Tackling climate change is the subject of Damian's column in today's Petersfield Post:
I recently had the pleasure of participating in a discussion on climate change, hosted by the Petersfield branch of CAFOD, one of the leading overseas development charities, at St Laurence's Petersfield.
CAFOD’s campaign ‘One Climate One World’ shines a spotlight on the challenges we face in preventing climate change pushing some communities across the world deeper into poverty, but also how we can support the transition from fossil fuels to more sustainable energy sources.
Climate change is one of the great challenges for this generation and no one country can solve it alone. The UK accounts for less than 2% of global emissions, but all countries must play their part and coordinate through international institutions. For Britain, as well as simply pulling our weight, other countries often look to us to take a lead.
A British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, was the first world leader to identify the scale of the challenge. The Climate Change Act 2008 was a world trailblazer. No other country has a framework quite like ours, with the Climate Change Committee, Carbon Budgets and action plans, and the resulting stretching, transparent accountability to Parliament and the public. There is a strong degree of cross-party consensus on the end point, but thorough debate on the journey.
We were among the first nations to commit to an end date for unabated coal. We are a world leader in offshore wind deployment. And we played a critical role in securing the recent Paris Agreement.
We’re on track to achieve the target set by the 2008 Act, which requires the net UK carbon amount for the year 2050 to be at least 80% lower than the 1990 baseline. On track, but with plenty more still to, opportunities to be identified.
Apart from putting our own house in order, a critical part of the global effort must be to help the poorest and most vulnerable countries to tackle and adapt to climate change - the Paris Agreement established a $100 billion a year fund from both the public and private sectors to do just that.
How we act closer to home is just as significant, with our own efforts to reduce, reuse and re-cycle. Petersfield has a strong proud history in this regard, including through the Greening Petersfield campaign a few years back.
When I visit local schools I am struck by how children instinctively engage with this - they help in reminding the adults if ever we need the prompt – and many local firms have made substantial practical commitments.
East Hants District Council, through its Energy Strategy, continues to look at a range of initiatives to help reduce our footprint locally, from the type of sustainable housing planned for Whitehill & Bordon, renewable energy projects such as district heating, and the more recent introduction of electric car charging facilities.
In fact, the take-up of electric (and/or hydrogen) vehicles may well be one of the real game changers for the future. Another could be a step change development in battery technology which could in turn transform the potential of intermittent sources (like wind and solar) in the power mix.
There is much to be proud of in the positive action being taken here in the UK. We’re involved in world class green technologies and have some of the best research and development teams and facilities.
None of this is entirely without cost in one form or another but the cost of inaction would be far greater. To succeed in the battle against climate change does require public acceptance, and that in turn needs advocacy. I commend Petersfield CAFOD and the other local groups for their work.
Article written by Damian Hinds and published in the Petersfield Post on 26th October 2016