Category: Counting On …

Reflections and actions during COP26 and going on

Counting on day …1.100

14th April 2023

If more cargo bikes on our streets is a good sign for our environment, so is the news that the number of short haul air flights in Europe is dropping.
Euro News reports-

“ ‘Flight shame’ seems to be working – at least for short-haul trips within a country’s borders. According to new Eurocontrol data, 38 per cent fewer domestic flights took off in Germany in 2022 than in 2019. In Lithuania and Finland, such trips declined by 38 per cent and 35 per cent respectively. The drop can be attributed to “environmental pressure,” the Eurocontrol report suggests.”

https://www.euronews.com/travel/2023/04/11/where-in-europe-are-people-flying-less-and-whats-the-one-country-where-flights-are-surging?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=EN_TESTMay&utm_content=where-in-europe-are-people-flying-less-and-whats-the-one-country-where-flights-are-surging&_ope=eyJndWlkIjoiMTJjMTk2MDNmOWI2YTEwZmZmMTQ0ODYyMWQ3NDJhNDcifQ%3D%3D

Counting on … day 1.099

13th April 2023

This week Positive News reported on the expansion of cargo bikes in London.

“They’ve been a regular sight in Dutch cities for decades. Now cargo bikes finally look set to conquer the English capital after Transport for London published its cargo bike action plan. 

“The transport body said that it wanted to fast track the rollout of the vehicles, after delivery giants such as Amazon and DHL started using them. It estimates that a sixth of all deliveries in the city could be made by cargo bike by 2030.

“Cargo bikes can be real game changers,” said Will Norman, London’s walking and cycling commissioner. “Not only do they provide environmental benefits by not contributing to air pollution, they also make journeys more efficient, and present a much lower risk of danger to people walking and cycling than vans and HGVs.””

What went right this week: the fund to help you rewild, plus more

Counting on …. Day 1.097

11th April 2023

As we celebrate the new life of the resurrection, here is a petition calling for life for our bee population.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/631948

Quotes from supporters of the petition:-

1.

Professor Dave Goulson – Scientist, Author and Founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust

“For three years in a row our government has granted farmers special permission to use banned neonicotinoid pesticides on sugar beet. This is contrary to the expert advice of their own Expert Committee on Pesticides, who specifically recommended that permission should not be granted.  It also flies in the face of a huge body of scientific evidence showing that these chemicals are phenomenally toxic to all insect life, and that their use on any crop contaminates soils, hedgerow plants, and nearby streams and ponds for years to come. We are in a crisis, with insect populations in freefall. It is about time our government woke up to this, and acted accordingly. This petition is a necessary means of holding the government to account. Please sign and share as signing will ensure the issue is debated in Parliament.”

2.

Rev Professor Jasper Kenter, Aberystwyth Business School, Aberystwyth University 

“The repeated lifting of a ban on extremely harmful neonicotinoid pesticides by the UK Government is doing untold damage to insects in the UK. It is short-sighted and not backed by evidence. The ecological, economic, and cultural value of protecting insect population is far greater than any short-term profits from allowing these pesticides. By signing this petition, we can force a debate on this issue and make sure these pesticides are banned again next year.”

3.

Dr. George McGavin. Entomologist, TV Presenter, Author, President of the Dorset Wildlife Trust and Senior Principal Research Fellow, Imperial College.

Neonicotinoids are not a disaster waiting to happen – the disaster is already unfolding. These potent nerve poisons are extremely toxic to all manner of invertebrates and are water soluble – they get everywhere polluting soil, ground water and rivers. These chemicals, often used prophylactically as seed treatments, go on to make every part of the plant toxic. Neonicotinoids generate very large profits for the companies who manufacture and distribute them but they do enormous environmental harm and their use must stop.

Notes:

Globally 15% of crops are lost to ‘pests’ but the FAO tells us that 33% of all food grown is wasted. We need to get smarter – there other ways of protecting crops than poisoning the entire countryside.    

Dose for dose neonicotinoids can be hundreds, even thousands of times more toxic to bees than DDT 

Counting on … day 1.096

10th April 2023

Homes for all? Here is a simple petition asking that all new-build homes be fitted with a swift box. Places where swifts can nest, have diminished over recent decades and the lack of safe nesting places is contributing to the demise of these beautifully acrobatic birds. 

