News from Tewkesbury, April 2021

Tewkesbury supported the CEE banners drops

Plastic-Free Tewkesbury

Plastic-Free Tewkesbury has it’s first six Business Champions! We’re delighted to congratulate local businesses who have helped to reduce single-plastics and for spreading the word. The team is now working with our Business Allies, so please get in touch if you’re a business in Tewkesbury and would like to be involved. We are also looking for another team volunteer, so if you’re local and have some time, energy and commitment to spare, please get in touch catecody99@gmail.com

Tewkesbury Toad Patrol

Tewkesbury Toad Patrol has now finished for the season. Many thanks to all of the volunteers. We recorded a total of 155 amphibians and 28 volunteers went out a total of 168 times. The toad and frog numbers were disappointing, the weather wasn’t good for this year’s migration and sadly traffic is still a big issue, but we saved a lot from being squashed and the team will be back next year.

Spring Bulbs

Some of the bulbs that we organised in Tewkesbury in conjunction with GWT and local youngsters which brightened up the area this spring.

Young Wildlife Rangers – Tewkesbury places are now full.

Cheltenham & Tewkesbury Cycling Campaign – For further details and to become a member, see http://www.cyclecheltenham.org.uk/index.php

Tewkesbury Nature Reserve Annual membership is now available (£6 single, £10 joint, £12 family) contact supporters@tewkesburynaturereserve.org.uk

Events from 2020

Tue 30 June 2020, Virtual Mass Lobby of Parliament

See the main conversations of the day on the Climate Coalition facebook page.

‘What a day! Yesterday we made history with the first-ever virtual lobby of Parliament. Thank you for taking yourself off mute – together we asked over 200 MPs (and counting) to champion a green and fair recovery that works for everyone #TheTimeIsNow

Thanks to your efforts over 13,000 people signed up to meet their MP over zoom and, as far as we know, over 200 MPs and counting were lobbied to push for a green and fair recovery that works for everyone. There were some incredible moments, all of which we’ve tried to capture in our wrap up video here.

Please find below a quick overview of some of the headline social stats from yesterday:
– #TheTimeIsNow was the most used hashtag yesterday by Labour, Lib Dem AND Conservative MPs- Our Twitter account was in the top 3 most mentioned accounts by UK MPs
– the hashtag had a reach of 16m – this is filtered by the # being used with the words ‘virtual lobby’ or ‘green’ or ‘mp’ or ‘climate’ so this 16M is definitely usage related to the lobby
– our mentions were ON FIRE, in the last 24hrs we were mentioned 2,000 times with a reach of 14,617,703 on Twitter and Instagram
– We trended on Twitter for most of the day and were even above Boris’ speech at one point!

We’ll now be looking ahead to make sure the pressure isn’t taken off the government. We will start promoting our Declaration for a healthy, greener, fairer tomorrow next week, encouraging people to sign via thetimeisnow.uk on our social channels with a video featuring key workers calling for a green recovery.’

Thu 13 Feb 2020, Stroud – GlosCAN event – “UN climate negotiations: From Madrid 2019 to Glasgow 2020”

You are invited to come to an interactive talk and discussion led by Skeena Rathor, entitled “UN climate negotiations: From Madrid 2019 to Glasgow 2020”

Details:  Thursday 13 Feb 2020, 7.30 p.m. at Stroud Congregational Church Hall, Bedford St, Stroud GL5 1AY, next to the Subscription Rooms in the centre of Stroud. (Transport: if parking, please use public parking nearby – see details and map.)
Doors open at 7 p.m. Admission free, but donations welcome.  Expected finish at 9.30 p.m.
All welcome.  Please publicise through your own networks.
This will be an informal event where everyone should have a chance to contribute.
If you would like to make a two-minute ‘pitch’ of your own, please contact info@gloscan.org.  Please note that we are not planning to have projection facilities.

