With 600 million people visiting zoos around the world each year, the potential to influence, educate and help make a difference should not be ignored, delegates at Chester Zoo’s first Climate Change event will be told. Hosted by Chester Zoo’s Director General Prof Gordon McGregor Reid and Bristol Zoo Director, Dr Jo Gipps, the conference will pull together a panel of experts from across the region. Decision makers from local and regional authorities will be invited to the ‘Question Time’ style event.

Chester Zoo’s Head of Discovery and Learning, Stephen McKeown, warned that the issue of climate change should be ignored at peril. “There is an urgency around climate change and we need to raise awareness of that fact at local, regional and national levels. We have all heard the doom and gloom stories but what we need to do is to look at positive ways of making a difference and to see what each and every one of us can do to help. The meeting will have a call to action for attendees but zoos also have to take responsibility; globally they have an annual audience of 600 million people and are in an ideal position to explain that extinction is forever.”

The event is being sponsored by Chester-based solicitors Hill Dickinson. Robin Jones, Head of Hill Dickinson’s Chester office, said: “We are very pleased to be involved in the Climate Change Event and are happy to provide sponsorship to help to support the Zoo in its ambitions to reduce climate change and its impact upon the environment.”

The meeting will be held in the Zoo’s Lecture Hall on the 18th March from 6pm and is free. To book your place contact Kate Brankin on 01244 389444.

If you have a question that you would like to be put to the panel please email learning@chesterzoo.org

Chester Zoo is a registered conservation charity and supports projects around the world and closer to home in Cheshire.  Welcoming 1.3 million visitors a year, it is the largest zoo in the UK; home to 7000 animals and 400 different species, many of which are endangered. Full details of the event can be found here.

10:10 Briefing for Low Carbon Communities Network Members: September 2009

The Low Carbon Communities Network was one of the first 10 NGOs to sign up to 10:10 at the Tate Modern on 1^st September. You can find full details of the campaign on the 10:10 website, this briefing is aimed at giving members and supporters some information about the campaign, the best way to get involved and the opportunity 10:10 presents to begin to have carbon reduction conversations with your community. By committing to cut our emissions by 10% in 2010, we will join thousands of individuals, schools, hospitals, businesses and organisations all actively helping to combat climate change by making simple changes to their lifestyles, homes and workplaces. More importantly, our voice will help to put pressure on the politicians to cut Britain’s emissions as quickly as the science demands. If we in the UK can prove that fast, deep cuts can be made at a national level, then we may just inspire all the other big polluting countries to follow suit.

What is 10:10?
10:10 is an ambitious project to unite every sector of British society behind one simple idea: that by working together we can achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010.

Why 10% in 2010?
Because while politicians argue about targets for 2050 and 2020, the scientists say world emissions must peak and begin to fall within the next few years. That means we need deep cuts in the developed world as quickly as possible. The longer we leave it, the smaller our chance of avoiding disastrous warming. 10% is approximately the right amount for Britain to cut next year if we are to play our part in keeping global temperatures from soaring out of control.

What does it mean to sign up?
For individuals it means what it says on the tin: pledging to cut your emissions by 10% by the end of 2010. We’ll be offering lots of advice on how to do it and 10:10 has teamed up with the major energy companies who’ll help by showing customers how they are doing on their bills.

What about companies?
Companies commit to getting as close to the 10% target as possible – with a minimum cut of 3% – and to encouraging customers, staff and suppliers to sign up too. Cutting your first 10% is the easy part, but even businesses already well on the road to becoming low-carbon operations will be making at least 3% annual cuts. 10:10 is about aiming high and finding out what’s possible – and becoming part of a business community that is doing the same. There are also specially designed targets for schools and other organisations.

Will there be a symbol like the Make Poverty History wristband?
We bought a Jumbo Jet, sawed it up, melted it down and made hundreds of thousands of 10:10 tags so people can show that they are committed to preventing catastrophic climate change

Does signing up require a major change in your lifestyle?
No. 10:10 is about getting started on the transition to a low-carbon society, and unless you’ve already slashed your emissions, reaching 10% will be easy. It’s all about not wasting energy at home and cutting down on unnecessary journeys and it will save you money.

Aren’t individual efforts just a pointless drop in the ocean?
Not if they’re part of a mass movement. 10:10 makes the efforts of individuals meaningful by ensuring that lots of people will be pledging to make the same cuts, and shows politicians that we as a people are taking the threat of climate change seriously.

What’s the point of just getting people in the UK to sign up when the country accounts for only 2% of world emissions?
10:10 is being launched as a UK campaign but scientists say it is the right target for the whole developed world. The hope is that the campaign will spread to other countries, and we’ll be making it as easy as possible for that to happen.

What happens after 2010?
10:10 is a year-long campaign to get the ball rolling on the move away from fossil fuels. We hope that this will be the beginning of a journey that finishes in a world that is no longer threatened by runaway climate change. But for now the important thing is that we stop talking about what happens in the future, and start cutting the carbon.

