The Commonwealth conversation

Interesting blog here led by Dr Danny Sriskandarajah, the Director of the Royal Commonwealth Society. I like the idea of a 'Commonwealth Conversation'. I've had mixed impressions of activity that comes under the Commonwealth umbrella in the past - not quite sure what to make of it. But the topics covered here certainly have contemporary relevance. According to this website The idea of the Commonwealth conversation is as follows

The Commonwealth turns 60 in 2009. This landmark year offers the perfect opportunity to reflect upon the past and to consider what the future may hold for the association.With this in mind, the RCS is facilitating the largest, global dialogue ever undertaken between the peoples of the Commonwealth about their association.

Why can't I take pictures like this?

Some of the pictures and films that most impress me are beautifully composed pictures of things that it's difficult enough to see let alone photograph! This kingfisher is a case in point. It suggests to me infinite patience. Love it!

Copenhagen - negotiating text

I wasn't surprised to read, in the Guardian, that the draft text for the Copenhagen climate change agreement is long, confusing and contradictory at this stage as all parties have added in their 'corrections' on the initial draft. The process is probably as important as the product but it's depressing to recognise that such agreements do often end up as the lowest common denominator. Pulling it together into a meaningful agreement will require a lot of different skills and understanding. As the article highlights, the big question is "How far will it go to address the traditional sticking points that have delayed progress?" i.e.

• How much are rich countries willing to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, and by when?
• Will large developing nations such as China make an effort to put at least a dent in their soaring levels of pollution?
• How much money must flow from the developed world to developing countries to grease the wheels and secure their approval? How much to compensate for the impact of past emissions, and how much to help prevent future emissions?"

Eco-font

No it's nothing to do with water-saving church ceremonies - it's hole-y fonts rather than holy fonts. Interesting to hear via Mark Yoxon that we could be saving 20% on ink if we download a Dutch ecofont which retains the pattern of letters without them being solidly inked-in.

Wonderful photos

So glad to see that Graham Jeffery, whose sensitive light pages I've much enjoyed in the past, is back behind his camera. He takes some wonderful pictures and of so many different subjects. This one I particularly like. How does he do that?

Digital habitats

I'm looking forward to getting time to read Digital Habitats: stewarding technology for communities, a new book just out from Etienne Wenger, Nancy White and John Smith. I've been very impressed by the communications skills and depth of understanding of the issues and the wealth of ideas shown by these people in the past and their blending of theory and practice. Promises to be a good read.

Great place to go in August!

Just back from a few days break in mid-Wales. Wide open landscapes, great walking, wonderfully peaceful, few tourists away from the honey pots and not a computer in sight. Watched red kites feeding here - quite remarkable. Even with my little compact camera they were close enough to look like red kites. Learnt a bit about how not to cross bogs also....but lived to tell the tale.

Thinking in Systems

I've long been a fan of Donella Meadows, of Limits to Growth fame so was pleased to get a reminder in my email this morning of a book published earlier this year that she was working on at the time of her death called 'Thinking in Systems'. It made me track down an article that appears there called Dancing with Systems in which she presents her ten 'systems wisdoms'. I like the one that says 'Pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable' but they're all pretty good.

Media perspectives on climate change

Internews, Panos and IIED got together to bring forward a range of perspectives on negotiations about climate change with the 'climate change media partnerships'. This year's 40 fellows seem to cover a wide range of issues and different parts of the world. Unintended consequences of interventions feature quite strongly on this site, for instance this one on forestry, where landless farmers evicted by forest restoration projects managed by an NGO consortium have been protesting. Whose rights get taken into account in such situations and what should happen is something we consider in our OU course Environmental Responsibility.

Niger migration

It's now over 3o years since I travelled through Niger to the edge of the Sahara. Even our last visit to West Africa was back in 2000, to Gambia. Between those two times migration within West Africa had increased a great deal. The Tuareg people are among those who've long lived as nomads in the area. But it seemed to us in 2000 that so many more people were on the move, not really living nomadic lives but trying to escape wars, drought and poverty and generally seeking better ways of life. There were still people very strong in spirit and enjoying the present though and these pictures of migration from West Africa, across the desert to Europe, I find very poignant. A reminder of how much I take for granted as an employed Western European citizen. One prediction concerning climate change is that there will be a lot more mass migration from parts of the world debilitated by droughts and floods. Many are also made homeless by large-scale development projects. I was thinking Jim Lovelock's predictions, that climate change could kill nearly all of us, are too gloomy. But I think we've certainly yet to face up to what many in West Africa have already experienced, in terms of what mass migration might mean.