Background:  Skeena attended the ‘COP25’ UN climate conference in Madrid in December 2019, and had personal meetings with major participants.  She will talk about her experiences and the inadequacies of the present process, and lead a discussion on what campaigners could do ahead of the crucial ‘COP26’ conference in Glasgow.  2020 is the year that the 2015 Paris Agreement will formally come into effect, and has been widely portrayed as a critical point.  As Sir David Attenborough recently put it in a BBC interview, “The moment of crisis has come”.

 Saint John’s C of E Primary School, Cheltenham – local school children celebrate huge recycling success

Wed 26 June 2019, London. Climate Coalition mass lobby for climate and environment. News and interviews …

PRESS RELEASE
9‭ ‬May‭ ‬2019

‭“‬From local crisis to global climate emergency‭”

A group of nineteen local residents brought together by a minor neighbourhood emergency has written to David Drew MP to express their concern about the global climate emergency.

Residents and users of Uplands Road‭ (‬which is not maintained by the Council‭) ‬had already come together to find a solution to the deteriorating road surface and were then confronted with repeated bursting of the mains water supply pipe under the road,‭ ‬further damaging the road surface and endangering residents‭’ ‬water supplies.‭ ‬In conversations among neighbours,‭ ‬it became apparent that there was also a widely shared concern about climate change and how little is being done by governments across the world to limit it.

Hugh Richards,‭ ‬who drafted the letter,‭ ‬said‭ “‬I hope that David and other politicians will get the message that if a diverse group of people brought together by a small neighbourhood crisis are also concerned about the climate crisis,‭ ‬there must be many others wanting to see really effective international leadership on climate change,‭ ‬as well as the striking school students and Extinction Rebellion activists who have been raising the issue so strongly.‭”

Dan Giles,‭ ‬one of the organisers of the letter,‭ ‬said‭ “‬I hope this may inspire other informal groups to have conversations about the climate crisis and to remind their political representatives of their responsibility to give it the urgent priority it needs‭”‬.‭

The open letter is being sent to local newspapers and will be published on the website of Gloucestershire Climate Action Network‭ (‬www.GlosCAN.org‭)‬.

Further information is available from Hugh Richards at  info@gloscan.org

An open letter to David Drew MP – from residents and users of Uplands Road, Stroud, 7 May 2019

Dear Mr Drew
We are very concerned about the inadequacy of governments’ national actions and international cooperation to limit climate change.
We are a group of people who have come together, not to campaign about climate change or any other major issues, but simply to deal with some issues affecting our street, namely repeated failures of the mains water supply pipe and deterioration of the road surface.
With (eventually) the cooperation of the water company, these are issues we can cope with by working together.
By contrast, we feel powerless to do anything meaningful to deal with the relentlessly increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, and the threats they pose to the world we (especially children) will experience in future.
Three decades ago, when some of us were not even born, politicians (including the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher) started making speeches about the need to limit the causes of global warming. As you know, in October last year, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned the world that humanity has only about one decade left for action to limit global warming to a tolerable level (1.5°C).
The first action needed is to get global emissions of greenhouse gases to stop increasing and then start decreasing steeply. This has been called “bending the curve”.
We do not know how to make that happen, but then why should we? That is what we expect politicians and their specialist advisers to work out, above all by working together at international level. This does not seem to be happening in an effective manner.
We hope that you and other politicians will get the message that if a diverse group of people brought together by a small neighbourhood emergency are also concerned about the unfolding climate emergency, there must be countless others wanting to see genuinely effective national and international leadership on climate change emerge, and very soon.
We also hope that this expression of concern may inspire other informal groups to remind their political representatives of their responsibility to give climate change the priority it needs, and to do so this year.

Yours sincerely….

Some Food for Thought

Climate Emergency Vigil – Wallbridge, Stroud,
Every Friday 4.30–5.30 pm

The ‘Climate Emergency Vigil’ Initiative

On Friday 5 October 2018 Gloucestershire Climate Action Network (GlosCAN) held a Vigil for the World at Wallbridge, Stroud, which was attended by Stroud MP and GlosCAN supporter, Dr David Drew.

