MISSION STATEMENT
“To protect and improve the quality of life and security for ourselves, our families and people around the world by minimising the clear threats posed by climate change and embracing the huge opportunities it offers.”
There is a problem
We all now know that human activity (specifically burning fuel and clearing forest) is responsible for climate change. If we carry on with 'business as usual' we will cause huge environmental degradation to our planet within our lifetime. This in turn will result in more wars over diminishing supplies of fuel, food and fresh water.
The reality of climate change means worse weather with more floods, droughts, storms and ever higher food and fuel prices.
We need change
We can't avoid some climate change - we are already seeing and feeling the effects. But if we act immediately, experts believe we can avoide the worst effects.
We must also adapt now in order to maintain our quality of life in the coming decades. This is a huge opportunity because society is not meeting our needs any more.
We are living in an unrivalled era of relative peace, security and wealth, and yet few people in the U.K. are happy. The strain of the society we have set up is taking its toll, and the results are plain to see. One in four U.K. inhabitants will suffer from depression this year, one in six Britons has a drink problem. A quarter of us are obese, and a quarter of our young people would leave the country permanently if they could.
Our increasing mobility and wealth has fractured society, separating families and replacing communities with commuters. The isolation and dislocation that this has brought affects all of us in some way and makes us poorer.
So if its not working for us, lets change it. If it is working, let's make it better.
We are used to change
As a society, we are used to making huge changes of the kind that are necessary now to avoid further damage to our world.
It is only 40 years since every house in my home town of Sheffield was heated by a coal fire that blew smoke out of a chimney stack. It might have been very difficult for most of us to imagine how the introduction of gas powered central heating would change things back in 1950, but today its a fact of life and we take it for granted.
Similar new changes and improvements will occur over the coming years - if we decide to make them - as new alternative energy sources are developed and utilised.
Our current ways of living will soon seem very old fashioned.
Modern Living Is The Answer
In the United Kingdom we have a long history of innovation and technology - we started the industrial revolution. Now we need to lead the way with the post industrial revolution.
If we are to adapt effectively to the new climate and economic conditions and embrace the opportunities it offers, we need to harness new technologies and new attitudes, as well as keeping the fantastic innovations that have already improved our lives.
A lot of our current technologies are already starting to look as outdated as steam trains and rows of 1950s smoking chimney stacks. You can be at the front of the new changes that are taking place right now.
Reorganising society will bring huge benefits
There are lots of easy and creative ways to reorganise what we do to reduce costs, eliminate pollution and improve our quality of life. Just a few examples are:
- improving facilities to reduce the need for the daily commute to work and the school run. How much of your life do you waste sat in traffic jams?
- changing the way we shop - improving local shops and home deliveries to provide cheaper and better quality produce. So we spend less time getting stressed in queues at the supermarket.
- buying more local produce will also reduce the number of large lorries on our roads, meaning safer roads, less pollution and congestion
- making our homes more efficient and switching to green renewable electricity will make homes more comfortable and cheaper to heat.
Society will be fairer
Some things will never change of course, but things could certainly be a lot better than they are now.
Globally, there are around four billion people in the world living on less than £2 a day. That probably won't pay for your lunchtime sandwich. People in the third world want and need to work to gain a good standard of living. There is a way to help them do this without ruining the planet if we choose to adopt it.
All actions must be built on the principal of being fair for everyone at a local, national and global level. At the same time personal freedom and choice for everyone must be maintained within the framework of what science tells us has to be achieved in terms of reducing pollution and the severe risks that it brings.
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