15th April 2023
How about a virtual state visit? It would save on costs and carbon emissions for both the visitor and the recipient.
It does actually happen! Earlier this week I received an email telling me that such a visit had been made to Paraguay.
Minister Trevelyan met Vice President Hugo Velazquez during her virtual visit, accompanied by the team at the British Embassy in Asuncion.
Addressing Food Insecurity
28th March 2023
1. Ensuring people have a sufficient income.
1b.. Growing our own food and enabling others to do likewise.
2. Taking action to limit keep rising global temperatures below 1.5C.
3. Paying a fair price for the food we eat. You might buy direct from a farm or a group of farms, or via a local vegetable box scheme. You might support a local farmers’ market. You might buy from a local independent green grocer. Similarly you might buy milk etc from a milk round where the price reflects the cost to the farmer. For cheeses, look to buy from small scale producers via a local cheese shop. And again buying fair trade options for imported foods can help ensure a fair price for the producer. Alternatively look out for products – coffee beans and chocolate in particularly – that have been sourced directly from the grower. These are often available through local independent shops and cafés.
Another option would be to subscribe to the OddBox fruit and veg scheme which buys food stuffs that would otherwise go to waste because they are misshapen, because the supermarket doesn’t want the crop, or because the crop has been too large or too small for the supermarket buyer – https://www.oddbox.co.uk/
4. Buying from local producers and local retailers helps to improve local supply chains.
5. Again the best approach to improving global food security and ensuring there is enough food for everyone is to reduce – or cost out completely – animal products.
6. To support and encourage the maintenance of healthy solid, you might choose to buy organic produce (https://www.soilassociation.org/ ), or to supplier items produced using regenerative farming practices (https://regenerativefoodandfarming.co.uk/)
7. To improve the security of our food supplies through diversity, expand the range of foods you eat. Try different sorts and fruit and vegetables, different types of grain – emmer, einkorn, spelt, black barley – and different sorts of nuts, spices etc. This can also improve your health – it is recommended that our diets should include 30 or more different types of fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains etc per week. See for example https://www.theguthealthdoctor.com/how-to-get-your-gut-loving-30-plant-points-a-week and https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/may/15/go-with-your-gut-tim-spector-power-of-microbiome?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Improving biodiversity as a whole is also a good preventative against diseases that could ravaged farm production . You might therefore choose to grow more wild/ native plants in your garden, or choose plants that support and encourage biodiversity in terms of birds, insects, butterflies, and bats etc. many web sites have suggestions about improving the biodiversity of your garden including those of the RSPB and the Natural History Museum. You might want to support charities and organisations that encourage biodiversity and even extend that to the re-wilding of land, both in the UK – eg https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/explore-rewilding/what-is-rewilding – and overseas – https://www.cleanupthetropicaltimbertrade.org/about , https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/forests_practice/importance_forests/tropical_rainforest/ , http://savetheorangutan.org.uk/
14th March 2023
“Cutting meat and dairy products from your diet could reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by two-thirds, according to the Oxford study, published in the journal Science.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46459714
Major institutions are helping people make this change in lifestyle by serving less or no meat in their canteens. In 2022 Stirling became the first UK university to ban the sale of meat in its campus food outlets. This year Cambridge University has voted to do likewise. Newcastle Hospitals has meat free Mondays, which is an approach followed by various schools and colleges.
A different world is possible!
20th January 2023
Imagining life in 2033
By 2033 we should be at least half way to net zero. How will things have changed? What will daily life look like? Imagine a letter from the future …
In many ways life in 2033 is not that different from in 2023. I still live in the same house, with the same husband and even the same – now rather elderly – cat. We have recently replaced the solar panels on our roof and are now not just self sufficient for energy but are regularly put electricity back into the grid. Talking of solar panels, every house in our street now has them, as does the local school and our church – and you have probably guessed, very few buildings now-a-days have gas boilers.
Other changes in our street include more trees, which provide welcome shade during heat waves, and fewer cars. Being an affluent area, most people have hung into their electric cars despite the rising ULEZ charge, but as in most urban areas many more journeys are now made by cycle or public transport. All main roads now have a dedicated cycle track wide enough for cargo and family bikes. Buses and suburban trains have all been free for the last five years leading to less cars using the roads and, therefore, faster journey times for buses! Suburban trains run on a regular ten minute interval and trains on the mainlines operate on a ‘Taktfahrplan’ similar to the Swiss one, ensuring good connections on all routes. Most people opt for the half price rail card, especially families as children travel free.
