We’ll be back in 2009.

Demand for electric cars in London has evidently been damaged by certain factors: the loss of free parking for electric cars in the City (worth around £4k per year), the subsequently scrapped plans to exempt sub-120g/km emitting cars from congestion charges (a large advantage of the electric cars), and the lower safety standards applied to the G-Wiz and Nice cars being quadricycles rather than cars.

Regardless, hopes for London to move towards electric as a real alternative to regular petrol cars have definitely been pushed back.

It focused on four issues: opposition to plans for a third runway at Heathrow; opposition to new coal-fired power stations; opposition to increased use of agrofuels; and support for a ‘Green New Deal’ to create jobs and further shift our energy supply to renewable sources.

Estimates place turnout for the march at between 5,000 and 10,000.  Numbers seemed to dwindle significantly for the rally.  Headline speakers at the rally included Nick Clegg, Caronline Lucas and George Monbiot.

In 2005, the Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh mobilised an estimated 225,000 people.  Whatever one thinks about popular mobilisation, these campaigns surely stand or fall on the scale and diversity of their support (both active and passive).

Perhaps the biggest challenge for organisers and campaigners is to agree on a succinct message that contains a clear and inspiring goal.  End apartheid.  Votes for women.  Equal rights for all Americans.  Unlike these social movements, which could point to more concrete targets and grievances, there is much greater uncertainty when it comes to climate change.  There is a lack of consensus over the scale of the problem and what needs to be done to face up to it.

Ultimately, things are out of our hands.  We cannot be sure that proposals to mitigate global warming will be entirely effective.  That is not to question the soundness of action, such as reductions in carbon emissions and moves towards increased use of renewable energy sources.  Neither is it to suggest that we should not try at all.  But isn’t much of the appeal of direct activism supposed to be the act of standing up and taking back a measure of control?

The panel of speakers was made up of Caroline Lucas (Green MEP), George Monbiot (journalist and writer), Jeremy Leggett (founder of Solar Century), Kevin Anderson (Tyndall Institute), Tim Helweg-Larsen (PIRC) and Leila Deen (World Development Movement).

The issue of climate change was broken into roughly three segments:

•    The State of Play
•    Solutions
•    Action

State of Play

Kevin Anderson and Tim Helweg-Larsen gave a stark, but realistic, outline on the state of the world’s climate and the probable effects that will result from our greenhouse gas emissions. The tendency for conservatism in key climate change reviews (such as Stern) was challenged.

Anderson underlined that restricting climate change to a 2℃ increase was now almost impossible, and that a 4℃ target would be more realistic, though by no means easily achievable.  The scale of this challenge would be considerable.

From a 2020 peak in annual emissions, a 2℃ target would require a 10% p.a. drop in emissions; 3℃ a 9% reduction; and 4℃ a 3.5% fall.  The only time we have been able to effect a change of greater than 5% in emissions came after the collapse of the Soviet Union (something which can skew our interpretation of emissions data if we’re not careful).

Helweg-Larsen put forward the case for revising our climate change targets.  He argued that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other institutions were using outdated figures (due to the time needed to adjust complex climate models, and not inertia or negligence).  To support his position, Helweg-Larsen pointed to rapid, ahead-of-schedule Arctic ice melt in 2007.

Solutions

George Monbiot and Tim Helweg-Larsen presented approaches to tackling the issue of climate change.  These solutions were focused on the UK, with the aim of positioning us as a global leader in this field.

Monbiot proposed a ‘Green New Deal’.  This would aim to bring about carbon reductions of 25% by the end of 2012.  His proposals included: jobs creation and skills training for builders in energy efficiency; heavy subsidies for home insulation (a 10-year programme); transition to a green energy national grid; and controlling air travel to reduce it to 5% of current levels.

Some of Monbiot’s ideas, such as home insulation, appear achievable, with great benefits (Jeremy Leggett later stated that a £0.5 billion investment on home insulation could result in a £4.5 billion saving).  Others, like the reduction in air travel, left one wondering about the practicalities of implementation.

A flaw in Monbiot’s proposals seemed to be his idea for the reorganisation of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to help fund his suggestions.  Caroline Lucas spoke about the difficulty in negotiating in the European parliament on environmental issues due to the intransigence from some nations and powerful lobbyists (especially oil and gas).

Helweg-Larsen talked about the need to preserve our carbon sinks.  This applied to both the UK and globally.  Slightly more controversially, he argued that we should look into trying to modify our carbon sinks to maximise their storage potential.  He also mentioned geo-engineering as an option.

