Committee for the Environment - Inquiry into Climate Change Submissions

Baglady Productions response to Environment Committee Inquiry into Climate Change

28 February 2009

Baglady Productions

I, Shirley Lewis, am director of Baglady Productions, a not-for-profit company working to inspire individuals and community to take responsibility for our place on this planet. We have no formal membership, but our message gets out; our website indicates wide support across Northern Ireland, the UK and globally.

I am a member of the Climate Change Coalition (CCC) and have played my part in the discussions about our collective response. My own experience as an environmental campaigner makes enables me fully to endorse the Climate Change Coalition response.

My role is:

i) to communicate the urgency of action 
ii) to point to the good developments that will accompany this action 
iii) to inspire people in Northern Ireland and around the world to look after this, our beautiful place. .

My focus here is, as always, on doing rather than talking. I am always calling for action. We have no time to lose. Not currently employed by government at any level, I am free to say exactly what I think and feel. I continually strive to do so with respect for everyone and everything,

Since my return home to Northern Ireland from Australia in 2002, I've been funded 6 times by government*.

In total I've managed over £100,000 in cash and a lot more in kind, keeping waste of all kinds to a minimum. I have taken great pleasure in doing much more than was expected at most stages of the 5 years of funding. I knew there was no time to lose.

I've visited over 150 schools in Northern Ireland and met hundreds of teachers and thousands of schoolchildren who are bursting with enthusiasm to do something urgent about climate change and other environment issues . They often know, and are prepared to do, much more than their parents.

Their Positive Pester Power (PPP)** skills can get us adults off our proverbials ; through internet and other media they can reach out to other children, and their parents, right around the world. And they can help us make it fun.

I have 7 years experience in living ASAP (As Sustainably as Possible) which means no car, no garage, no oiltank, and much attention to domestic energy saving of all kinds, and means I can make a very strong contribution on all aspects of the spectrum from waste to sustainability. I am writing a play about this.

Response to the terms of reference

a) To identify initial commitments for Northern Ireland that will ensure it plays a fair and proportionate role as part of the UK in meeting climate change targets.

Baglady comment:

At approx 1.7million people, we in Northern Ireland make up 1/4000th of the world's population.

Sadly, we use much, much more than our fair share of resources, guzzling up 1000th of what's available. North and South of the border, our global footprint is about 4 times what it should be (wwf) - (Climate Change Coalition: ' Northern Ireland’s per capita emissions of 12.83 tonnes compares badly with the UK average of 10.48 tonnes, the global average of 4 tonnes and the global fair share of 1.65 tonnes ')

People somewhere else in the world don't have enough because of what we're using and wasting.

This is the true story of climate change - Earth responding negatively to our greed, excess and laziness. Human beings have developed problems of attitude and behaviour which threaten our very existence.

We know we are doing this. Yet we continue to do so, giving all sorts of reasons to justify our failure to change even the most basic of wasteful habits - eg plastic bags, water, energy in all forms, food, paper.... the list is massive and it needs decisive action from the Environment Committee and the NI Assembly.

We can change; we are already changing. It just needs to happen on a broader scale, faster, more efficiently and ideally with a great deal of our fabled Irish creativity and humour. The very smallness of our community, its friendliness and sense of humour all suggest to me that we can quite easily take the lead here. Our children need our support.

I agree with the Climate Change Coalition that:

'The Assembly should ensure that its voice is heard at the national and international level. It should categorically state its support for an international climate change agreement to limit global warming to no more than 2° Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures (most scientists accept that ‘dangerous climate change’ is much more likely above this temperature increase).

'The Assembly has accepted that the provisions of the UK Climate Act will be extended to Northern Ireland. (Next, we need) ' a Northern Ireland Climate Change Act with a legally binding regional target to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 80% from 1990 levels by 2050. This is the minimum requirement that will be necessary to play our part in the global attempt to avoid dangerous climate change.'

'The Executive should set an “intermediate” target for emissions in 2020, a series of legally binding 5 year “carbon budgets” and an annual carbon reduction target at an average of at least 3% per annum.'

b) To consider the necessary actions and a route map for each significant sector in Northern Ireland (energy, transport, agriculture and land use, business, domestic, public sector etc)

Baglady comment:

Action is my forte. It is, oddly enough, the most difficult thing for humans to do - especially in the climate change context.

We now broadly agree: to do nothing is NOT an option. But what to do? and how? how long can we put it off?

We need immediate leadership from our politicians and people at all levels, top to bottom, in government departments.

In my experience, people in political positions and in related government departments often take up their post knowing very little about environment, climate change etc. The knowledge is new, rapidly changing, and highly confronting, eg if you get driven to work in a fuel-inefficient car, like Arlene Foster.

Often by the time these people are fully equipped for the task in hand, they're moved to a different department. It would be most helpful to ask these people for their insight into how to deal with this information gap.

The people I've met with the best skills and least conflict of interest are the scientific community (eg QUB and UU), charities and environment NGOs. They should be trusted more and consulted in greater depth - as you're doing now.

I personally have access to a wealth of comment on energy, transport etc - and direct experience of living it - it would take weeks or months to tabulate them. Instead, I am finding ways to express what I've learned - eg in installing PV cells and thus generating my own electricity to sell back to the grid (!!) - in a way that sucks people in....

c) To identify the costs associated with meeting these obligations and compare them with the costs that will be incurred if they are not achieved.

Baglady comment :

A 12 yr-old boy sees the solar panels on my roof. For weeks, he and his friends plague me with questions about why I have it, what it costs, how it works etc... I tell them all I can; and I add that installing solar panels could be a good, worthwhile and interesting job... this keeps them going for even longer.

Action Renewables :

'almost 6,000 short term and 400 long term jobs could be sustained in Northern Ireland, exclusively by developing renewable energy within the region.'

