May 5 2012 was the date for international mobilisations against the tar sands as well as 350’s visual ‘Connect the Dots’ campaign on the effects of climate change.

From record breaking heat in the US to freezing snaps in Europe that have been linked to decreasing Arctic ice mass and now the UK’s the ‘wettest drought‘ on record; 2012 is still young and yet we’re seeing some worrying weather patterns emerging.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of anthropogenic climate change we seem to be steering towards further climate chaos, ramping up production of extreme energy resources such as the Canadian tar sands when we need to rapidly decarbonize.

The May 5 day of climate action in London consisted of a climate twister game, a tour of the climate criminals who reside in the local vicinity as well a poignant and moving talk on the devastating effects of the Pakistan floods by Sabiha Teladia of Muslim Hands. I spoke about the destruction of the Canadian tar sands, Danny Chivers talked of important campaigns to engage with and Pete the Temp provided thought provoking poetry.

On a global level, the images that have been streaming in to 350.org over the weekend highlight the pressures that people from all over the world are feeling as climate change starts to bite. They also reveal a defiant community who are making a stand against the polluting industries that are undermining their rights, and the rights of their children, to a safe climate.

At this time of drought and flash flooding across much of the UK, London has its own climate story to share. However, what made the City of London specifically so befitting a setting for both International Stop the Tar Sands Day and Connect the Dots is the way in which the capital’s financial centre actively drives the destruction of the planet.

James Leaton, who blogs for the LSE, reveals the extent of the City’s complicity:

The coal, oil and gas reserves sitting on the London stock exchange are equivalent to ten times the UK’s domestic carbon budget to 2050…A decade ago, the FTSE100 was around 10% natural resources companies. By May 2011, one third of the FTSE100 was mining, oil and gas companies by market capitalisation.

The UK’s active role in the tar sands through loans and extractive projects through corporations such as BP, Natwest and the Royal Bank of Scotland further strengthen our imperative for action.

So too does the fact that our ministers will have yet another opportunity to vote on the European Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) early next year - legislation that could effectively ban tar sands oil from Europe. We must not let Big Oil’s aggressive lobby shout louder than us. We must make it clear that we want EU climate legislation upheld; that the polluting nature of tar sands oil must be recognized; that Ministers must say YES to the Fuel Quality Directive.

An inspiring day came to a close with the Occupy London crew attempting a daring guerilla screening of ‘Taking on Tarmageddon‘ from right within the Tate Modern museum. Unfortunately, we were forcibly denied on this occasion; the gallery clearly siding with their corporate sponsors, BP.

We will not be silenced

Despite Saturday’s run in with Tate Modern security, neither BP nor its beneficiaries will not be there to shut down every screening of this new film. Details on how you can put on an event, with a speaker, within your own university or community are available through the People & Planet website.

Taking on Tarmageddon captures why UK activists must not ease off from the struggle against the tar sands despite the continuous delays within the EU on the FQD vote. This year’s Summer Gathering on June 24-28 provides an amazing opportunity to regroup and strategize on actions to take against the tar sands over the coming months. I’ll be there. I hope you will too.

This blog was posted by Philippa DeBoissiere - one of the students who visited the tar sands in Alberta last summer as part of People & Planet’s tar sands solidarity youth exchange project.

On the 10^th March, we took to the pavements of Le Vieux Port to promote our support for the Water Messenger campaign, an important international water campaign. We also sought to educate passersby on pressing water issues, which affect all of us today. The Water Messenger campaign was launched by Belgian NGO “GREEN” in 2009, and details 3 key areas concerning the ownership, access and management of water; forcing the debate of this resource back onto the international political agenda.

We launched a street action filled with varying activities, fun for both adults and children; all with the aim in spreading awareness of a variety of important water concerns. We also decided to spread the message of alternative ways to manage water- through a variety of interactive, informal, and fun activities.

