Category: Counting On …

Reflections and actions during COP26 and going on

Counting on … day 1.216

15th November 2023

At a time when there may be fewer jobs in UK-based mining and steel making, there are opportunities for more people to work in the forestry industry. 

At a recent Forestry Conference, Chris Williams the CEO of the Royal Forestry Society commented that a “Lack of woodland management is a major cause of biodiversity loss in the UK. We have a skills shortage. Between 2021 and 2025, 10 per cent of forestry workers will retire.” 

The Forestry Journal goes on to report on possible solutions that were discussed:- 

“What can we do?  Increase the number of forestry courses. Include forestry/agroforestry modules within land-management courses. Run courses where they are easier to reach (London/Birmingham). Offer a graduate conversion course, a PGCF (a postgraduate certificate in forestry?) and work with the EFRA committee and the agricultural sector. Adapt: create new pathways into the industry for the neurodiverse, care leavers and ex-military personnel: promote the positives: improve pay.”

“The RFS offers career roadshows, blogs celebrating women in forestry, careers advice. They develop pathways into industry with universities and participate in the Forestry Skills Forum. “The Green Tree badge initiative hopes to engage one million children (via school, Scouts, Guides, or family) in activities that raise awareness of forestry. If you don’t reach that eight-year-old, you won’t reach the 18 -year-old. Make it easier to find the sector and for people to get on board.” (1) 

  1. (https://www.forestryjournal.co.uk/features/forestry-journal-features/23914844.forestry-conference-2023-focuses-industry-skill-shortages/)

Counting on … day 1.215

14th November 2023

To address both the climate and biodiversity crises, the government has a target, set in the Environment Act, for increasing tree increasing tree and woodland cover to 16.5% of total land area in England by 2050. (Sadly this is less than the 17.5% increase originally laid down in the 2021 legislation). 

However as the Woodlands Trust points out, there must be a focus on quality as well as quantity:- 

“ We need an ambitious target which ensures woods are:

  • best for wildlife: at least 300,000 ha of all new trees and woods must be native to provide havens for hundreds of woodland species by 2050
  • well connected: expanding our existing woodland patches will connect and increase habitat sizes and boost their benefits.” (1)

There is therefore an urgency to the need for quality tree planting and, as importantly, for maintenance. The Guardian highlighted a recent report from ‘Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research’ which warned that “UK forests are heading for “catastrophic ecosystem collapse” within the next 50 years due to multiple threats including disease, extreme weather and wildfires … with trees dying on a large scale.” (2)

We as individuals can help in a couple of small ways –

  1. By using the online Tree Alert tool to report possible tree pests and diseases. 
  2. By ensuring our boots are clean before walking in a new woodland to avoid spreading disease.
  3. By sponsoring trees through groups such as The Woodlands Trust, the Wildlife Trust, Trees for Life, the NHS Forest, or the National Forest (planting trees in the former industrial areas of the Midlands)

https://treesforlife.org.uk/support/plant-a-tree/

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/support-us/give/dedications/

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/adopt-species/adopt-tree-or-habitat

Sponsor a tree for the NHS Forest

https://www.nationalforest.org/

(1) (https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/protecting-trees-and-woods/campaign-with-us/tree-target/)

(2) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/08/uk-forests-face-catastrophic-ecosystem-collapse-within-50-years-study-says-aoe?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 1.214

13th November 2023

Earlier this month I wrote about plans for switching from coal fired to electric fired furnaces for producing steel. It is an essential move in terms of reducing green house gas emissions, but it comes with complications – the electric furnaces need a smaller workforce so new jobs needed in other parts of the economy; the electric furnaces use recycled metal rather than raw ore which is a good thing in terms of reducing unsustainable consumption of raw materials but does need us now to have better systems for collecting and recycling unwanted metal; and a reduction in demand for coal:

“Electric arc furnaces require only 9kg of coking coal a tonne of steel against 780kg for a tonne of blast furnace steel, according to the lobby group UK Steel. British blast furnaces produced 4.8m tonnes of steel in 2022, suggesting they may have used 3.7m tonnes of coking coal. Based on UK Steel’s figures, producing the same amount of steel in electric arc furnaces would require only 43,000 tonnes of coal, or about 1.7% of the Cumbrian mine’s output.” (1)

This must call into question whether there is any sense of continuing with the creation of the West Cumbrian coal mine. But equally it points to the need to develop other parts of our economy to create employment and to use the skills that people have.

