Harry Barton - Northmoor Trust Chief Executive
Can Oxfordshire schools tip the scales?
It is less than three months until the critical talks at Copenhagen where, if our political leaders have the courage and foresight, a new international agreement on climate change will materialise.
In the UK at least, there seems to be no lack of enthusiasm for targets to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions. Front bench politician from all the main political parties have signed up to the Guardian’s 10:10 pledge – to reduce personal carbon emissions by 10% in 2010. In Oxfordshire the County Council has taken the somewhat bolder pledge to reduce its carbon emissions by 18% by 2012, and the UK government has committed to an 80% reduction by 2050.
The trouble is that at a national and international level there is little evidence of these targets being met.
When challenged on this, the answer from our politicians is a blunt one: there simply aren’t enough of us making a fuss, and so when it comes to the hard decisions the environment usually loses out. Government decisions merely reflect people’s concerns, and we aren’t concerned enough.
In truth, for many of us the issue of climate change is still too distant in time and remote in its effects for us to get really worked up about. Will crippling drought in the Horn of Africa or the flooding of deltas in Bangladesh sometime in the next 20 or 30 years really affect our daily lives that much?
But there is a more positive and inspiring wind that is starting to blow. And this is the wonderful burst of energy coming from the grass roots – involving individuals, community and faith groups, charities, local companies and progressive local authorities. For instance, on 22nd September, when political leaders met in New York to discuss climate change, more than 1,000 events were held in 88 countries, from screenings of the film Age of Stupid to monks chanting prayers. Local organisations and social networks are starting to fill the gaps left by political leaders.
And one of the greatest of these gaps is to show how change can happen in practical way on the ground. This is at the core of our work at the Northmoor Trust. On 1st October, the Trust, Oxfordshire County Council and npower celebrated the launch the new Energy Bus. This highly unusual project will take the message of energy efficiency to schools and communities throughout the county. It’s designed to be fun and appealing as well as educational. After all, a low carbon future is about what we can have, not simply about what we can’t have.
To mark the launch, children from a number of schools will take part in an energy conference. They will prepare a message on behalf of Oxfordshire’s schools telling the Prime Minister about their views on climate change and the action they believe is needed. The message will be ppresented to the summit in Copenhagen. Who knows, may be their voice will count enough to tip the scales.
Photos from the Energy Bus launch >>