EYEs street action

The public’s attention and interaction with the activities was our main goal. We used a variety of interactive, informal, and fun activities devised for this purpose. A labyrinth of various drawings and games, spread across the Vieux Port pavement gathered a variety of glances. We used an interactive question “if you were in charge of managing water, what would you do?” stirring debate  amongst people.

Whilst three different flash mobs, with help from a marching band, secured people’s attention throughout the afternoon, it was our quirky and interesting activities which really grabbed people’s focus. Perhaps one of our most testing activities was a water tasting game, devised to see the extent to which people can decipher the difference between bottled mineral water and tap water. People were given small cups of 5 different types of water- and the aim was to figure out which number was the tap water- our only participant to guess correctly which number was tap water was a 4 year old boy!

For more information about the EYES network see the blog: http://www.eyesnetwork.org/

The EYES network is a new Europe wide initiative, young people from all over the continent who work together to build the European youth voice.  EYES stands for ‘Empowering Youth in European Society.  Last April  People & Planet intern Peter, along with former staff member Ellie completed 2 days of training in Greece, so it was exciting to see how far the network had come in that time - as well as building upon previous good conenctions.

People & Planet staff with EYES members

Like People & Planet they undertake local actions on global issues - before we had          even arrived they had completed a water themed street action to raise awareness of the issues surrounding the World Water Forum which was taking place in Marseillies at the time.

In accordance with our sustainability policy we travelled overland by train. I had been in Barnsley doing workshops on the 9th of March, so this meant travelling from Wakefield Westgate to Marsellies in one day! It’s amazing how fast trains are, and a shame that they are not more affordable for holiday makers - within 2.5 hours I was in St Pancras ready to meet Anna and board the Eurostar to Paris. From  Paris it was a speedy three hours Marseilles. I had never been on the Eurostar and I was a bit worried about being in a dark tunnel for so long - in the end I barely noticed (it is a lot less stressful than flying). The TVG in France was ace - DOUBLE DECKER TRAINS!  Travelling by train is definately prefferable to flying, and the sooner it becomes more affordable the better.

The training took place in an old Chataux converted into a youth hostel. There were young people from all over Europe, aged between 18 and 28. There were representatives from Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Germany, France, Georgia, Finland  to name but a few of the different countries.  We covered a wide range of different skills in the training - including how to do a power analysis, event planning, networking and communication and general campaigning skills

Training location

One of the most exciting elements was supporting the young people to organise their European Forum of Alternatives conference or ‘EYFA’ which will take place in France in 2013.  No one could question the ambition of EYES members - they want to bring 5000 young people together to radically change society. They work on 5 different Es  Education, Empowerment, European Identity, Environment and Employment - a lot of work to do then!

Being with the EYES network made me feel very aware of  how lucky we are at People & Planet to have such a long history with well established structures and methodology for campaign and network building. The EYES network are starting from the beginning - an exciting though sometimes daunting position to be in.   During the training we were able to share some of the learning that People & Planet has gathered over the years and I came away inspired at the energy and enthusiasm of the young people I met.

Event Planning Workshop

One of the major things I took from the weekend was how important it is to build international connections, and how much People & Planet network members would benefit by being involved with EYES and getting the opportunity to attend EYES camps.   I also learned a little bit about Bulgarian spirits and that French people drink coffee out of bowls.  All in all a fun, worthwhile and inspirational experience.

Throughout this week I’ve had a really nice time. Everyone has been really friendly and I’ve enjoyed working on everything! On Wednesday I did some data entry and then researched Fairtrade, a subject which I am really interested in. I wrote about it and learnt a lot of really useful information. On Thursday I did some office work; for example photocopying and updating information on the extranet. Today I have done some of the same things I did yesterday, but I also watched the videos we made on Tuesday; before and after they had been edited. This week has been really fun and inspiring, and I would definitely consider doing this type of work again. Because I like doing wordles and I put one in my other blog, I have made another Wordle to sum up this week! Here it is:

I would also like to say a massive thank you to everyone in People & Planet for having me for the week!