Another change you might notice is the number of cargo cycles. They were certainly around in 2023 but the exception rather than the rule. Increases in road tax in 2025 saw a rapid expansion of delivery bikes, and electric ones regularly use the vehicle lane on the main roads where they can move at the same speed as other users – oh yes, I should have pointed out that in London the speed limit is now 20mph on all roads. The NHS has certainly benefited from the upswing in cycling. It has made us fitter and the reduced particulate pollution from tyres and brakes has helped reduce breathing problems. There is talk now of replacing buses with trams.
You will be pleased to hear that we do still have a national health service. There were some dodgy moments when it looked like the system might collapse, but with the influence of a people’s assembly, the whole health and welfare system is being overhauled. There is a focus on preventative care and long term investment plan – improving the health of children (physical, mental and educational) will have profound benefits for our society but the financial savings may take 20 to 30 years to kick in.
It has been surprising how much addressing the climate crisis has actually improved people’s wellbeing. All school and institutional meals are now all plant based, and I hope you are not surprised to hear that plant based dishes now occupy at least 50% of all restaurant menus. Vegan cooking is now mainstream although at the time the All Vegan Bake Off series in 2024 seemed radical. The change in our diets has not only improved our health but has changed the appearance of the rural landscape. With fewer livestock, those that are kept have a much higher welfare standard. And you will find that many farms and some of the larger rural homes keep a couple of sheep or pigs as outdoor pets. The UK is now self sufficient in growing wheat, whilst other arable land has been given over to growing a vast number of different fruits and vegetables. It has been a horticultural revolution with drip feed irrigation and small robots and drones making the work less back breaking. Work in this sector is now well paid and popular. Orchards have expanded and now encompass new trees such as olives, walnuts, pistachios and almonds, and are often intercropped with shade loving crops. The amount of trees in the landscape is perhaps the biggest change that you would notice. Not only have we seen orchards expand, but many areas have been rewilded with wide hedgerows, copses and new woodlands. The latest nature report has shown an increase in biodiversity in the UK. It is a revival that has had to be worked at but is now reaping rewards. Nightingales are now often recorded – but not necessarily in Berkeley Square! – and a new generation of children are listening out for the cuckoos in spring. Walks and trips to wildlife hides are increasingly popular as there is now so much more wildlife to see!
The Upper Richmond Road is still our main shopping area but it does look more attractive with more trees and well-stocked planters. If you want a few herbs, it’s a case of pick your own. I was going to say the traffic moves more slowly as back in 2023 the speed limit was 30mph. But now-a-days the traffic moves at a pretty constant 20mph which I’m sure is faster than it was then. I can remember sitting in the Artisan cafe watching the traffic remain stationary as the lights went from red to green and back to red. Traffic lanes are narrower now to make space for the cycle lanes. Milestone Green has finally been revamped (that’s been at least ten years in the planning) with new seating, a water feature and a large chess board.
There are a few different shops, such as The Splash – a bike wash coffee shop where customers enjoy a coffee and cake whilst their bike is cleaned, oil and tyres pumped. There’s the now standard repair shop, Repairs are Us, where can get virtual anything domestic repaired, and next to the Fara charity shop, is Tailor Tricks where they readjust any clothes you buy at Fara (or elsewhere) to fit. If you like a skirt but is too long or trousers that are too wide, they speedily make the adjustments. At the other end of the market is the made to measure fashion outlet. Video loops from the latest catwalks plus magazines and fabric swatches all entice you to try something new. Interactive screens show you what you would look like in these garments, and once you have made your choice, the workshop sets to work and within hours your made to measure outfit is ready.
Of course there are more cycle shops – and cycle accessory shops. The pet shops still thrive as we are increasingly aware of the value of pets for our mental wellbeing. Another growth has been in plant shops as we increasingly enjoy filling our homes with living things – as well as a growth in companies offering plant care services. Sheen also has its own coffee roastery, brewery, two new bakeries and a nut-cheese delicatessen. The local council has made a real effort to promote local businesses with preferential rates for local businesses.