More…

Thu 18 Oct, GlosCAN meet John McDonnell MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer

Tuesday 4 Sep, Transition Stroud Community Energy Action Group, Stroud. Meeting the Ale House meeting room.

Notes from the meeting are available at http://gloscan.org/community-energy-action-group-transition-stroud/

Friday 17 August, Meeting with David Drew MP

Seven GlosCAN Supporters (including four Steering Group members) had a lively one-hour meeting with David Drew (MP for Stroud, Labour) on Friday 17 August. David is a signed-up Supporter of GlosCAN’s Starting Points and Aims.

At the start of the meeting we presented David with a Statement of Concern that we had agreed in a preceding preparatory meeting, which expresses widely felt alarm at the inadequate measures being taken to limit climate change, especially the lack of restrictions on extraction of fossil fuels, both globally and in the UK. David did not challenge our analysis of the situation, and offered to meet with some of us again to discuss further the challenges of limiting fossil fuel extraction and use.

He described Lord Deben’s presentation of the Committee on Climate Change’s June 2018 report to Parliament as a ‘devastating critique’ of current UK Government policy and was not optimistic about the prospects for other countries generally to do better.

As Shadow Minister for Agriculture/Rural Affairs, David is developing Labour’s agriculture policy for England. Central to this will be reform of the subsidy regime, not with the aim of reducing the overall level of subsidy, but to support farmers (especially tenant farmers) to ‘do the right things’, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon as high priorities. The 2018 Agriculture Bill is due out in September and Labour will be putting down various amendments.

We also discussed the low profile of climate change in national political discourse, despite the recent heatwave, and the forced migration effects of climate change.

We informed him about a number of more local initiatives, including the GFirst Local Enterprise Partnership’s Gloucestershire Energy Strategy development process and hopes for a Stroud Valleys community energy initiative.

Overall it was a productive meeting and it should lead on to further outcomes and discussions.

Sat 7 July 2018, Stroud: GlosCAN stall in the High Street

Our stall attracted plenty of passers-by on a busy Saturday morning.

Fri 13 April 2018, Stroud: Carbon Capture and Storage – Essential for our Future or a Trojan Horse for Big Oil? An expert presentation by research scientist Tim Dixon
Stroud Green Party coffee house meeting

The discussion consisted of an expert professional presentation of the technology of CCS from research scientist Tim Dixon, but with a counter-presentation of the reservations from a ‘Green perspective.

Thu 29 March 2018, Oxstalls Campus University of Gloucestershire: ‘Growing the future’ – Prospecting for innovative approaches to food, farming and the environment

The programme for the day is available for download.

The workshop, in Gloucester, built on ideas from a range of industry experts, practitioners and existing discussions to identify priorities and ways to embed them into policy thinking, and ultimately action, so that food, farming and environment policy is fit for the challenges that lie ahead in the next 70 years.

Read an account of the day in the GlosCAN blog section  Thoughts after ‘Growing the Future’ workshop.

21 March 2018, Nailsworth Climate Action Town. Talk: Home insulation – assessment and remedies

Thermal Camera Survey and 2050-ready Housing

by Tim Martel, BSc BA MCIAT CEPHD, Passivhaus Designer, Chartered Architectural Technologist

Talk for NCAT (Nailsworth Climate Action Town)
Including some of the Thermal Camera work for Transition Stroud, but then looking at UK efforts on housing, and how a straightforward modification of our approach is needed to reach the 2050 targets.
Great thing is, this approach also pays for itself!

February 2018 – Parliamentarians’ letter to Michael Gove on ‘Green Brexit’ and climate change mitigation

GlosCAN coordinated a letter to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, signed by David Drew MP (Stroud), Julie Girling, Clare Moody and Molly Scott Cato, MEPs for the South West. A press release was also been issued – 5 Feb 2018.