Satish Kumar - to be an Earth Pilgrim

Hearing Jonathon's talk made me look for the first Richard Sandbrook memorial lecture, which I'd somehow missed. Good to see a summary of it on Satish Kumar's blog. In his memorial lecture in 2008 he talked about revering Nature and the relationship of 'friendship' with the earth, based on reciprocity. He sees acting like a pilgrim, rather than like a tourist, on Planet Earth as the way to forge the friendship that is needed with the Earth.

"When we are at home, we have a special relationship with a place, and we need to rekindle our relationship with Nature. Perhaps more than just friendship is required – we need to fall back into love with Nature, romance with Nature. And the best way of forging this relationship is to be with Nature, sitting under a tree, working in an allotment, walking on Dartmoor – a pilgrim and not a tourist on Planet Earth."

Porritt on optimism and action

Jonathon Porrit gave the second Richard Sandbrook memorial lecture on 25th June, three extracts of it are up on YouTube and worth a listen in my view. He talked about reactions to climate change, the case for hope and optimism, how we can ward off despair and why we should get angry. He argues history has showed that leaders of change can't motivate through preaching Armageddon. He identifies three kinds of optimism

1. Lovelockian school of optimism - the world will be a better place in 2-300 years because 5 billion people will have died. This is based on his understanding of life in Earth.
2. War footing optimism. Where is the Pearl Harbour moment? Moving onto a different footing, a war footing. Perception that climate change has to be addressed in the way that war is addressed. (Rationing, controls etc in interest of greater good)
3. We still have a window of time' optimism that enables us to come through into a better world. [This is the camp Porritt identifies with]. If this window were to close he wouldn't know how to cope with the despair - a response that it's too late to act.

He went on to talk about how to take advantage of the window, the diminishing opportunity, who will be the agents of change and political leadership that recognises the window of time for action. How we ward off despair?

1. Anger. He is surprised at low level of anger at what is going on in ratcheting up irresponsible economic activity. Difficult to get people motivated to act without anger.
2. Positive visions. Martin Luther King didn't go around the world saying 'I have a nightmare' but 'I have a dream'. Historically we have been better at the negative stuff than the positive. But, as Richard Sandbrook used to say - how can we get anywhere without being able to summon up positive visions? Need to be better at celebrations than wakes.
3. ....the third isn't covered in the video clips. I'll look out for it....or perhaps think about one for myself?

Finding a balance in natural history programmes

I find TV programmes that are all doom and gloom regarding our natural world so deeply depressing I can't often watch, however shocking. So I find a personal dilemma in George Monbiot's challenge to the BBC. Should I enjoy 'beautiful thrilling programmes about the world's wildlife' or join Monbiot in calling for more acknowledgement and explanation of political and environmental contexts? I do think he has a good point but I also don't agree that people necessarily believe, as a result of seeing these programmes, that all is well with the world's ecosystems. My research has shown that people develop many simultaneous understandings about our enviornment, not just one, and I think there's plenty around that shows all is not well. Though if, as he says, no BBC programme has as yet taken a look at effects of climate change in East Africa then I also think that needs to be addressed.

Mixed messages on state of the future

Interesting article in The Independent on impacts of the recession on taking action concerning climate change.
On the one hand

...researchers warning that global clean energy, food availability, poverty and the growth of democracy around the world are at risk of getting worse due to the recession...too many greedy and deceitful decisions led to a world recession and demonstrated the international interdependence of economics and ethics

and on the other hand

The good news is that the global financial crisis and climate change planning may be helping humanity to move from its often selfish, self-centred adolescence to a more globally responsible adulthood... Many perceive the current economic disaster as an opportunity to invest in the next generation of greener technologies, to rethink economic and development assumptions, and to put the world on course for a better future.

The Great Glen Way

At the end of May we walked 73 miles from Fort William to Inverness along the Great Glen Way. Stayed at the Great Glen hostel in North Laggan and the Loch Ness Youth hostel - both very good. The route is shown here. We got pretty wet in the first couple of days, as the rest of the UK basked in sunshine. But it was good to see the forests, the Caledonian canal, the lochs and the hillsides in all weathers. Fantastic plants! Felt great to be out walking each and every day, catching up with old friends, and away from desk, computer and the general busy-ness of life in southern England. The walk was more varied than I expected. Here's a little of what we saw.

