Unless you are a certain flame-haired supermodel who can afford a flat in London and a first-class commute to lectures, shared accommodation is a necessity during university. I have to say my experience of shared living was mixed: communal baking, charades and having friends around were excellent; dying rats under the floor boards and shelling out for monthly bills; not so excellent.

If you have ever had to suffer the stench of a decomposing rat, you have my sympathies. Equally, if you have tried to explain to a housemate why having four light bulbs on in one bedroom is a waste, I also feel your pain. There is an element of reason involved, of course. Walking around the house with three jumpers, two t-shirts, gloves, tights, trousers and several pairs of socks on at once is definitely no fun (believe me, I would know), but it is surely important to save money– and the planet too. If SJP of Sex and the City had practiced energy-saving initiatives, she could have bought more shoes instead of needing a bail out from Big. And who wouldn’t want more shoes, or anything else for that matter?

There are many ways to cut down on unnecessary energy use but measuring your electricity use is a good place to start. There are ways to get free measurement devices that plug in and calculate your costs . Oxford University have also created an imeasure which is more work but still provides results as you can find out which appliances eat up your money and use them less. One ‘out there’ suggestion is to use cling-film for secondary glazing – tape it around your windows and then hair dryer it taut. I did this to keep a ladybird infestation out, but it works just as well to keep heat in. Tin foil behind a radiator may help too; recycle foil take-out boxes to be optimally sustainable.

I also recommend outlining the ‘Landlords Energy Saving Allowance’ to your landlord. Up to £1,500 can be claimed against tax each year to improve a property’s eco-credentials. Who knows, there may be some green landlords out there, so spread the word. Encourage your landlord to install better insulation on the roof or around water pipes, and point them in the direction of claims information.

There is one caveat to implementing energy saving suggestions: the rest of your household. Lead by example, gentle persuasion, reminders, and advice as the first steps to switching off appliances and turning down the heating, which can then be backed by technological solutions. Forgetting to turn something off is not an excuse anymore. There is of course an App that can remotely turn off electronics – can you believe that? If nothing else works, try positive conditioning. Get housemates to turn off lights or computers then surreptitiously give them a sweet. Repetition is key. Soon energy saving behaviour will occur with just the vague memory of a delicious sweet for encouragement. In a nod to Thorndike, like rats pressing a lever, those lights go off.

The latter suggestion may not be such a good idea (though I’d love to try it just to see if it works!) but it is definitely hugely beneficial to try and implement energy saving initiatives around the house you’re letting. If nothing else, try it for a month as evidence for the months to come, and watch your bills go down. Before you feel the pinch of huge bills, try turning to this advice. It just might help!

Katie

If a successful campaign needs a story, then since 2009 the global climate movement has been in deep trouble.

We certainly started off with a great story. I love to tell it to people all the time. Gather round kids, I say to fresh-faced activists and strangers in pubs, listen up – here’s how we changed the world. In the early noughties the UK and Scottish Governments were somewhat interested in climate change, but they were pretty convinced that we didn’t need new legislation to tackle it. “Leave it to me”, said Tony Blair, “the climate is safe as long as we’re in charge”. We didn’t agree, and after a monumental protest, lobby, and direct action campaign the Climate Change Change Act and Climate Change (Scotland) Act were passed with cross-party support in both legislatures. Onwards and upwards. Gordon Brown then created a cabinet level position for Climate Change, a move which remains somewhat unique internationally. With our climate bills in hand, the then minister for Energy & Climate Change Ed Milliband, went to the UN Climate Change Summit at Copenhagen. We’d set the course for the UK, and now we were going to lead the world! (more…)

This post was submitted by the UK youth delegation to the UN climate talks in Durban, coordinated by UKYCC

It’s that time of year again, when diplomats and negotiators, in iron-clad grey suits come face to face with young people who are ready to flashdance and cheerlead their way to the future.

Those two things might seem worlds apart, but in just a few days in Durban, South Africa, the UK youth delegation from the UK Youth Climate Coalition will join with other young people from across the world for the United Nations annual climate talks.

The countries of the world come together once a year to try to formulate a plan that will reduce emissions and prepare for inevitable changes to our climate. That meeting is called the Conference of the Parties, and its 17th annual meeting is about to start.

We believe that young people are the ones who truly have the overwhelming passion and energy to show that, despite the lack of success these talks have had during our lifetimes, we want the most ambitious solution possible to climate change.

And the reason we’re so strong as a group is because we all have our own individual experience. The climate negotiations are crucial to solving climate change, but they are not the be all and end all. We’re all involved in a huge variety of projects around climate change and empowering young people in our local communities, and that’s where our strength and energy come from.