See also press release from Julie Girling ‘Let’s link farm grants to cutting CO2’ and her Twitter page.

7 Nov 2017, Nailsworth

Nailsworth Climate Action Town (NCAT)  meet David Drew MP

David Drew MP attended a meeting hosted by Nailsworth Climate Action Town (NCAT) group to discuss how the town can reduce its carbon footprint. Topics discussed included: community energy schemes; farming practices; public transport and buildings.

There was an excellent turnout and a lot of questions were raised and discussed during the meeting.

More… http://www.ncat.btck.co.uk/RecentNews

12 Oct 2017 – GlosCAN’s Annual General Meeting

Our Annual General Meeting took place on Thu 12 October.  Raquel Hughes from Tidal Lagoon Power, Gloucester, gave a detailed presentation about the proposed tidal lagoon pilot project in Swansea Bay. The project is ready and awaiting decision by Government.

Issues discussed included the ideal nature of the Severn estuary, construction methods and materials used,  potential output of different sizes of lagoon, the price of power generated, managing input to the grid, and suitable sites in the UK. It was estimated that six large-size lagoons (larger than the pilot lagoon) around the UK could provide 8% of UK energy. This would be equal to a ‘Severn Barrage’, but without the negative environmental effects.

We were pleased to have two new volunteers to serve on the Steering Group who were duly elected. The meeting ended with a discussion of ideas for future plans.

7 Sep 2017, Hawkwood, Stroud

RSA Watch: Is there still Hope on Climate Change? In partnership with Hawkwood and Gloucestershire Climate Action Network

Tne event was held in the inspirational setting of Hawkwood, Centre for Future Thinking, where participants can meet and watch RSA talks together and discuss the ideas and concepts raised – “social watching”.

The theme of this RSA lecture was “is there still hope on climate change” – with the aim of the discussion being to look beyond the science and get to the core of the human response to climate change.

The RSA lecture can still be viewed. It is on the RSA website, entitled Is there still Hope on Climate Change. It is a discussion between David Attenborough and Tim Flannery. author of the 2015 book Atmosphere of Hope.

The event was well attended, including members of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), GlosCAN and other visitors.

Tim Flannery’s ‘third way’ is about removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere – by a large range of very inventive methods. He calls it by this name to distinguish it both from mitigating climate change (cutting emissions) and from ‘geo-engineering’ that tries to control temperature rise. The ‘third way’ methods involve long development times and investment, and therefore need to be started on now, but a focus just on emissions reductions is no longer enough, whilst geo-engineering carries immense risks.

In the discussion after the film there was a great variety of perspectives, with disagreement, for example, over whether
– most people are really prepared to imagining the future much beyond their own life-times;
– the threats of climate change will ever engender enough sense of crisis or even panic to create the political conditions for effective action;
– policies made in the context of ‘neo-liberal’ politics can have any place in the response to climate change;
– humanity can collectively change its own perceptions of, and psychological responses to, climate change.
There was a minority view that things will not be adequately dealt with by emissions reduction or CO2 sequestration, and that risky ‘geo-engineering’ such as injecting sulphur into the stratosphere will inevitably end up being deployed.
Some expressed deep suspicion of ‘top-down’ solutions to climate change, especially technological ones.

Some felt the film fell very short and was tunnel-vision, turning a blind eye to the positive actions for example by farmers in Australia who are actively returning carbon into the earth. One found the film eye-opening and accessible, facts being presented with plenty of examples. The book ‘Atmosphere of Hope’ was also felt to be inspiring because of looking at positive things happening and mitigation of global warming.

There was appreciation of the beauty of our world, acknowledging humanity as consistently adaptive, with positive values and ingenuity.
We all responded well to the final moments of the interview where David Attenborough gave the example of the abolition of slavery in 1800s as the kind of philosophical leap, or moral turnaround that humanity now needs to make to repair the misuse of the world and the creatures in it.