Helweg-Larsen also spoke on energy sources.  He suggested that the Government create Energy bonds to fund the shift to the large-scale adoption of green energy.  He stressed the benefits of investment in this area.  An investment of £0.6-1.2 billion would reduce the costs of installation for 29GW of offshore wind power by £14 billion.  As fossil fuel prices rise or continue to be volatile, the cost of renewable energy (in pure financial terms) becomes more attractive.

Action

Jeremy Leggett, Caroline Lucas and Leila Deen all discussed how change can and could be effected.  They tackled the subject from three different perspectives: business (Leggett), politics (Lucas) and the individual/grassroots (Deen).

Leggett saw the credit crunch as an opportunity to push forward the climate change agenda.  He was excited not only by the level of capital becoming available to green companies, but also the sources of the investment.  He argued that institutional investors were increasingly looking at green companies (especially in the energy sector) as an attractive proposition.

Leggett also touched on the chance we have to restructure our appraoch to the economy and business.  He suggested that in the face of the failures of several large banks, people might turn towards smaller-scale, community-based investment opportunities and credit unions.

Lucas stated that science and the general population had for the most part accepted the need to tackle climate change, and that it was now primarily a challenge of political will.  However, she was pessimistic when it came to European or global (through the renegotiation of the Kyoto protocol) action.  In her view, direct action and the voice of the people would be a much more powerful instrument of change.

This linked into Deen’s encouragement for individual and community action.  The protests against Kingsnorth power station and Heathrow runway 3 were cited as successes of grassroots activism.  Deen recognised that the final outcome of both were still undecided, but she praised protesters for generating media attention and putting the issues on the political agenda.

Find out more about PIRC, and download their reports, here.

So now, you have a situation where 75% of UK councils are reporting price drops (the other 25% are on fixed contracts with companies that take the waste - although presumably they may be suffering as well) and 27% of councils are actually storing materials in the hopes that the market will pick up again.  The Environment Agency has said that it will support councils storing recyclable materials on a temporary basis (6 months - or possibly longer if needed).  What’s clear is that if the material starts working its way back into landfill, confidence in recycling will be damaged severely.  With 23% of councils looking for alternatives to recycling, Paul Bettison, the Chairman of the Local Government Association Environment Board has them to consider landfill as the option of last resort.  He said in a letter to councils:

“If the difficult market conditions were to persist and it be necessary to consider temporarily using other waste management routes, councils should follow the waste hierarchy.  The waste prevention message should, of course, always come first.  When looking at alternatives to recycling, the composting of biodegradable materials and then energy recovery should be considered.  Landfill should be a last resort.”

He is, of course, right - we need to waste less first.  In lean times, this makes double sense as it means we use more of what we’re paying for, and we pay less in council tax for collecting and disposing of it.  The UK also really needs to consider whether it needs its own recycling facilities to deal with a larger proportion of its waste.  In the meantime? Reduce your waste, Reuse what you can, Recycle what you can’t. And hope the councils come up with a good plan so we don’t end up like a scene from Wall-E.

BCSF was at the launch party last night to check things out.  Alongside old favourites like Little Green Radicals and Izzy Lane, we discovered some exciting new ethical brands such as Harlands, an organic home furnishings company that makes chemical-free upholstered sofas, chairs and headboards.

It was good to see that even in the current financial climate, the shop was packed.  And people weren’t just there for the delicious organic wine and nibbles - there were plenty of transactions taking place too!  There’s a lot packed into the two-level shop.  You can pick up everything from baby clothes, jewellery, stationery, beauty products to an electric cycle.  It might be just the thing if you’re out looking for unique presents - many of the items on sale are one-off creations, and nothing in the shop is mass-produced.

Our Eco Shop is located at 303 Westbourne Grove, W11.  Nearest tubes are Notting Hill Gate and Ladbroke Grove.

Opening times 10:00-18:00 (Mon-Sat), 12:00-17:00 (Sun), from November 10th until December 24th.

Compared to 1990 levels, emissions actually fell by about 5%. However, this pre-2000 decrease has been attributed to the economic decline of transition countries in Eastern and Central Europe during the 1990s.

The report did not include figures from India and China. Along with the US, these three nations have not yet taken action under the Kyoto Protocol.

Among industrialised nations, 16, including the UK, are on track to meet their Kyoto Protocol obligations.

With the Kyoto Protocol expiring in 2012, the Copenhagen climate change conference in 2009 is shaping up to be key to future emissions targets.

Photo by Flickr user freefotouk. Published under a Creative Commons license.

