries some of the content. I am sure we will be going again next year and hope that some of you will join us.
Greater Manchester Green Summit 2023 Thank you to all our delegates! This link is worth looking at if you did not go as it includes a number of new initiatives and projects that were unveiled at the Green Summit.
We found out at the Greater Manchester Green Summit Andy Burnham and leaders of faith and no faith from our area went to see the Pope to hear about Laudato si’ (24 May 2015) | Francis. It begins with …Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. ….This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.
If you want to know more about this Encyclical letter see the upcoming event below.
Upcoming Events
The 2022 Film ‘The Letter: A message for our Earth’ is being shown on Thursday 12th October at 7.15 at Holy Spirit Church, Leigh Avenue, Marple. Official Trailer | The Letter: Laudato Si Film. The film features the Pope environmental champions from around the world, from different faiths and worldviews. Each represents an unheard voice in conversations on the planetary crisis. These are the voices of the Indigenous, the young, the poor, and wildlife.
From 18:30 to 21:00 Spring Bank Arts Centre, Spring Bank, New Mills SK22 4BH. Book via Eventbrite soon if you want to go as I am sure it will be sold out.
Other Media News
Taking the ‘fossil fuels’ out of fuel cells. Revolutionary new technology.. From the excellent ‘Just have a Think’ climate channel.