See also:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/02/atomsphere-hope-tim-flannery-planet-remade-oliver-morton-review

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/283249/atmosphere-of-hope/

https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/tim-flannery/31919/

Meeting with David Drew, MP for Stroud, Fri 25 August 2017

David Drew was elected as the MP for Stroud again in the General Election, in place of Neil Carmichael.

GlosCAN met him and had a wide ranging discussion on the current situation as he sees it and on ways forward.

Stroud News and Journal article below:

Stroud MP David Drew supports Gloucestershire group fighting climate change

STROUD MP David Drew has signed up to support the anti-climate change group, Gloucestershire Climate Action Network (GlosCAN).

Three South West MEPs from different parties pledged their support for the climate change organisation in October last year; Molly Scott Cato (Green), Clare Moody (Labour) and Julie Girling (Conservative).

After meeting with representatives of GlosCAN, Mr Drew said: “It’s not easy right now to be optimistic about the prospects for limiting climate change, so I’m glad to support GlosCAN’s efforts in pressing for positive political and practical action.”

Hugh Richards, Chair of the GlosCAN Steering Group, said: “David is now the Shadow Farming Minister, so it’s not surprising that most of our discussions focused on how to get UK agriculture to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and lock up more carbon in the soil.

“The Government could change farm subsidies to pay farmers to make that happen.

“There’s a huge amount of relevant expertise here in Gloucestershire, and David suggested bringing local and national experts and stakeholders together for a conference next year.

“We in GlosCAN are keen to support this and will be using our network to find willing partners.”

Meeting with Julie Girling MEP at Gloucester, Fri 5 May 2017

Representatives of Gloucestershire Climate Action Network met Julie Girling MEP on Friday 5 May and discussed progress to date and future ways forward on climate change.

Notes on meeting:

This was a first meeting between representatives of GlosCAN (Hugh Richards, Vaughan Webber and Doina Cornell) and Julie Girling. Julie is a registered Supporter of GlosCAN’s Starting Points and Aims, and provided the following statement when she signed up in summer 2016: “I am very happy to support the strategy GlosCAN has outlined which is in line with the work I have been doing as a member of the Environment Committee in the European Parliament for the last seven years.

Climate Change is a huge challenge, a global problem that must be addressed. I welcome GlosCAN’s initiative and will work with them to achieve their goals.”

GlosCAN provided a list of suggested topics/questions for discussion two days ahead of the meeting. In the event, we had a fairly informal, free-flowing discussion, which touched on most of the suggested topics. Julie seemed well-informed on climate change (CC), and especially in the EU context.

Below are points made by Julie in the discussion that stood out, from the perspective of one or more of us as GlosCAN representatives present. These points are noted without any judgement being made as to whether GlosCAN would agree or take issue with them. That said, the meeting was cordial in tone, and we were left in no doubt that Julie considers CC to be a serious but currently much-neglected issue.

• The UK CC Act is not EU legislation and in fact goes substantially beyond what current EU CC commitments require.

• The CC Act is unlikely to be affected by Brexit.

• The UK’s commitments on CC mitigation currently contribute to the EU’s pledges under the 2015 Paris Agreement, with the EU rather than the UK and other member states being Parties to the UN Framework Convention on CC.

• Decisions will shortly be made on “effort-sharing” between EU member states so as to meet or exceed the EU’s emissions reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement. This will take place before Brexit, so the UK will be making CC commitments in an EU context before Brexit.

• The UK Government’s decision that Brexit will terminate all jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over the UK means that the UK’s CC commitments will cease to be enforceable by the ECJ.

• It is not yet clear how the UK will remain within the UNFCCC after Brexit. It could in theory become a separate Party to the UNFCCC or could continue to work through the EU using a new arbitration mechanism (not the ECJ) that is likely to be needed for the UK to continue to participate in a wide range of international agreements and treaties where it currently operates via the EU.

• From a legislative point of view, the simplest option for Brexit will be to leave all EU legislation intact in UK law for a transitional period of 6-7 years, including the UK remaining within the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement via the EU, and the UK remaining within the EU Emissions Trading System.