Accept uncertainty, prepare for surprise

Interesting article from Ian Scoones on UK preparations for swine flu. He refers to Emery Roe and Paul Schulman's recent book High Reliability Management. Scoones is critical that 'early warning approaches' that rely on local knowledge have been largely ignored in our top-down culture. He concludes:

Preparing for a pandemic means preparing for surprises – and being ready to respond rapidly and flexibly under conditions of uncertainty. As the experience with avian influenza has shown, this may require more than simply the top-down, "active and aggressive" technocratic responses being urged.

Roe and Schulman also suggest a need to work more with local knowledge and to value the skill and judgment of middle-level professionals often taken for granted. Skills are needed to work with uncertainty and to prepare for surprise, including systemic thinking. Our government seems to have focused on trying to control....including trying to control how we sneeze. Scoones' article points to rather different priorities and lessons to be learnt here.

The year moves on

I love this time of year!

G20 and global justice?

35,000 people marched through London yesterday ahead of this week's London summit of the G20 demanding action on poverty, climate change and jobs and calling for a new kind of global justice. This and other protests in Germany, France and Italy have highlighted many of the interconnections of social, environmental and economic concerns. Though seeing the summit primarily as 'make or break' for the world's economy is evident in other news coverage. The G-20 is

"made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and also the European Union who is represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank."

Early spring flowers

A beautiful morning for snowdrops, hellebores and crocuses at Coton Manor today.

Impressive reduction in plastic bags

Once in a while the sheer scale of what's going on in the UK in relation to its use of resources and production of wastes hits home. It did with the numbers given in this article. The Independent reports that:

Shops gave out 3.5 billion fewer plastic bags last year under a voluntary scheme which has, for now, headed off the threat of a government ban on free carrier bags. Figures from Wrap, the Government's anti-waste body, show that the number of plastic bags dispensed fell from 13.4 billion in 2007 to 9.9 billion last year, a drop of 26 per cent.

Wall street journal - obnoxious on global warming

Interesting piece from Stuart Gaffin of Columbia University on Reuters environment blog. He's critiquing yet another attempt to argue for the status quo regarding taking action to reduce CO2 emissions in the US:

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) editorial page occupies a uniquely obnoxious place in commentary on global warming.....In response to President Obama’s revolutionary new efforts to cap CO2 emissions, WSJ editorial member Holman Jenkins Jr. tells us to “…Put away the global warming panic…” and writes an impressive number of fictions in two sentences...

in the same sentence that claims science knows nothing about CO2, somehow he [Jenkins Jr] (or science?) knows enough about it to conclude that “ …the impact is too small to untangle from natural variability …” Which one is it?

The rush to nuclear power

The Economist a while ago descibed a power struggle with France leading the way in a global revival of nuclear energy. ....and now it's Italy making a deal with France to step up Italian nuclear power. India too seems to have signed up with the 'French nuclear giant Areva' for six new nuclear reactors and we're told in this article that

The Areva-designed pressurized water reactors, which are meant to replace aging reactors around the world whose designs date from decades ago, are already under construction in Finland, France and China. Areva also has plans to build the new reactors in Britain and the United States

Although this has obviously been developing over quite a long time the press coverage does make it feel like there's almost a rush to get on the nuclear power bandwagon. There's a lot riding on this technology - hope it can stand the test of time. What's changed in the past few weeks? Is this because nuclear power has suddenly gained political acceptability and 'green' credentials in the context of climate change and those concerned have become convinced that it's the only way to go? Or are there other political and economic drivers? I can see that some nuclear power might have to be part of our future but what does this mean for investment in renewables?

Nuclear power debate

According to the Independent

Britain must embrace nuclear power if it is to meet its commitments on climate change, four of the country’s leading environmentalists – who spent much of their lives opposing atomic energy – warn today

Monbiot also has changed his tune, seeing nuclear power as less threatening than the effects of climate change. He claims he hasn't gone pro-nuclear but his position is that he will no longer oppose nuclear power if four conditions are met:

1. Its total emissions - from mine to dump - are taken into account

2. We know exactly how and where the waste is to be buried

3. We know how much this will cost and who will pay

4. There is a legal guarantee that no civil nuclear materials will be diverted for military purposes.

Not sure how we could ensure all those conditions are met and it's assumptions about what we can and can't control that bother me but at least Monbiot's taking a well-argued position and his article logs lots of changing circumstances and views. This move in favour of nuclear power isn't exactly news as the debate about renewable v nuclear power and fossil fuel v nuclear has been hotting up for quite a while now with many like James Lovelock arguing in favour of nuclear on grounds of reduced emissions, safety and practicality. The safety arguments in terms of what hasn't happened recently compared with other sources of power are I think increasingly impressive e.g. in this article comparing dangers in nuclear and wind energy. Though they do seem to me to make assumptions about stability in future and I'm not sure nuclear would look as favourable if necessary institutions and infrastructure were to start to break down. But increased carbon emissions seem to be seen as a bigger threat to life on earth as we know it.