A recent conversation with my mum highlighted the fact that I am one of those people that, at some point in my life,  have wanted to pursue just about every career possible.

When I was young I wanted to be a dancer, I grew up a little and wanted to be a layer. Then I wanted to be an archaeologist until I discovered a severe dislike of worms when I changed my mind and decided to become an architect. After two years at art schools, I changed my mind yet again and moved to study Geology, which turned into single honours Geography.

I have since, successfully, made it into my third year and have every intention of graduating and becoming a ‘geographer’… Out of all of these wide and varied careers I have imagined over the years, none have appealed to me so much as ‘something to do with the environment’. So I joined the Environment and Ethics committee on the student council. Since joining the committee I have changed in ways that only I notice, but to me those changes are huge.

Aberdeen Students packing up veg-bags

I have signed up to weekly veg bags. This amazing scheme provides fresh, organic, locally sourced veg delivered to campus every week. Every week it’s a surprise and every week it’s a little different. As a result I eat far more exciting meals than your typical student beans on toast. In fact, I’m not sure I have had beans on toast since I left home, I don’t really like beans.

My flat has become recycling central, whether my flatmates like it or not. We recycle everything! We even have a compost heap! I have been involved in countless campaigns, most notably Abdn Occupied. These campaigns and protests have given me an amazing opportunity to go along, talk to many different people, with many different views and opinions, and as a result I have formed my own set of strong beliefs and ethics.

So what has Environment and Ethics done for me? Since joining the committee I have grown as a person and developed ideas and beliefs that I never knew I felt so strongly about. Rather than become one of those people who bum around university, live for the weekends, I have become very active on and around campus. I no longer sleep all day, I have things to do, people to see. I continually find myself involved in stimulating conversation about real world issues; I have lost count how many times I have single handedly saved the world!

The days of ‘so the weather is bad’ are gone, I find it much easier to start a conversation with people I do not know. Why is this? My new found friends are far more inviting and welcoming than people I had previously come across and as a result I feel more comfortable being myself, the happy, friendly, smiley person I always believed I was. Since joining environment and ethics I have felt at home, like I am doing something that actually makes a difference. I have a voice in the wider student community. I believe that every student should do something they feel strongly and passionately about, making university the best years of our lives.

I am Kate and I have come to People and Planet for work experience for one week. People & Planet is a small organisation which focuses on the environment, poverty and fair trade. It does really interesting work which is very important to the world we live in, one of the reasons why I chose to come here for work experience. Most of my friends are going to ordinary placements, such as offices and primary schools, so I decided to do something a little bit different. It isn’t what I would choose to do for a job when I am older, so that is another reason why I chose People & Planet; because I probably will not have the chance to experience this type of work again. The office is really friendly and has lovely views across the  Oxford colleges. I am doing work experience for a week, so as it is only Tuesday I have not had a chance to do a lot of things, however the work I have been doing has been really interesting.

Yesterday I looked through some fair trade clothing which had to be sent off to schools for fashion shows, a project which I find really fascinating. I also had to type up some evaluation forms about some workshops which had been on last week in the south of France. The forms in themselves were interesting as well, as it was good to hear about other peoples views about P&P, not just my own. I also learnt how to use Wordle, which arranges words in a unique way to make them more interesting. I created this to illustrate what I think People & Planet stands for.

Today some Libyan youth activists were meant to be coming, however unfortunately they couldn’t make it for so instead I am going to be learning about web page construction and helping to make videos.

]]> http://blog.peopleandplanet.org/2012/03/my-people-planet-work-experience/feed/ http://blog.peopleandplanet.org/2012/03/the-time-for-young-people-and-green-jobs-is-now/ http://blog.peopleandplanet.org/2012/03/the-time-for-young-people-and-green-jobs-is-now/#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:36:41 +0000 admin http://blog.peopleandplanet.org/?p=3032 This blog post was submitted by Chris Ibbett, a member of the UK Youth Climate Coalition.