Youth are not the bystanders in this process, we are the ones who will be dealing with the consequences of these decisions for decades to come. And what’s more, progress, or lack of it, has impacts for every young person back on the streets of the UK. Progress towards a low-carbon, clean future, would provide new opportunities for growth and jobs. Politicians and diplomats are bargaining and procrastinating over our future.

And don’t be beguiled by our facepaint, silly costumes, propensity to dance and sing and wear colourful clothes. We’ve also spent the year fundraising hard and in particular learning about climate change policy. Behind our sunglasses and flowery shirts, we’re armed with the tools to have conversations with negotiators on their level.

What’s more, we hope to communicate what’s going on in these talks back to young people in the UK and that they will get in touch with us. Every young person has a stake in this process and we want to make sure that they know what’s being decided in their name, about their futures.

And we’re also excited to link up with the hundreds of young people from all over the world who scrimp and save to come to South Africa, who study detailed policy, who plan creative actions to open politicians’ eyes. We want to help shape the efforts needed and decisions taken to tackle climate change for the lives of all young people.

Find our blogs at un.ukycc.org, follow us @ukyccdelegation and email us your thoughts and hopes for a clean, safe future - delegation.enquiries@ukycc.org

Youth Delegation to the UN Climate Talks, UK Youth Climate Coalition

Unless you are a certain flame-haired supermodel who can afford a flat in London and a first-class commute to lectures, shared accommodation is a necessity during university. I have to say my experience of shared living was mixed: communal baking, charades and having friends around were excellent; dying rats under the floor boards and shelling out for monthly bills; not so excellent.

If you have ever had to suffer the stench of a decomposing rat, you have my sympathies. Equally, if you have tried to explain to a housemate why having four light bulbs on in one bedroom is a waste; I also feel your pain. There is an element of reason involved, of course. Walking around the house with three jumpers, two t-shirts, gloves, tights, trousers and several pairs of socks on at once is definitely no fun (believe me, I would know), but it is surely important to save money– and the planet too. If SJP of Sex and the City had practiced energy-saving initiatives, she could have bought more shoes instead of needing a bail out from Big. And who wouldn’t want more shoes, or anything else for that matter?

There are many ways to cut down on unnecessary energy use but measuring your electricity use is a good place to start. There are ways to get free measurement devices that plug in and calculate your costs . Oxford University have also created an imeasure which is more work but still provides results as you can find out which appliances eat up your money and use them less. One ‘out there’ suggestion is to use cling-film for secondary glazing – tape it around your windows and then hair dryer it taut. I did this to keep a ladybird infestation out, but it works just as well to keep heat in. Tin foil behind a radiator may help too; recycle foil take-out boxes to be optimally sustainable. Alternatively, sign up to People & Planet’s Big Green Makeover project and you’ll get all the training and resources you need to help fellow students do this for free!

I also recommend outlining the ‘Landlords Energy Saving Allowance’ to your landlord. Up to £1,500 can be claimed against tax each year to improve a property’s eco-credentials. Who knows, there may be some green landlords out there, so spread the word. Encourage your landlord to install better insulation on the roof or around water pipes, and point them in the direction of claims information.

There is one caveat to implementing energy saving suggestions: the rest of your household. Lead by example, gentle persuasion, reminders, and advice as the first steps to switching off appliances and turning down the heating, which can then be backed by technological solutions. Forgetting to turn something off is not an excuse anymore. There is of course an App that can remotely turn off electronics – can you believe that? If nothing else works, try positive conditioning. Get housemates to turn off lights or computers then surreptitiously give them a sweet. Repetition is key. Soon energy saving behaviour will occur with just the vague memory of a delicious sweet for encouragement. In a nod to Thorndike, like rats pressing a lever, those lights go off.

The latter suggestion may not be such a good idea (though I’d love to try it just to see if it works!) but it is definitely hugely beneficial to try and implement energy saving initiatives around the house you’re letting. If nothing else, try it for a month as evidence for the months to come, and watch your bills go down. Before you feel the pinch of huge bills, try turning to this advice. It just might help!

Katie

(This is a bit late posting, having been written a week ago, but I promise the issues haven’t fallen off the table since!)

People & Planet activists picket LSE tar sands event

I’m wearing a suit. This is not something I do a lot, but as it turned it out, it was probably the main reason I had the chance to call Canada’s Natural Resources Minister, Joe Oliver to account, for he and his Government’s attempt to convince LSE students that Canadian tar sands are an ‘ethical’ and ‘responsible’ source of energy for the future.