Just recently pro-nuclear power arguments do seem to be gaining ground with long-opposing countries like Sweden lifting its ban on nuclear power. There are allegedly still lots of myths around concerning conventional v renewable energy. It'll be interesting to see how this shapes up as we head towards COP15, the United Nations next major climate change conference to be held in Copenhagen in December.

Snowdrop time again

We observed our ritual of seeking out snowdrops again, this time in Moggerhanger woods. Almost as much as the flowers, I like the stories of them, which I've written about in previous years. They're allegedly two weeks later this year than they have been in recent years.

From airport protests to migration

Interesting article from Leo Hickman in yesterday's Guardian about two opposing protests due today, one against airport expansion and one in favour. Reading the tongue-in-cheek tone of those in favour reminds me that environmental arguments are so often couched in very serious terms which I think leaves them open to quite successful opposition. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trivialising the issues of the effects of increased airport expansion and I'm not in favour of expansion. But like many I do fly sometimes and have an ongoing struggle with issues of individual and collective responsibility and action and the lack of congruence between what I espouse and what I sometimes actually do. Quite a contrast between these protests and last night's superb Nature's Great Events BBC programme on the salmon run which took wildlife filming to yet another new high. Hard to see these situations as connected but I suppose it wouldn't take that much for climate change to disrupt the salmon migration which could see the total collapse of all we were looking at.

Environmental Responsibility Reader now out!!

This reader, edited by Martin Reynolds, me and Mark J Smith, has now been printed. Zed books is the publisher. Here's the link. Great to see it after a lot of hard work. Here's what reviewers said about it:

'This collection brings together in one place key texts of leading thinkers in environmental ethics. No one who takes environmental responsibility seriously will want to be without this book.'

- Ruth Chadwick, Director, ESRC Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics (Cesagen) Cardiff University

'In these tumultuous times, I shall keep this rich mix of classic texts close at hand. They combine inspiration, ethics and pragmatic reflection on why we have reached the crisis we face today and tomorrow. This kind of deep thinking will be key to whether we can shift to become global citizens with an eye to the future.'

- Dr Camilla Toulmin, Director, International Institute for Environment and Development

'A welcome and timely reminder that we need to take up our environmental responsibilities now following the inspiring guidance provided by this excellent collection.'

- Wendy Harcourt, Editor of 'Development' and the forthcoming Zed Book Series on 'Gender and Environment'

'The environmental challenges of the 21st Century are the most complex, difficultand dangerous that humanity has ever faced. Perplexity is a common human response to complexity. Inaction is what follows from perplexity. The readings brought together into this volume provide hugely valuable insights into how best we could navigate this landscape of environmental risks and opportunities more successfully.’

- Tom Burke, founding director of E3G

Limits to tourism

Interesting piece on Reuters environmental blog suggesting limiting visitor numbers to Galapagos and Antarctica to protect wildlife. Besides the link with Darwin that's much in the news on the 200th anniversary of his birth, I connect to this because (i) we have a brand new OU course on Environmental Responsibility starting in May and eco-tourism is the topic of the final project so our students will be looking for such accounts that connect ethics, policy and action and (ii) because I've just been probably as close as I'm going to get to Antarctica in visiting Patagonia so am aware of the huge importance of tourism in local economies and the challenge of managing this activity in ways that are sustainable both ecologically and socially.

Attenborough on Darwin

I've been listening to quite a few broadcasts and comments recently from Sir David Attenborough on Charles Darwin. Attenborough is still, at 82, one of the most convincing presenters I've ever heard. There's a written account that captures quite a lot of it here. Lots of controversy about what Darwin did and didn't know and the reporting of it, as discussed by David Chapman but Attenborough himself I find truly inspirational.

Australian bushfires

Terrible bush fires in Australia ....so shocking and sad to hear about them, particularly all the lives lost and disrupted. Hard to imagine such a situation as we sit surrounded by snow and ice. Talk of new policy, and a climate-change wake-up call are prominent in our press here and elsewhere.