Is this just another greenwash campaign?
To really make 10:10 happen we have to get everyone on board, from primary schools and residents’ associations to local authorities and big brands – perhaps even government departments, if they are brave enough to try. This is a project to start making genuine changes to British society, changes we need so that we can leave our children a future we can be proud of. That’s why 10:10 does not recognize any form of offsetting as counting towards the 10% target.

SIGNING UP

Who’s signed up so far?
A number of household names including artists, writers, chefs and sportsmen are already on board, and every day we are recruiting more. Among the organisations signed up at launch are a Premiership football club, a major museum and several NHS trusts. How do I sign up?
Simply enter your details on the right hand side of any page on the 10:10 site, including this one.

How do I tell the world?
Just by signing up your name will appear on the 10:10 online ticker on the home page. To make a public pledge of how you plan to make your 10% cut, go to the Guardian’s website. Once you’ve done that, tell all your friends to sign up.

ORGANISATION

Who is running 1010?
10:10 was conceived by the team behind climate blockbuster The Age of Stupid. They now run the campaign with support from a dream team of partner organisations including The Guardian, ActionAid, Comic Relief, the Energy Saving Trust, the Carbon Trust, the Public Interest Research Centre and many more.

How is 10:10 different from other climate campaigns?
10:10 is unique because it asks people to take a simple but meaningful action that everyone can understand and contribute to. As a result, it is already receiving unparalleled support from media, business, NGOs and the public sector.

Is 10:10 a charity?
10:10 is a not for profit company limited by guarantee.

Why should LCCN members back 10:10?

The 10:10 campaign presents a not to be repeated opportunity to promote the work LCCN members are doing, by talking about 10:10 with friends, neighbours and colleagues we can all begin to explore what a low carbon future may look and feel like. I know, from speaking personally to hundreds of LCCN members that low carbon living is achievable and can even be rewarding. But, we can’t do it alone, we need businesses, government and others to join us and make it possible for householders, tenants and customers to make informed low carbon choices. Please visit 1010uk.org and sign up your organisation and to find out more about the campaign. Together we do make a difference.

Tracey Todhunter

Following the launch of the 10:10 campaign at theTate Gallery in London,  which was supported by several Low Carbon Communities Network members, we are pleased to announce Low Carbon Cheshire is 10:10 partner organisation.

Visit 10:10 for details of how to get involved.

Transition journeys point the way for Communities for Change

An innovative project in Greater Manchester is highlighting and celebrating community organisations involved in grassroots environmental change.

Culminating with the Communities for Change event on Saturday 12th September at MMU’s Didsbury campus, the projects will see a series of Transition Journeys throughout Greater Manchester in which community-led environmental groups travel by low carbon transport to visit and learn from each other’s projects. Communities for Change is overseen and funded by a community empowerment partnership including Manchester Metropolitan University, Community North West, the Federation of Community Development Learning, Neighbourhoods North West  and North West Together We Can. (Many of these are members of the Low Carbon Communities Network).

Transition Journeys

During August and September people involved in community-led environmental projects will be able to participate in  a series of Transition Journeys throughout Greater Manchester. Each journey features a different form of low carbon transportation including bikes, trains, canal boats and even a red routemaster double decker bus.

Participants on the Transition Journeys will visit each other’s projects learning and being inspired by stories of environmental change, from community cafes and urban farms to centres of sustainability and education.

Over 25 groups will take part in Transition Journeys all over Greater Manchester including Wigan, Tameside, Manchester, Stockport and High Peak.

Communities for Change

Featuring films, music, food and discussion, the Communities for Change event will take place 10am-4pm, on Saturday 12th September 2009 at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Didsbury campus. Attended by over 50 community and Transition Town groups taking action on the environment and sustainability, the event will offer a chance for networking, inspiration and exchange. It will showcase amazing projects in which people and communities work together, featuring everything from bikes, to food, solar panels and allotments.

The event will also feature documentation and stories from the Transition Journeys. Films, photographs and audio stories will track the journeys while participants will be on hand to share experiences.

The event is free but spaces are limited and booking is essential.

Info:

To enquire about booking or for more information please contact:

cheshire@lowcarboncommunities.net

or

Contact Hilda at Community North West

Telephone. 01282 692 323

Email. info@communitynw.org.uk

1. MMU’s Campus

Contact Details: Wilmslow Road, Didsbury Manchester M20 2RR

Reception tel: + 44 (0) 161 247 1385

Directions

2. Links to partnership organisations

More information about the following organisations can be found on their websites:

Community North West
Federation of Comunity Development Learning

Manchester Metropolitan University

North West Together We Can

Neighbourhoods North West

3. Confirmed dates for Transition Journeys

Bolton-Manchester, bus/train, tbc

Ashton-East Manchester, canal boat, 12th August 2009

New Mills-Heaton Mersey, train, tbc

Manchester bike ride, tbc

* The photo featured here is from a previous community event and features an FCDL worker talking about a banner made by a community group in response to local coal mining and climate change.