Counting On … – Page 59

Counting on …. Day 1.191

11th October 2023

Climate change and biodiversity loss do not occur without imposing a financial cost on the world. Based on figures from the last twenty years the cost is currently in the region of £13 million per day (1). This calculation doesn’t fully include losses arising from poor or marginalised communities because the such data is not well or fully recorded. Nor does the data reflect the cost of reduced harvests – crops, livestock, fish – as again such data is not always available. What these costs do reflect is the financial loss of buildings, land and people’s lives through storms, floods, heatwaves and droughts.

The LSE reported last year that for the UK that “Under current policies, the total cost of climate change damages to the UK are projected to increase from 1.1% of GDP at present to 3.3% by 2050”. (2)

In the light of these sums, the argument that green investment, to reduce or to adapt to the climate crisis, is too expensive is nonsensical.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/09/climate-crisis-cost-extreme-weather-damage-study?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

(2) https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/publication/what-will-climate-change-cost-the-uk/

Counting on …. Day 1.190

10th October 2023

Back in 2021 the UN environment programme reported that not enough money was being put into the Global Biodiversity Framework fund – there was an annual funding gap of $6 – 8 billion. Given that to achieve the objective of protecting and enhancing biodiversity, investment would need to triple by 2030 and quadruple by 2050, they concluded that public sources of finances would be insufficient.(1) Private finance would need to carry more of the responsibility. Indeed business has a vested interest in doing so, for biodiversity risk = business risk. At the same time, working with and for nature offers opportunities for jobs and business returns.

A new GBFF was launched at the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity COP15 held in December 2022. To engage business finance in this fund, ‘investors are calling on governments to adopt measures within the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework which would set a clear mandate for the alignment of financial flows with the preservation of global biodiversity, like Article 2.1(C) did within the Paris Agreement (a legally binding international treaty on climate change)’. (2)

Business investors need governments to provide reliable, effective and enforceable green policies.

https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/speech/time-unlock-financing-biodiversity-protection-now

(2) https://www.unepfi.org/themes/ecosystems/cop15statement/

Counting on …. day 1.189

9th October 2023

Vegan Plum Tart

Make shortcrust pastry with 125g flour and 60g vegan butter and use to a flan or tart dish.

Half and stone enough plums to cover the base of the tart. Or use apricots dried or fresh, or figs or sliced pears.

Soak 1 tablespoon of chia seeds in hot water

Melt 100g vegan butter.

Add in 4 tablespoons sugar, 75g ground nuts (eg almond, Brazil, walnut), 1 or 2 tablespoons flour with raising agent, 1 tablespoon custard powder, and the chia seeds.

Mix well, adding 1 tablespoon brandy/ whiskey (optional) and a little water to loosen if the mixture is stiff.

Spread this mixture over the plums and fill the tart.

Bake 180C for about 30 minutes until lightly browned and firm to touch. Allow to cool a little before serving.

Counting on … day 1.188

6th October 2023

Grass or rather grass lands as grass is seldom just grass but a collection of different plants inc,using grasses, is often overlooked when thinking about biodiversity. Perhaps cause grass sounds rather boring. But grasses come in different sorts and heights and colours. Mixed with companion plants they create a variety of meadows and grasslands. This variety is created by and supports a diversity of wildlife. The height of the grass and the selection of companion plants at be determined by who is grazing the land. Land grazed by sheep will have a different range of plants from land grazed by cattle. And then depending on what grasses and plants thrive, so a variety of different insects are accommodated and with them a further variety of birds and small animals.

In gardens we can maintain different areas of grass at different levels and see how the variety of other plants and wildlife varies.

https://www.plantlife.org.uk/our-work/incredible-grasslands/

Counting on … day 1.187

5th October 2023

I came across a tip from the RSPB yesterday that cutting grass in early autumn will enable the fungi to grow and fruit. And today I noticed in Richmond Park where the still green bracken had been cut back, that some beautiful parasol mushrooms had popped up!

I last cut the front lawn in July so I will now set about doing this again. It will also benefit the crocus bulbs that are planted here.

Counting on … day 1.186

4th October 2023

Today is the Feast of St Francis. He is well known for his insight that all of creation is interconnected and equal in the sight of God. Thus he spoke of brother Sun and sister Mother Earth. Not surprisingly St Francis is names the patron saint of the environment. St Francis was equally concerned about peace making, calling for peace whether that was between neighbours or between the saracens and the crusaders.

Caring for the environment and peace making go hand in hand. Failure to care for the environment leads to conflict; conflict damages the environment.

To be an environmentalist is to be a peacemaker.

Counting on … day 1.185

3rd October 2023

One approach to help us improve biodiversity might be to pursue “the 3-30-300 rule”: that everyone should have sight of three trees, every neighbourhood should have 30% canopy cover, and everyone should live within 300 metres of a park or green space. This concept is the work of a group crammed Creat Streets and last month they published a report on Greening Up our streets – https://www.createstreets.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Greening_Up_Executive_Summary.pdf

The report is full of facts illustrating the health and well-being effects of green urban areas, and outlines policies and ideas that would promote the greening of our streets. Such greening also has benefits in tackling the climate crisis and in mitigating some of the effects of climate change.

Counting on … day 1.184

2nd October 2023

It is now 9 months since the Biodiversity COP15 that took place in Montreal. Its call to “take urgent action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss” by 2030 was a closely fought but positive outcome. One of the targets sets the goal that by 2030 at least 30% of habitats should be protected, which is significantly more than what is currently protected – 17% of land and 10% of marine areas, across the globe. (1)

To achieve will involve not just governments, but businesses, local authorities, farmers and landowners, and we, the public, through out support of wildlife charities and projects.

(1) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/20/cop15-montreal-did-it-deliver-for-natural-world-aoe?utm_term=64256bb9d4f54d3271076a78f8c14e49&utm_campaign=DownToEarth&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=greenlight_email

Counting on … day 1.183

29th September 2023

When did you last here a cuckoo? When did you last watch swifts somersault in the air? In the skies above Sheen this summer, I didn’t see any swifts.

The Natural History Museum reported this year ‘Bird populations in the UK continue to freefall as the government moves further away from achieving its own targets to protect nature. Between 2015 and 2020 almost half of all bird species declined, with woodland bird species being the most affected… Campaigners say the government is in danger of missing out on their own targets set out in the Environment Act, which was passed into law in 2021 and requires a halt in species decline by 2030.’ (1)

Cuckoos and swifts are not included in this as they are migratory birds, coming here to breed in the summer, but they face the same problems as our resident birds: habitat loss especially in rural areas with more intensive farming practices, use of pesticides and herbicides, and climate change.

We can be part of the solution by ensuring that our gardens are wildlife friendly places and by supporting organisations such as the RSPB and WWT in creating wildlife reserves.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/creating-a-wildlife-friendly-garden/

(1) https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/april/almost-half-of-all-uk-bird-species-in-decline.html

Counting on … day 1.182

28th September 2023

Today there is to be a RESTORE NATURE NOW rally outside DEFRA’s HQ calling on the Government to take action to restore nature in that face of its dramatic downward spiral. Those taking part will include birdwatchers, ramblers, ecologists, pond dippers, river swimmers, ramblers, no-mow-mayers, anglers, scientists, butterfly counters, spring-watchers, hunt saboteurs, gardeners, rewilders, conservationists… and members of Christian Climate Action.

CCA’s presence