• Julie suspects that on a similar timescale (the next five years or so) awareness of the current impacts of CC will grow, and change the political environment towards more effective action to limit CC. Julie cited the spread of ash dieback disease into the UK being linked to CC (mild winters) and the likely spread of diseases in cattle (previously unknown in Europe) from areas where the diseases are endemic in North Africa and the Middle East.

• Turning to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Julie pointed out that although the 2013/14 reforms implemented in 2015 put greater weight on “social goods” (as against purely agricultural production) when setting subsidy rates, there is very little on CC. The next review/reform of the CAP is likely to put more emphasis on adaptation to CC (e.g. managing land to mitigate flooding), but seems unlikely to grasp the issue of mitigating CC by using subsidies to reduce carbon emissions from agriculture.

• After Brexit, the UK will have to decide what should replace CAP subsidies. The current Agriculture Minister, George Eustace, is understood to favour subsidies based mainly or even exclusively on “social goods” – including environmental benefits. In principle, there may be an opportunity for UK post-CAP subsidies to promote land uses that mitigate CC.

• Julie noted that UK beef farmers recognise that the way forward for their industry is likely to be to focus on relatively low volumes of high-quality beef sold into premium markets, with emphasis on high standards of animal welfare, soil conservation, etc. The organisation “Linking Environment and Farming” (LEAF) is actively promoting this type of approach, in which addressing CC plays a part.

• LEAF has several members farming in Gloucestershire, and Julie suggested that Gloucestershire could be a pioneering area for an approach to beef production that is more sustainable in terms of CC as well as factors like soil conservation and use of antibiotics. Julie suggested that GlosCAN could approach LEAF to explore whether there are shared goals that could be publicised.

• Dairy farming was also discussed. Julie indicated that the UK dairy industry is split between farmers who favour keeping dairy cattle outdoors most of the time and those who see the future in terms of an entirely indoor operation. Indoor dairy herds are more common in places like the Netherlands, where they are favoured by financial incentives to capture methane emissions to help that country meet its CC commitments.

• Regarding incentives to reduce CO2 emissions from the industrial and power sectors, Julie favours keeping and strengthening the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), with the UK staying in the ETS after Brexit. Something called the “MSR (Market Stability Reserve) adjustment mechanism” is expected to raise the carbon price in the ETS to a level where it will become effective in driving down emissions from 2020 onwards.

• Energy policy in the EU is subject to “subsidiarity”, which means (for example) that individual member states can set up their own fiscal arrangements to promote emissions reductions (e.g. a planned carbon tax in Sweden) or compensate major industrial emitters that have to pay high carbon charges under the ETS (e.g. Germany).

• The EU can use the Fuel Quality Directive to restrict or ban imports of particularly “dirty” fossil fuels. For example, a ban on fuels produced from Canadian tar/oil sands is being considered, which would not be incompatible with the recently concluded Canada-EU Trade Agreement (CETA).

To conclude, this was an informative discussion. Julie offered to continue to engage with GlosCAN, specifically offering to respond to queries about EU matters relevant to CC. She suggested meeting again at some point when the implications of Brexit for CC policy in the UK start to become clearer. In the meantime, she suggested engagement with LEAF as a potential lead for GlosCAN to pursue.

GlosCAN build a giant heart on Selsley Common, Stroud, Sun 12 February 2017

As part of the Climate Coalition ‘For the Love of…’ campaign, GlosCAN built a heart out of Cotswold stone at one of the old quarries on Selsley Common, near The Toots Long Barrow. The weather was overcast with a cold wind and snow flurries, but the River Severn is just visible in our picture!

GlosCAN wish especially to thank Jason and Steve from Cheltenham for their able assistance in designing and making the heart!

This action is part of the nationwide ‘For the Love of’ campaign. This February, people across the country – joining in with the Climate Coalition – are showing the love for all the things that are affected by climate change through the power of green hearts.  This is a chance to begin a conversation about the things we love that climate change threatens and the opportunities for a world powered by clean and secure energy.