The LSE – to their discredit – chose to host the Minister, after being approached by the Canadian Government as part of their declared lobbying push to undermine European climate legislation. The public university – who regularly host multiple speakers at their events – chose to let the Minister speak unopposed, on one of the most hotly-contested global environmental issues of our generation. People & Planet, as part of our Tar Sands-Free Universities campaign, see this as a major insult to the countless victims of the Alberta tar sands industry, given the Canadian Government’s track record of ignoring and discrediting the critical issues facing First Nations Canadians and the climate as a whole as a result of the industry.

So Oliver’s presence was inappropriate for a university to host as an ‘educational’ event to begin with. But from the point that we arrived (about 10 of us, from LSE People & Planet and the UK Tar Sands Network), we were greeted by a police presence at the front doors of the venue and a heavy security presence inside, which included body searches and refusal to allow any personal bags in the venue. Having been to a half-dozen LSE public lectures before, this was the first time I’d seen anything like this. Even when I saw the President of Ecuador speak at LSE last year, there had been no parallel precautions taken.

The Chair, Dr Richard Perkins, said that he was keen to have a debate after the lecture, given the contentious nature of the issue, but then prefaced questions with ‘this isn’t a chance to make a statement’…

The event started late, due to the extensive security checks, and was closed early, as too much of the crowd had become vocally critical of the misinformation coming from the Minister. Again, debate was not what the LSE appeared interested in hosting… If I hadn’t broken protocols and jumped up early on to present Oliver with an award for ‘Greenwash Propagandist of the Year’, relatively little criticism would have made it to the forefront.

And unsurprisingly, the Minister’s speech was nothing short of propaganda. Nearly every statement was untrue or misleading, and omitted even mentioning issues as significant as elevated cancer rates amongst First Nations communities, or First Nations legal challenges that tar sands expansion is hinging upon. Some highlights include:

• Oliver’s claim: ‘Canada is being unfairly discriminated against via the EU’s Fuel Quality Directive’
• The truth: Tar sands are one of several ‘unconventional fuels’ (including shale gas and liquid coal) that the European Commission has classified as high emissions fuels. The move is clearly an attempt to regulate fuel that is more harmful to the environment than crude oil. There is no basis to claim that Alberta tar sands have been ‘singled-out’.
• Oliver’s claim: ‘Tar sands aren’t as bad as other fuels the EU allows import of’
• The truth: Oliver compared Alberta tar sands to Russian, Mexican, Nigerian and Venezuelan high emissions fuels, saying that tar sands were much better than many of these. In truth, the best tar sands, are on par with or worse than, all but the very worst Venezuelan heavy crude and Nigerian flaring. The other countries fuels produce far lower emissions. Tar sands really are *that bad*!
• Oliver’s claim: ‘In situ tar sands extraction is much less destructive than mining’
• The truth: While in situ mining doesn’t use as much water, or scar the surface of the Earth in the way open caste mining does, the emissions associated with the process are on average 3x higher than that of mining tar sands, and 5x higher than drilling traditional crude. The Minister and the industry’s claim that the in situ process is more environmentally sound is at best a distortion of the facts, and at worst, an outright lie.

(Details of the above claims can be found here and here).

After the talk, a scheduled media phone-in with the Minister, was cancelled without explanation. We might be able to take a little bit of credit for that one. We also managed to get covered in newspapers and blogs across Canada, as well as in the Times of India (the largest English language newspaper in the world), hopefully throwing a bit of a wrench into the Canadian Government’s attempt to go abroad and paint the tar sands in a positive light.

While LSE may still be a few steps from calling itself a ‘Tar Sands-Free University’ (though our activists there will be pushing to make it one!), we an important question for the university, in light of its choice to host the Minister:

Given the factual inaccuracy of a range of the Minister’s comments and the highly-political agenda he was promoting, how can the LSE justify using student and public money to help a foreign government promote a single perspective, unopposed?

Speakers like Oliver are relatively rare, in terms of the ways that universities support the most destructive project on Earth. They may be banking with tar sands financiers like RBS/NatWest; they might be doing research into tar sands technologies for BP or Shell; their staff’ pensions might be invested in any of these companies… So don’t hesitate to get in touch if you want to get involved in making your university or college ‘Tar Sands-Free’!

Environmental group Friends of the Earth are currently working on the Food Chain Campaign in an effort to reduce deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions and the increasing loss of wildlife habitat and biodiversity in Latin America.