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/626737?fbclid=IwAR0EC_OhRCKQVv7OSxCS1MrLdaXsdkIWju0Lljr_VG6kFQSu_DG1RzayY7s

Counting on … day 1.095

8th April 2023

Calling out injustice and being a prophetic voice has long been the vocation of the church. Now the Church is beginning to exercise this role in areas of the climate crisis. Christian Climate Action reports –  “Former Archbishop of York and current Chair of Christian Aid, John Sentamu said: “Climate change is the greatest insidious and brutal indiscriminate force of our time. The people suffering the most have done the least to cause it. That is why continuing to search for new sources of fossil fuels, despite explicit warnings against this from the International Energy Agency, is such an offence against humanity. If we want to limit climate suffering we have to leave fossil fuels in the ground. The Church has a proud history of standing up against injustice and once again we need to see Christians calling on the Government to take decisive actions”” 

https://christianclimateaction.org/2023/04/05/john-sentamu-and-church-leaders-call-on-uk-christians-to-demand-an-end-to-all-new-fossil-fuel-licences/

Counting on .. day 1.094

7th April 2023

Talking about the climate crisis, what worries us and what the solutions might be is important – whether it’s talking with friends and family, with church and social groups, with businesses and providers, with MPs and local councillors. 

From the A22 Network a reports from Germany’s Letzte Generation (LG):  “Elsewhere, LG told mayors that their cities would be disrupted if they didn’t support our demands, creating a national discussion about whether this is justifiable. Our mayor said he didn’t want to be blackmailed, and instead wondered why we couldn’t just ask for his cooperation. So we did, without attacking him in any way, and he agreed.

“This is something we are hearing more and more. It feels like there are many more open doors than expected. We’re not there yet and there’s a lot more work to do, but I want to share with you the feeling that change is indeed possible since there are likely more allies than you think.””

Counting on …day 1.093

6th April 2023

Calls for churches and other institutions, to divest from fossil fuel are  inspired not just by the dangers of the climate crisis, but also by adverse affects on vulnerable people arising from inequalities and a lack of justice and local  accountability. 

“Rt Revd Ernesto Manuel, Anglican Bishop of Nampula in Northern Mozambique, said: ‘Fossil fuel investments increase climate change and impacts on those most vulnerable, and also destabilise communities. We have seen how over 700,000 people in Northern Mozambique have been displaced – many fleeing for their lives in terror from insurgents. Dozens have been beheaded, even children as young as 12. This violence only occurs in the areas where gas prospecting is taking place. Locals are not consulted and nor do they benefit, only suffering the impacts of rising prices, pollution and loss of land. We plead with the international community – take your money out of fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy which is decentralised, benefits local people and does not contribute to climate change.’” https://brightnow.org.uk/news/global-faith-institutions-divest-g7-cop26/

Counting on …. Day 1.092

5th April 2023

Ethical Consumer is investigating the labour rights of those employed in supermarket supply chains. 

“Eight out of nine basic workers’ rights are being routinely violated in UK supermarket supply chains in Spain, our new report reveals. All major UK supermarkets are likely to source large amounts of fruit and vegetables from the Spanish regions of Huelva and Almeria, where workers’ rights abuses are widespread. Workers have been refused legal wages, sexually assaulted and harassed, fired for trying to join unions, made to work in unsafe conditions, had passports confiscated so they can’t leave, and been penalised for taking toilet breaks. Most workers are migrants.

UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier de Schutter, describes working conditions in the region as “horrific” and “inhumane”. He says, “I urge supermarkets to end their complicity in this abuse and address the issue head-on, using this report as their guide.””

If you would like to follow their campaign with a bi-monthly email, here is a sign up link

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalcampaigns/agricultural-workers-rights-almeria?utm_source=ECRA+Monthly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=1afc7ec7e4-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_03_31_s&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-5ea446b6bc-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Counting on … day 1.091

4th April 2023

On Sunday I joined with CCA and York’s local XR group in an action outside the Minster. With banners – “Love and Grief Earth Vigil” and “Creation Cries Out” – and leaflets and placards calling upon the Diocese of York to divest its fossil fuel shares, we gathered outside as the Liturgy of Palms took place (with two donkeys). Then we waited at west end, speaking with passers-by as other services carried on in the Minster, the Catholic Oratory and St Micheal’s in the Belfry. As the main congregation exited the Minster 9 people (and a dog)  lay down on the ground, covered with sheets and each given a label stating the cause of death – highlighting the many ways in which the climate crisis is already impacting on people around the world and will continue to do so at an increasing rate. The atmosphere became somber and reflective and people asked questions and took leaflets as they made sense of the catastrophe we face.

If people have the facts, if people are told the truth, then they can act appropriately.