Short video of the event by courtesy of Philip Booth of Stroud Community TV

Visit to solar PV panel roof of Gloucester Cathedral, Friday 27th January 2017

Gloucester Cathedral goes solar to combat climate change

Gloucester Cathedral’s journey towards fossil fuel free energy was welcomed by Green MEP Molly Scott Cato and campaigners from Gloucestershire Climate Action Network (GlosCAN) on a visit on Friday 27th January.
Despite its Grade 1 Listed status the Cathedral has been able to put 150 solar photovoltaic panels on the south side of the nave roof and will soon install an air source heat pump, which will provide heat to the refurbished 15th century Lady Chapel much more efficiently than direct electric heating.

Molly Scott Cato said: “Standing up on the roof of the cathedral looking across the rooftops of Gloucester, it was clear that more can be done, there were many roofs that were ideal for solar PV panel installation. I hope that the work done by the staff at the cathedral will inspire others to install similar technologies on suitable homes and work places”

For further information:
http://www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk/project-pilgrim/how/
https://www.hlf.org.uk/about-us/news-features/gloucester-cathedral-goes-green
https://www.hlf.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/major-development-project-gloucester-cathedral
http://www.shrinkingthefootprint.org

Visit to hydro power site at Coaley, near Dursley, Monday 9th Jan 2017

GlosCAN supporters visited Coaley Mill, near Dursley, and were given a detailed guided tour by the owner, Ossie Goring, an engineer and leading authority nationally on small-scale hydro generation. Coaley Mill has a low-maintenance turbine that has been generating for 30 years, which has enabled the operation of a small industrial facility.

Hydro power has advantages in addition to generation of clean electricity. It means water levels in rivers are managed so that floods are more easily prevented; rubbish can be removed; water quality can be improved; wild-life is able to benefit. (Coaley Mill, for example, has a system of fish ladders to enable fish and elvers to go upstream.)

Gloucestershire has scores of former water mills that are now derelict, but they are a resource that could potentially be tapped to produce clean energy.

http://www.aartpc.co.uk/waterpower-engineering/why.html
http://www.water21.org.uk/hydropower/
http://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/stroud-mp-visits-coaley/story-19699210-detail/story.html

Meeting with Molly Scott Cato MEP at Stroud, Thursday 5th Jan 2017

From article in the Stroud News and Journal

‘STROUD’S resident Member of European Parliament has praised the positive work on climate change undertaken by a local action group.

Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West, met with representatives from the Gloucestershire Climate Action Network (GlosCAN) last Thursday to discuss their progress over the last year.

The meeting of minds at the Golden Fleece pub in Stroud saw the group discuss the small positive steps forward taken in the county on addressing climate change.

The Green politician and environmentalist discussed a number of sustainable local projects and scheme in the Five Valleys and beyond…

…Mrs Cato said: “It was a pleasure to meet GlosCAN and I admire their commitment to turning their concerns about climate change into positive action… I would recommend people to make joining GlosCAN their New Year’s resolution.” ‘

Read the full article from the Stroud News and Journal.

Read the report, The Power to Transform the South West, commissioned by Molly Scott Cato,which demonstrates how the South West can provide 100%+ of its energy needs through renewable energy alone.

Climate Coalition Week of Action, 8th-16th October 2016:

Friday 14th October 2016
Surplus Food Meal at Stroud

About 45 people attended a Surplus Food Meal held at the Wesley Rooms at Stroud Methodist Church in Parliament Street. The meal was made from surplus – but still fully edible! – food from supermarkets, with guests paying on a Pay-As-You-Feel basis.
Francis Gobey (from Stroud Community Agriculture) Greg Pilley (from Stroud Brewery) and Martin Whiteside (an International Development adviser) spoke about food production and climate change, locally and globally.