BCSF spent last Thursday night at Shoreditch Town Hall surrounded by celebrities, cocktails and clothes at the RE:Fashion Awards, the world’s first ethical fashion awards. Founded by Anti-Apathy, the Ethical Fashion Forum and Futerra Sustainability Communications, RE:Fashion’s mission is to “transform social and environmental standards in the fashion industry within a decade.”

Eleven awards in three different categories: Designer, Making a Difference and Innovation, were presented by a slew of VIPs including Sam Roddick, Guardian journalist Lucy Siegle and Whistles CEO Jane Sheperdson.

From Somewhere, the upcycling label that uses luxury designer offcuts to create one of a kind pieces (watch out for our forthcoming feature on them) was one of the big winners of the night, picking up two awards. Co-founder Orsola De Castro was overcome with emotion as they beat out formidable competition from People Tree and Junky Styling to win the night’s biggest award, RE:Designer of the Year.

Online eco-boutique Adili scooped the RE: Retailer award, and Marie-Claire won the judges vote for the RE: Consumer Awareness Award, in recognition of their June 2008 ‘Eco-chic’ issue. Cristina Cisilino, of Made UK, the Fairtrade jewellery brand that works with marginalised Kenyan communities, accepted the RE: Africa award for the best practice in manufacturing in Africa, and expressed hope that more companies would start looking to the continent as a viable manufacturing base.

A highlight of the evening was the Iconic Catwalk event - designers like Vivienne Westwood and Preen used fabrics sourced from Africa through a UN ethical fashion initiative called ‘Africa Inspires’. Modelled by the offspring of rock royalty – Pixie Geldof, Daisy Lowe and Leah Wood - Preen’s kikoy (a Kenyan sarong) dress stood out in particular as a relevant example of high-end ethical fashion.

Telegraph Fashion Editor Hilary Alexander (who judged the awards with panelists including designer Katharine Hamnett and Anna Orsini of the British Fashion Council) ended the evening on a note of optimism stating that with these Awards, “we are on the way to making ‘eco’ eternal.”

Will events like this push ethical fashion into the mainstream? A recurring comment we heard throughout the night was that the clothes were beautiful, but probably very expensive. People we spoke to at the Awards, who were by and large the converted, didn’t necessarily aspire to own any of the fashion on show, just to admire it from afar. Ethical fashion, just like ethical food, does tend to cost more, especially when compared to some of the disposable fashion on the high street. But as the number of ethical fashion brands out there increase, so does the range of price points.

Yesterday, the Guinness World Record for the Largest Gathering of People Wearing Underpants was broken, and BCSF was there to witness it.  Pants to Poverty, the campaigning movement/underwear retailer, used the promise of free pants, bacon butties and shots of whisky to entice 116 brave souls to bare (almost) all at chilly St Pancras International.  They claimed the record to the rallying cry of “We love pants, we hate poverty!”

The event attracted a fair amount of media (including an unusually high proportion of Japanese TV stations) and public attention.  The message seemed to get round to most morning commuters that these seemingly insane people in their underwear were actually there for a good cause.

With a mission to “rid the world of bad pants” Pants to Poverty has managed to function as a campaigning organisation and a “sexy underwear retailer” at the same time, using the most simple everyday object to mobilise a large number of supporters. Born out of the Make Poverty History campaign in 2005, the company sources organic cotton from tribal cotton farmers in India and manufactures at a factory that pays all its staff above minimum wage, and manages inputs (water, chemicals) and outputs (waste) sustainably.  All proceeds from the pants go towards establishing child-labour-free cotton programmes in developing countries.

As far as the pants themselves go, the consensus is that they’re pretty good – comfortable, high-quality and long-lasting.

Without wanting to come across as a scrooge, conventional Christmas lights are just too expensive in terms of running costs and energy consumption.

If you (or your kids) have your hearts set on festive illuminations, consider buying LED lights.  According to the Energy Saving Trust, LEDs consume 90% less electricity than conventional bulbs.  They last longer and are more durable (no filaments) too.  Although the initial outlay might be greater, LEDs make sense as a long-term investment.

A fibre optic decoration (like one of these) is another option.  Perhaps not to everyone’s taste, they do however run off just a single source bulb.  Just one source can light thousands of fibre optic tips.  Currently, these bulbs tend to be halogens.

Fibre optics that feed off an LED source bulb would be even better. However, we have not found anything that fits the bill so far.

Finally, a neat little trick to reducing the number of bulbs you use, is to hang up reflective decorations.  These will amplify the effect of your lights.  Buy or make them yourself.

Image by Flickr user Bitterjug.  Published under the Creative Commons license.