Packaging has definitely changed. Initially it was the ending of single use plastic cups and boxes in 2023 that stimulated change. As suppliers adapted the packaging they produced, so supermarkets adopted this same packaging for ready meals, salads and pre-packed fruit. A year later reverse vending machines for bottles became obligatory – in supermarkets initially but quickly afterwards in all shops selling bottled goods. This included both glass and reusable plastic bottles, glass jars and reusable yogurt pots. All single use packaging is now either recyclable or compostable. The effect on refuse and recycling services has been marked. With less to throw into dustbins and recycling bins, most weekly collections have been replaced by fortnightly ones – a useful cost saving for councils.
As we have adapted to more extreme weather conditions so we have been adapting our buildings. Awnings that pull out are popular for both shops, houses and flats to provide shade in the summer but there can be problems if these are not safely retracted in advance of strong winds. The met office app usually provides adequate advance warning. Shops tend to have more substantial affairs that also provide protection from the rain. Keeping customers dry is a definite plus for trade!
Overhead there are far fewer airplanes – you might recall from the first covid lock down how surprised we were when the planes stopped and we could hear birds singing. Well that’s what we have now on a daily basis. There is a heavy tax to be paid for air flights (although there is an annual tax allowance that can put towards long haul flights). Air freight is gradually being replaced by rail freight and marine cargo vessels. Some capacity in the system has been freed up as we are no longer shipping oil, gas and coal around the world, and there has also been a sharp decline in the amount of animal feed and meat being shipped. Increasingly popular are cargo ships linking up with educational packages. You can take a ten day crossing over the Atlantic and use the time to engage in a fully immersive language course, learn to play bridge, or do a page to stage theatre production.
Ten years on things have changed but it is not a totally different world nor a life lacking in comfort. If anything we have a healthier and happier lifestyle.
20th January 2023
Cut food waste! A third of all the world’s food goes to waste and adding up the waste of resources in producing and transporting food that ultimately goes to waste plus the carbon footprint the food that then goes onto rot, accounts for about 8% of global emissions.
Here in the UK households throw away 4.5 million tonnes of edible food every year.
For more information –
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200224-how-cutting-your-food-waste-can-help-the-climate
16th January 2023
The things we use around our homes, particularly appliances and electrical equipment, all come with a carbon footprint both in their manufacture and in their use. When we buy new ones we can get information as to how energy efficient they are in use. We can information from the Ethical Consumer, Which guides etc as to how ethically they have been made ( for example the sourcing of raw materials, pay and working conditions of employees etc), and about the longevity and repairability of the item. The longer lived an item is the better use it makes of resources. When considering energy use of items, we may opt for a manual rather than an electric version – eg a hand worked coffee grinder, a hand whisk etc.
For further thoughts – https://greentau.org/2021/09/10/the-green-tau-issue-16/
14th January 2023
How we get from A to B has a significant impact on our carbon footprint. This chart shows the relative carbon footprint of different modes of transport.
For further details see their full report – https://ourworldindata.org/travel-carbon-footprint
Additional thoughts – https://greentau.org/2021/08/21/green-tau-issue-13/
12th January 2023
Over recent months many of us have seen the cost of heating our homes increase. Reducing the carbon footprint of heating our homes wins on two fronts – financial and climate.
Having installed solar panels, cavity wall and loft insulation, and double glazing, and by dint of wearing more layers and showering less, we are continuing to reduced our gas consumption and energy bills.
Whilst not everyone agrees with their tactics, most now see the wisdom of Insulate Britain’s call that the Government should ensure the proper insulation of the UK’s housing stock. This is also relevant during heat waves when better insulated buildings remain cooler longer.
Further information https://greentau.org/2021/09/03/green-tau-issue-15/
11th January 2023
Swopping from animal to plant based foods can make a considerable reduction to our carbon footprint. According to Exeter Council’s website:-
The BBC has an interesting calculator that compares the footprint of different types of food – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46459714
Further information –
10th January 2023
Over the next few days I want to highlight some of the ways in which we can respond as individuals to the ongoing ecological, climate and biodiversity crisis.
The cause of the climate crisis is the excessive release of carbon dioxide and other green house gases into the atmosphere at a faster rate than the earth’s ability to absorb them. To limit further global temperature increases we need to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions. Calculating our individual carbon footprint does not of itself solve the problem but it does highlight for us areas where we could reduce it.
There are various carbon footprint calculators available such as
The Green Tau 