Prize for climate change bullshit

Beware....Monbiot has announced the Christopher Booker prize for

"... whoever in my opinion and assisted by climate scientists and specialists manages, in the course of 2009, to cram as many misrepresentations, distortions and falsehoods into a single article, statement, lecture, film or interview about climate change."

This quote and further details in his blog and the Guardian.

Snow

Well the snow and ice we've got right now might be causing mayhem but it certainly lifts our local landscape.

Backtracking on energy

Our guide on one trip in Patagonia talked of a new resurgence in coal production because of some of the political problems being experienced regarding alternatives. This reminded me of some of the issues of building a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth, previously discussed in this blog here and still very much at issue. Some of the details about why can be found on this 'nonewcoal' site. 'Clean coal' is by many accounts a fallacy so whether in Chile or UK planning to use more coal seems a backward step compared with opting for investing in more renewable energy in the longer term. Also regarding renewables, I found it sobering to read George Monbiot's recent article about his conversation with Shell's Chief Executive, Jeroen van de Veer. Whereas in 2000 the company allegedly claimed to be making large scale investment in renewable energy and was at that time very open about the amounts being invested, they now seem to be very vague about just how much they're investing and Monbiot fears that this reluctance to be more sepcific is because their spending in renewables has fallen sharply. While Monbiot doesn't blame Shell or its Chief Exec for doing what the market demands if discharging their duty to shareholders, he's critical that they create the impression that they have a different agenda. He's also critical of government for letting companies seek profit without taking much account of the consequences of doing that for people and environment.

What shade of green?

Headlines I'd heard before reading this article talked of the UK Government bailing out the car industry but the emphasis here seems to be as much on investment in 'green technology'. On the surface that looks good but I can't really tell what shade of green Mandelsson is referring to. And what connections are there here to Obama's announcements of a couple of days ago? .....mentioned here. The UK could so easily have re-routed it's industrial base to go the way of Denmark with developing green energy technologies (specifically wind turbines) many years ago. Good to see more happening on this front now but a shame more didn't happen earlier. The too little too late tone of the Independent article could apply as much to the investment in green technology as to the bail-out. But I guess hindsight is a wonderful thing and we must start from here.

Chile, pictures and the Frutic conference

I'm glad to see that my local robot enthusiast has also put some pictures of Chile up on his website . The Frutic symposium in Chile that led to this trip focused on information and technology for the sustainable production of fruit and vegetables, nuts, wine and olives....a topic that I think many could identify with one way or another. All delegates were given an MP5 player as a name badge and conference information pack. I believe it was also needed to get your lunch which provided an incentive to re-charge it at end of the day.

Winter birds

Some great pictures on Bird Guides photos of the week site. Winter birdwatching here certainly has its rewards.

Obama on environment

Good to hear via the New Scientist blog that Obama has been prompt to take action on environment regarding (i) more jobs in renewable energy (ii) measures for increasing car fuel efficiency and (iii) instructing the Environmental Protection Agency to review a decision made in Bush's time that blocked California's action to forge ahead of other states in limiting car emissions. More on this in the Independent's article on America going Green.

Ever seen one of these?

...I mean the one on the foreground. We hadn't, though I'd never seen a penguin in the wild either until this visit to Otway Sound in Patagonia. The interloper visiting the penguins' burrows, presumably in search of eggs, is allegedly a 'quique' or 'lesser grison' (galictis cuja), listed on one website as a type of ferret. Nearby penguins were uneasy and behaving as though they could sense it, though we didn't see a face-to-face meeting while we were there. We were already amazed to see the Magellan penguins, only afterwards did we realise just how lucky we'd been to catch sight of this animal also.

Art in Chile

Saw some superb works of art in Chile.The first of these is part of Jorge Gonzalez Camarena's famous 'Presence of Latin America' displayed in Concepcion - full of stories and this little picture doesn't really do it credit. It is a huge mural and quite magnificent. The others are less famous but also great in different ways. The second is a sculpture seen in a modern shopping mall, also in Concepcion. The third another sculpture, located at Casanueva vineyard in the Itata valley where the owner keeps art and wine side-by-side. The fourth is on a house on the sea front in the Patagonian town of Punta Arenas and the last is to be found on the side of a building in a busy market street at the port of Talcahuano.

In Patagonia

Just back from Chile and I feel very fortunate to have visited Patagonia. Incredibly scenic. I loved the wide open spaces, the big skies, the wildlife, the light, the mountains, glaciers and waterfalls. I was intrigued to see so many lupins....they certainly look better like this than they do in my garden.