Climate Emergency
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Contact: |
Christine Thompson 020 3583 0638 chris.cpt3@tiscali.co.uk (email contact preferred) Vacancies |
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Day & Times: |
3rd Wednesday 2.00 - 4.00pm |
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Frequency & Venue: |
Monthly, Surbiton Library |
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Transport: |
Buses K2 and 281 |
Climate Coalition Rally July 9th
If you would also like to meet your MP the Climate Coalition over 130 member organisations including the RSPB and the Women’s institute has ongoing plans for a mass lobby of Parliament Wed 9th July which includes a chance to meet your MP. Anyone who signs up via https://www.
U3A Kingston Group Climate Action – Meeting with Ed Davey MP
In early June a few of us from our Climate Action Group co-ordinated by Christine Thompson, joined forces with some members of Kingston United Reform Church (KURC) to meet with Sir Ed Davey MP. Our purpose was to discuss climate change,
The meeting was held at the Lib Dem Constituency office in Surbiton. Our meeting lasted well over the scheduled hour.
Prior to the meeting, we had planned to focus our discussions on the Climate and Nature Bill (the CAN Bill), which had been introduced to Parliament by Lib Dem MP Dr Roz Savage.
Having been Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change during the coalition years, Ed was very well informed and could answer all our questions with clarity and understanding. He expressed a view that, UK voters are concerned about the cost of living, care/NHS and immigration. [ When asked specifically about climate change, they are concerned about it] Ed regrets that the topic of climate change has dropped out of public discourse and made the point that, amongst other things, immigration is linked to climate change. Ed was very approachable and pleasant.
Ed commented that we should support the use of renewable energy sources e.g. tidal, water, wind and solar and that we should be using use less gas and oil.
Ed is clearly very familiar with his constituency and referred to his involvement with the local project called the Hogsmill Heat Network whereby waste heat from the sewage works could be used to heat buildings. Our colleagues from KURC thought this may be worth investigating when planning a new heating system for their Church.
On a global level we talked about how important it is for debt-laden countries to have their debts cancelled on condition they invest in renewables. This development has already begun in some countries. Ed thanked Christine for raising this matter.
The meeting demonstrated the importance of addressing big challenges like climate change, economic inequality and how anyone can become involved in these subjects. We felt that we have a shared responsibility to tackle these issues, and hopefully, we have laid the foundation for future collaboration between community groups and their MP.
Bill Higgins, Kingston U3A Climate Action Group Member
Climate Crisis and some Solutions – Zoom Talk – May 22
Brenda Ainsley’s talk explained the science behind the climate crisis and went on to explore some of the solutions. There were lots of questions at the end and there were still more at the extended time when Brenda said we must finish.
The Climate Reality Project was founded by former US Vice President Al Gore; every effort has been made to ensure that all facts are verified and refer only to Peer Reviewed research. The work of institutions such as NASA and the Meteorological Office are drawn on, along with many academic institutions. The presentation was up-to-date and draws on examples from both around the world and here in the UK.
Brenda Ainsley is a u3a member, a trained Climate Reality Leader and is also Community Lead for Plastic Free Cotgrave. She is a Green Flag Assessor for Eco Schools. Brenda has led various Eco and Climate Groups for the u3a, has presented four National Talks and jointly leads the ‘Countdown to COP’ group for the Online u3a. Along with members of that group, she is a regular contributor to ‘Third Age Matters’; Brenda works closely with members of the National Office team to raise the profile of Climate and Environmental matters within the u3a. In November 2021, Brenda set up and led 4 workshops during the COP26 Climate conference in Glasgow, with an emphasis on Intergenerational Climate Activism. If you have seen the u3a film ‘Do Something Brilliant Today’, you may have spotted Brenda and members of her group! In March 2022, Brenda and members of the Countdown to COP27 group led awareness-raising workshops for u3a Trustees and staff. In November 2022, Brenda and her team ran a further successful workshop for 70 people at the London Business School, on Intergenerational Dialogue about Climate Justice.
Kingston Climate Emergency group was set up in January 2022 partly as a result of the inadequate results from COP26. It was called the Climate Emergency group to highlight that we are now in an Emergency situation. We have spent 30 years having interesting discussions, now we need action. We then discovered that a lot had been done on this topic at national level. We attended excellent presentation the by Brenda Ainsley from Cotgrave & District u3a and some of the Climate surgeries organised by Frances Halliday.
We each have particular interests – vegetarianism, population issues, gardening, the role of finance. At present we are working by setting ourselves targets and encouraging each other to reach them. One of our members has started washing at 30C, one of our members has not had holidays involving flights since 1999 on principle, another has off set her holiday travel. One of us is running down the money in her bank account because the bank is funding fossil fuel extraction (still!) and nuclear weapon production. Happy to share experiences, questions and answers. And we are seeking to work intergenerationally.
We have published articles in small local magazines and are seeking to influence groups that we are part of. We made contact with our 3 local MPs to share our concerns. They happen to be Lib Dems. and are sympathetic.