Saturday 15th October 2016
Kites fly on Robinswood Hill, Gloucester

Campaigners gathered on Robinswood Hill on Saturday to harness the power of the wind and underline their call for the Government to act urgently to tackle climate change.

Around 35 people joined together to make kites and paper windmills and fly kites on the hill in an event organised by Christian Aid and CAFOD and attended by Gloucester city councillor Colin Organ.

Organiser Maria Wells from St Paul and St Stephen Church said: “It was fantastic to see so many people up on the hill on such a beautiful clear autumn day, making their feelings known on the urgent need to move towards clean energy.

“We care deeply both about our beautiful Gloucestershire landscape and those millions of people in poor communities across the world who have done the least to contribute to global warming but who are experiencing the consequences first and the hardest.

“By joining together with people across the county and country in this week of action we were able to make sure that Gloucester’s voice is part of a clear message to the Government that it must act now.

“Gloucester MP Richard Graham did not attend on the day but we have requested a meeting with him soon to pass on the sense of urgency of all those who took part.

“The children had great success with their homemade kites which in some cases flew better than the bought ones!”

Saturday 15th October 2016
Meeting with Alex Chalk, MP, Cheltenham

Campaigners gathered at St Mary’s Parish Centre, Charlton Kings,  on Saturday (October 15th) in a Question and Answer session with Alex Chalk MP to underline their call for the Government to act urgently to tackle climate change.

Around 20 people joined together to engage in debate with Mr Chalk about electric car charging points, fracking, carbon capture and storage and the Green Investment Bank.

Local Organiser Alison Talbot said, “We were glad to engage with Alex, who appropriately enough arrived on his bike.  We wanted him to know that we are pleased that the Prime Minister has promised to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change before the end of the year and we hope he will encourage her to deliver on that promise.  We also wanted him to know how strongly we felt that we need the government to deliver an ambitious low-carbon investment plan.”

“We had a lively and robust exchange of views. The bottom line is that millions of people in poor communities across the world who have done the least to contribute to global warming experience the consequences first and the hardest.

Mr. Chalk commented after the meeting, “I was delighted to meet so many principled and well-informed Church campaigners to discuss climate change. We had a really stimulating discussion. I am passionately committed to driving down carbon emissions, and want to see our country get on and ratify the historic Paris Agreement this year, as well as phase out dirty coal by 2025.”

Sunday 16 October 2016, Bishops Cleeve
Big Squeeze – apple juicing

There was a good flow of visitors to Grangefield School in Voxwell Lane, where people were invited to bring their windfall apples and juice them.

Information from Transition Cleeve and the opportunity to talk about climate change formed part of the event.

Friday 21st October 2016, meeting with Neil Carmichael MP, Nailsworth

Eight people attended the meeting with Neil Carmichael, MP for Stroud – members of Christian Aid, GlosCAN, and Stroud District Horticultural Belt Group; a school pupil also attended.
Questions asked were: the adequacy of the 2008 Climate Change Act in the light of Paris 2015; publishing monthly emissions figures; potential watering down of climate commitments after Brexit; tackling emissions from non-energy and land use; preservation of continued UK foreign aid contributions for climate adaptation funds; how increased use of fracked or imported gas can be compatible with reducing fossil fuel use; government encouragement of products with lower embodied carbon by, for example, a carbon tax.
A good exchange of views took place. The group will be following up some of the points with Neil in due course.

For the Love of …  July 2016

Display at Stroud Town Council Offices in support of the Climate Coalition’s ‘For the Love of …’ campaign, which highlights things that we love that are threatened by climate change.

Letter in Stroud Life
Aug 2016

In August, the journalist George Monbiot wrote an article in the Guardian (click on link):
The climate crisis is already here – but no one’s telling us
– the media largely relegate the greatest challenge facing humanity to footnotes as industry and politicians hurtle us towards systemic collapse of the planet

The Chair of GlosCAN wrote to Stroud Life as a follow-up:

View as pdf: letter-to-stroud-life-10-08-16