The soybeans which are grown in this region are exported throughout the world and used as feed for cattle, pigs and chickens. The fact that the bean is so high in protein means that animal feed containing soybean is in very high demand. With 97% of all soybean produced worldwide being used for animal feed and with production levels expected to increase, it has become a massive environmental issue within the international community. However, this is an issue that has failed to be addressed so far.

The result of soybean plantations in Latin America is proving to be catastrophic within these regions and is having worldwide implications. Developed countries have widely used soybean feed as a cheaper form of protein for their livestock. The fact that animal feed prices continue to increase means that the problem is one shared in the UK agricultural sector. The Friends of the Earth Food Chain Campaign aims to highlight this and has released documentation on how to tackle some of the problems.

However, the problems with soybean plantations most also be addressed within countries like Brazil and Paraguay. Despite the fact that the authorities there have tried to stop illegal logging, they have proved to be unsuccessful due to the lack of man power and technology. Governments have also failed to address legal farming. Furthermore, farmers such as José Rosa who are keen to stop illegal logging on their farm see no rules, order, incentives or options when it comes to farming and moving to a more sustainable method. “The land here is perfect for soy. These aren’t poor people doing this [in relation to illegal loggers]. These are land grabbers. They have a lot of money. If they find me out here alone, they will kill me,” said Rosa.

The complex problems surrounding soybean plantations are just some of the many that are interlinked with other environmental problems. Most environmental groups believe that a change in policy within the US and the EU would be a crucial first step in tackling these problems. A less intensive method in farming production would also be supported by most environmentalists as would a move towards producing alternative livestock feed. This would mean that the reliance on soybean meal would not be so high and that different kinds of animal feed could be grown within the UK, which would reduce the amount of energy used in the transport of feed. It would also be a step towards preventing the high levels of deforestation that are ongoing in Latin America.

The problems in relation to soy farming occur both within the local regions where there is little incentive to reduce the practice and internationally where livestock take up 70% of agricultural land throughout the globe. The Friends of the Earth campaign aims to highlight and encourage the changes that are needed if the soybean problem is not to continue.

Philippa de Boissiere was one of 8 students who took part in People & Planet’s tar sands solidarity exchange this summer:

“Our trip to Alberta, Canada marked the start for us of an ongoing commitment to take on the most destructive oil project on Earth. Our visit was in response to an invitation from the former Beaver Lake Cree Nation (BLCN) Chief, Al Lameman, whose community is being directly threatened by the expansion of tar sands.
There was a lot to take in from our experience of this dirty oil extraction industry. We were treated to a full PR assault from Suncor representatives, harassed by industry workers whilst surveying the destruction of the boreal forest and left choking by the fumes emitted from toxic waste ponds.
More importantly however, we developed links of solidarity with indigenous people from Beaver Lake. Over campfires, meals and some dancing at their annual Pow-Wow we learnt of a wise and loving culture. We were able to send a powerful message on behalf of the People & Planet network that the Beaver Lake Cree Nation do not stand alone in taking on the most powerful oil companies on the planet.

by Marie, who is currently investigating garment factories in Bangladesh.

After my first three weeks as a project manager of a project to improve the social labour conditions for female line-operators in the garment industry in Bangladesh by providing them with free training and skills-upgrading to become supervisors and move up the hierarchical gendered ladder of highly exploitative factory work, I have been faced with both ups and downs.

So far we have 50 factories officially on board and in agreement to let us provide training to and interview their female workers, however sweet-talk words exchanged through diplomatic performance and acting in shiny factory director offices as well as warm receptions pampering us with cake, chai, factory-gifts, restaurant visits and hummer rides, do not always amount to concrete action, and still 30 out of the 50 factories haven’t signed and returned the memorandums of understanding we have handed them.  The sad reality I have come to realize is that there is a never-ending amount of layers to go through to really get a chance at revealing and changing what goes on behind the scenes in the garment factories.

One of the by far most 'decent' looking of Bangladeshi garment factories I've seen so far. Yet, these workers had no air conditioning.

The overwhelming princess treatment I have received as a ‘white woman’ has been the hardest challenge and has been a real distraction in my attempt to have a formal meeting about a serious issue at social compliance and workers’ rights.

In the middle of conversations, factory directors interrupt me to ask if I am single, where I live, or ask me what if I’m free to meet for a drink later. After meetings they often invite me for lunch/dinner at their fancy restaurants, or offered to give me a ride home in their Hummer cars. One factory director even insisted on giving me a pair of factory produced jeans as a gift – and before I had the change to refuse he snatched his fingers to get one of the female workers to come and take my measurements and within 15min she returned with a shiny new pair of quality jeans. I’ve never felt so embarrassed and awkward in my life. By having to negotiate with these directors I’m trapped in their terms having to accept their fake hospitality for me and therefore implicitly their maltreatment and disrespect of their workers.  One of the things that has hit me the worst on a personal level is that because I hand them over my business card with my mobile number on it, many of them give me sleazy prank calls and text messages with compliments and sexual innuendos. Under these circumstances, keeping up the ‘business etiquette’ mask is tough, and the directors behaviour feels like such a smooth side-track maneuvre when my research team’s sole intention is asking them to commit to training and promoting their female line-operators.