Baglady:

Our children are almost not needed in a world where machines do most things better, quicker and cheaper than they ever could. Our kids have nothing to do, nothing to look forward to. They become angry, or despairing.

This is costing us huge sums of money in violence, vandalism, medical bills for depression, obesity, prison sentences, the list goes on.

The Climate Change Coalition quotesNorthern Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride:

“Current predictions on climate change suggest greater long-term impacts on health than any current public health priority. To preserve health in a changing climate, we need to modify and strengthen the systems we have to adapt to the likely future impacts of global warming. We must tackle this issue on all fronts, reducing our contribution to the problem and responding to the effects of climate change is a shared international responsibility.”

Baglady:

Meanwhile, my travels around NI show me that it's in a shocking state of rubbish and waste. We will never have the money to clean it up. But we do have the people. Taking responsibility for our daily life in terms of the basics: shelter, food, water, warmth.... will make a huge difference; and we can measure it.

Further relevant - and encouraging - extracts from the Climate Change Coalition response:

'The central message (of the Stern Review) is that reducing emissions today will make us better off in the future: one model predicts benefits of up to $2.5 trillion each year if the world shifts to a low carbon path.

'The renewable sector in Germany supports 170,000 people and existing German government support measures promoting renewable energy could create 130,000 new jobs by 2020 (German environment ministry)

'Greater than 70,000 jobs could be created in the UK by investing in and developing offshore wind technology. (Carbon Trust)

'The overall added value of the low carbon energy sector by 2050 could be as high as $3 trillion per year worldwide and... could employ more than 25 million people.' (Gordon Brown)

'The Coalition believes that there are strong moral imperatives for Northern Ireland to contribute its fair share of global emissions cuts in order to combat global climate change. Hundreds of millions of people across the globe could lose their lives and livelihoods, up to a third of land-based species may become extinct, immense political instability will occur as people migrate to avoid droughts and floods and compete for scarce resources, and great economic damage will be caused by increasingly extreme weather.

The SNIFFER report on the impacts of climate change on Northern Ireland identified a number of direct effects, mostly negative, on human health, the economy, natural habitats and water resources, for example, the extent of flood risk to existing settlements remains unquantified compared with the situation in Great Britain.

f) To make recommendations on a public service agreement for the DOE Climate Change Unit’s commitments in the second Programme for Government that will ensure Northern Ireland will meet its climate change obligations.

'The legal responsibility to deliver the targets set in a Northern Ireland Climate Change Act and through the carbon budgets should fall collectively on the Executive.

Specific responsibilities to deliver the targets set in the Climate Act and in the carbon budgets should be identified in public service agreements for each Northern Ireland department.

A public service agreement should be drafted for the Department of the Environment which would include a commitment to provide information and support to the other departments to help deliver the targets set in a Northern Ireland Climate Change Act and in the carbon budgets. '

Baglady comment:

The public need to see all government staff, particularly those in the Department of Environment, showing full awareness of their own role and responsibility, in forestalling climate change. Getting rid of the take-away packaged lunches, the heat and light wastage in offices - all these things can be used to build awareness and staff morale.

Individual and group actions in any of these areas needs to be praised and publicised both interdepartmentally and community-wide, so people can learn by example.

Preaching and stats don't work, how-tos, targets, responses, tables etc do. And always remember: make it fun.

There is huge frustration in the Education Department over Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Progress there is slowed by steady withdrawal of funding from various bodies specialising in school visits eg Sustainable NI, Action Renewables. Curriculum material appears brilliantly envisaged and practical - but the subject is not examinable. The Sustainable champion in Education has too many other commitments to find sufficent time and energy for this huge job.

I have found that environment in general, and dealing with Climate Change in particular, are very popular subjects with schoolchildren of all ages. Much of the alienation experienced by the less academically promising children vanishes, in the rush to show and share skills acquired in this new and challenging field. Again, it's fun.

The Climate Change Coalition:

'The people of Northern Ireland are asking for leadership from the Assembly.

There is a lot of expertise on climate change available in Northern Ireland and many groups are looking to play their part in facilitating moves towards a low carbon economy. The Committee should engage widely and openly.'

Conclusion

September 2009 is a long way away if you consider that we need to reduce our carbon output by 3% per annum. And it's cumulative; the longer we postpone, the harder it will be to make it up.

Baglady Productions congratulates the Environment Committee on its initiative ini launching this enquiry, and would welcome the opportunity to make a presentation to the Committee if invited.

Footnotes:

* first a costs-only Millenium Award, then 2X Ballymena Borough Counci (Environment Weeks 2003,2004) , which led to 2X DoE funding for NEEDabag? campaign with 10 councils (2005) and with 23 councils, 100+ schools and thousands of supermarkets and convenience stores and solid press, radio and TV support. The last funded project, in partnership with jollytv, had us travelling ASAP (bus and train where possible) all over N Ireland to film baglady in 16 places. see www.bagladyproductions.org

** Baglady apparently discovered Positive Pester Power in 2006. It was immediately adopted by Down District Council's Janet McIlvenna and featured on BBC Politics Show. Subsequently praised by Eamon Holmes on BBC Summer Special show 2007

*** CCC (NI) members:
ARENA Network 
Baglady Productions 
British Council (Northern Ireland) 
Centre for Global Education 
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health 
Christian Aid 
Concern 
Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland 
Friends of the Earth 
Green Action 
NICVA 
Northern Ireland Environment Link 
Oxfam Ireland 
RSPB 
Sustainable NI 
Sustrans 
Tearfund 
The National Trust
TIDY NI 
Tools for Solidarity 
Trocaire 
Ulster Wildlife Trust 
WWF Northern Ireland