 (1) https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/07/fresh-calls-to-scrap-cumbrian-coalmine-amid-steel-industrys-green-push

Counting on …day 1.213

10th November 2023

A Rocha reminds us: ‘Prepare now and give a bird a home in 2024. It might seem to be a strange time to be thinking about bird boxes, but this is the season in which many of our resident birds slowly begin the process of looking for nest sites for next year. Therefore, it is a really good idea to get as many new boxes up as you can, before the end of the autumn season, as it will make it more likely for boxes to be used next spring. See here for more nest box tips.’ 

Give a bird a home in 2024

Also if you have any bug or bee hotels, move them into a sheltered spot lest exposure to particularly cold temperatures kills the inhabitants.

Counting on … day 1.211

8th November 2023

Repairability and maintainability of things we buy and own is an important part of sustainability. I have previously commented on repairing and mending things around the home – https://greentau.org/tag/repairs/ – and on regular bike maintenance – https://greentau.org/2022/09/03/counting-on-day-298/ Maintenance also includes regularly cleaning shoes, re waterproofing coats, emptying and cleaning vacuum cleaners, servicing boilers etc.

Maintenance may also include reviewing our lives, our daily habits, to check that they still align with our faith values.

Counting on … day 1.210

7th November 2023

Green Christian coined the nemonic LOAF ( locally , organise, animal friendly, fairly traded)  to help us make better choices when buying food. I was wondering if we need a similar nemonic for other purchasing choices.
For example SURE – 

Sustainably produced; 

 Useful (ie something we need rather than a gimmick);

the Rs – can it be  repaired, reused, and can it (finally) be recycled;  and 

Ethically produced by people earning the real living wage, where taxes are paid and exploitative advertising avoided. 

Make SURE before you buy!

For further thoughts – https://greentau.org/2022/07/12/eco-tips-stuff/

Counting on … day 1.209

6th November 2023

Christmas is now lurking round the corner. The Shops have finished with Halloween and whilst there is still Black Friday to go, that too can be tied into buying for Christmas. But how about ‘not buying’ for Christmas?

The autumnal leaves are turning into a wide range of colours from lime yellow to brassy red. I have been collecting some of them – ones that have a particularly attractive shape or colour – and  am flattening them between the pages of a heavy book. Next month, when it’s actually Christmas I will thread them together with thread to make garlands. 

For more ideas see https://greentau.org/2022/11/24/eco-tips-christmas/

Counting on … day 1.208

3rd November 2023

Another industry highly dependent on energy is the steel industry. Traditionally that has come from coal, but electric furnaces are providing a less environmentally damaging alternative, producing what is termed ‘green steel’. Providing investment to enable British based steel plants to switch is becoming an election issue. The Guardian reported that “Labour is promising to invest £3bn in smoothing the green transition should it win power at the next election. This is substantially more than the offers made by Mr Sunak’s government to Tata Steel and the Chinese Jingye Group, the respective owners of the Port Talbot works and British Steel. As Sir Keir pointed out, with the right kind of backing and vision from Westminster, domestic steel production can become a crucial component in meeting Britain’s clean power targets. That, in turn, will help protect good, well-paid jobs in regions that desperately need them. Britain is set to require more, not less, steel as it builds net zero machinery and infrastructure at pace. That can be a catalyst for industry renewal, if a committed government shows the drive and imagination to make it so. New public procurement rules, for example, could ensure the use of clean British steel in the manufacture of wind turbines, rather than reliance on imports from abroad.” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/24/the-guardian-view-on-labour-and-the-steel-industry-how-to-forge-a-better-future?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Nothing is straight forward. To add to this story, it seems that switching to electric furnaces has to further knock on effects. First the furnace needs fewer people to operate it, so the switch comes with redundancies. We should be aspiring to a just transition to net zero which means we should be looking to create jobs for those facing redundancy. This could involve reskilling people for work in the green sector eg building and installing wind turbines, heat pumps, solar panels, etc. Second – and which is a positive really – electric furnaces don’t produce steel from iron ore but by recycling steel and iron.

Counting on … day 1.207

2nd November 2023

It is not just individuals that are trying to make the shift to net zero, but businesses too. And they likewise find the lack of government support and direction frustrating. 

Last week the Guardian reported that, “Miles Roberts, the company’s chief executive, said British government decarbonisation policy has lacked the clarity of European rivals, meaning DS Smith[ a FTSE 100 paper packaging company] has moved ahead with a €90m (£78m) investment in a paper mill in Rouen, northern France …Roberts said: “If you are committed to carbon neutral, and it is far more attractive to invest in those solutions elsewhere, what you’ll see is manufacturing decline in the UK.” https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/22/uk-must-offer-businesses-certainty-over-green-energy-says-boss-of-ftse-100-firm?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other