One of the most unexpected experiences I had was probably a meeting I had with a rich french guy, who at the age of 24 is now the director of one of the big garment factories over here due to his noble family connections. The most memorable comment he made during our meeting what when he boasted that “It’s a tough job trying to control my workers here sometimes, they are all connected to the mafia and talk like ‘des petits nègres’ (little negros), without me in charge they would be lost”. After that statement, I simply had no words.

On the other hand, I’ve also had a lot of golden moments of visiting factories highly committed to ensuring the social welfare of their workers. I’ve had meetings with Directors who introduced me to their FEMALE Social Compliance Managers, who were strongly committed to workers’ rights and told me stories about their different workers backgrounds and some of the social difficulties they face in Dhaka and what social benefits they provide them to cope with these.

One of the most inspiring meetings I have had was with a garment factory who had received an award for the best Corporate Social Responsibility practicing firm in Bangladesh in 2008 after receiving the very same training program which my team is now trying to introduce to 96 other factories. This factory had each floor of the factory named after a Bangladeshi freedom fighter to teach his workers about history while they work. They also provide their workers with English lessons, disease-prevention courses on anything from Tuberculosis to AIDs/HIV, free health care and dental care vouchers, maternity leave benefits and ‘newborn’ baby prices. They arrange monthly workers’ sports tournament and cultural festivals where workers’ perform. The director has founded a free school for his workers kids next to the factory. They even had a ‘ladies club’ and a hair and beauty salon for their female workers.  Most remarkably, the factory had implemented rigorous sexual harassment measurements and awareness courses – introducing male/female separated exits, staircases and canteens. At first when I was given a tour of that factory and shown their portfolio of all the seemingly impressive things they do for their workers I was in awe. However, a head of social compliance at a large supermarket firm, he informed me that a lot of these ‘big achievements and social commitments’ are mostly for show for when foreigners come to visit and that there is still a lot of labour exploitation going on behind closed doors, which only local staff working in this field will realise. Alas, my Scandinavian naïveté fooling me again.

Another contradiction I was exposed to was when visiting another factory that had received training two years ago and now demonstrated me that they had 50 % female supervisors and even some female line production chiefs – they even gave me the whole tour of the floor and allowed me to take photos of them (see pictures below). Yet, all my respect for them and their commitments to women’s empowerment was lost when the director slapped and shouted at a female worker who ran up to him crying because she had injured her foot on one of the machines on one of the floor I was shown around on. Horrific.

More generally, there is a lot of mismatching and deceiving information going around both regarding social welfare standards at factories and the CSR of the major international retailers. Some factory directors supplying for a major brand big them up saying how committed a brand they are to training their workers and ensuring high environmental and social standards. However, one of my friends here who is engaged to a man who has  senior position at a garment producing  office in Dhaka told me that it is common knowledge within the garment business in Bangladesh and amongst retailers that the brand are by far the worst at exploiting their factory workers and not living up to social compliance standards – often not even respecting the ban on child labour.

The garment industry over here simply is a jungle and impossible to get your head around – still I’ll keep trying!

Why I’m supporting November 30^th strikers

I don’t have a pension. I don’t work in a sector where I’m likely to get one any time soon. And I wholeheartedly support everybody planning to take strike action on November 30^th.

People in the public sector are being attacked on so many fronts. Over the last year, thousands of workers, mostly women, have lots their jobs or had their hours dramatically cut. The young have been hit hard – cut out of college education by the scrapping of EMA, outpriced from university education and now unemployed in the millions.

Those who are in jobs have seen the greatest insult – government pension plans will force everyone in the public sector to work longer, pay more and receive less. Can it possibly be right that a PE teacher will still be out teaching rugby at the age of 66? In net terms, public sector workers will lose the equivalent of a day’s wages every month. Nothing about this is fair.

Tory politicians have said that taxpayers don’t want our money spent on public sector pensions. Well, I do. In fact, I only want my taxes spent on fair pensions, job creation, free education and decent healthcare. Instead, the government is haemorrhaging cash on illegal wars and dirty deals.

For these reasons, I fully support anybody who chooses to go on strike in November.