The Transition Edinburgh University initiative was set up to put the Edinburgh University community on the road to transition, lowering carbon emissions and finding a community response to peak oil and climate change. TEU was set up partly as a consequence of the People & Planet campaign Go Green and partly as a consequence of the work of the Energy Manager of the University, David Somervell. Continue reading
Firstly, the above is a ‘Facebook friend’s’ status and the cause for much consternation. According to a recent opinion poll, nearly half of Britain still isn’t convinced that we’re to blame for climate change. And with freezing temperatures and streets looking like Christmas cards, how to convince them? For a worryingly large number of people, the recent weather conditions alone are enough to disprove climate change. Continue reading
It may come as a shock, but the IPCC – the body set up by the UN to “review and assess” scientific data on climate change – is not in any way free of the sort of corporate bias that weighs down on the US congress and the UK parliament.
Before I launch into a tirade, I have a confession: I read the Daily Telegraph. Sorry. Continue reading
The weekend before last was one of the most exhausting but inspirational 72 hours that I’ve experienced; it might seem strange in the light of what we now know about just how much our “leaders” let us down over the last few weeks, but my visit to Copenhagen at the time of the climate conference energised me enormously and re-igniting my hope that a just and sustainable future is possible. Continue reading
Come to the Forum and have your say.
People & Planet (P&P) prizes itself on how student led and democratic it is. But have you ever wondered if People & Planet actually is the most student led and democratic organisation out there? Are there organisations which do things better than us? Can we learn anything from these organisations so as to become more student led and democratic. Continue reading
This being the last day of COP15, and the final hours of the final day, you would have thought it would be simply the finishing touches that they are putting on a final deal.
But of course not! This is the UNFCCC!
I am sitting in plenary at 5 in the morning
and that’s as far as I got! Continue reading
It’s Tuesday again now and a whole week has just flown by! I remember last Tuesday, on the eve of the big march in Copenhagen thinking “Blimey, I’ve not even been here half the time and we’ve not even had the big one!” and now here I am, it’s a whole week later, I’m back in Oxford and all that is behind us. Continue reading
![A different type of MC [Flickr-Davide Rusconi]](http://blog.peopleandplanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/rapbattle2-280x185.jpg)
MCs!
Ok, I know it’s a tenuous link, but they really do!
But instead of Microphone Commanders People & Planet has the Management Committee (MC); a group of young people elected by other students to make sure the network is being run your best interests. Continue reading
Initially, I was planning to write/scribble about the politics and policies of Copenhagen. It would have included copious amount of moaning, sighing and sheer cries of anguish/hopelessness. This would have been pointless – a mere rant that meant nothing. If you really think about COP-15, it’s just a bunch of hot air. It is the meeting of the elite, rich and overly intelligent. It is not a gathering of those suffering or those who will be most impacted by climate change. So why waste another paragraph on it? Continue reading
Firstly, I wish to apologise for this blog being such a late starter, and perhaps secondly for it not being about Copenhagen. I’m not there. As a blog, I intended it to document the progress of the Transition Edinburgh University (TEU) initiative, hopefully giving ideas to other People & Planet groups and whoever else stumbles upon it about ways to begin their own Transition initiatives and projects. Continue reading