As youth unemployment rises and the government’s work-to-welfare scheme crumbles, the need for Green Jobs and training for us young people becomes ever more essential.

The Office for National Statistics yesterday released its latest figures on unemployment, showing that in last quarter of 2011, 28,000 more people became unemployed, while the number of 16 – 24 year olds out of work rose to 1.04 million.
These sobering statistics reveal a worrying trend, and taken in combination with the recent controversy over the government’s exploitative work-to-welfare scheme, they raise serious doubts as to whether the rights of today’s young people and their aspirations for their future have ever really been on any policy agenda.

This news highlights the urgent challenges the UK government currently faces: to promote youth employment and to revitalise the economy, while mitigating the ever-increasing global threat of climate change. However, we believe that the creation of green jobs and training programmes for getting young people into sustainable, meaningful employment maps out a clear pathway to tackling all these issues simultaneously.

Green Jobs have environmental sustainability at their core but they also offer long-term, stable, living wage (non-exploitative) employment. While direct Green Jobs are those which are closely related to the development and production of environmental technology, indirect Green Jobs are linked to maintaining and improving environmental quality such as “greening” your existing work place.
Green Jobs can therefore provide meaningful work for a generation so affected by unemployment, who risk alienation in a society where the government refuses to protect current working conditions for young people, as well as their hopes for meaningful future employment.

The move towards a clean and just future has young people at its centre. The move to get the United Kingdom out of recession is also dependent on young people. These must equate as the same future. The opportunities and needs of our generation should be at the heart of all the policies that will shape it.

The UK Youth Climate Coalition will be campaigning on Green Jobs, emphasising the crucial role Green Job creation can play in empowering young people to be at the centre of building their cleaner, fairer future.
For a taster of what’s to come see here: What is a Green Job?

Youth for Green Jobs

For those of you who don’t know (much like me a few weeks ago), the Green League finds out what the UK’s universities are doing to make themselves more ‘fair, sustainable and low-carbon’, with the hope that its results will influence future decision making throughout the sector. Since its launch in 2007 the Green League has run every year, successfully bringing the sector’s sustainability and ethical issues to public attention with reports published in the Times Higher Education and The Guardian newspaper.Additionally, each year it has done this in increasing detail with each survey producing fairer and more accurate rankings.

Due to its size (and complexity) appointed staff members and volunteers, such as myself, who mark the answers of the survey will be required to focus on one of the thirteen criteria, rather than trying to mark an entire university’s answers to our questionnaire, as has been the case in previous years. This should ensure that there is fairer marking which can only help to strengthen the validity of the Green League’s final results.

The scrutiny of the universities’ answers by the markers is absolutely essential to maintaining the credibility of People & Planet’s Green League as the answers provided for a particular question can often be misleading or their validity debatable. Therefore, with a number of years of experience under its belt, People & Planet has been able to develop systems to ensure that volunteers marking the questions are absolutely certain of the scores they are giving out. These sort of procedures highlight the extent of work that has been put in even before the surveys have been returned. The willingness to then train a group of volunteers who will help with the marking only reinforces the commitment that is behind the Green League by People & Planet staff. So, whilst the Green League 2012 results are still a couple months away, and the marking hasn’t even started yet, it is by no means just beginning.

The results of the Green League mean that People & Planet is able to publicly categorise and compare the UK’s universities according to sustainability issues. For me it would appear that there are a couple important actions that could emerge as a result:

• By targeting universities, the Green League is essentially appealing to young, educated students to help push for change in the way the sector is run. The way I see it, making this information available in such and accessible manner, empowers individual students and groups across the UK to campaign at a grassroots level. The desire to harness change amongst the UK’s students has been visibly demonstrated by the student protests of last year and if the Green League is able to direct some of that enthusiasm towards environmental issues, it’s obvious that the sector would have to listen.
• With the rising profile of the People & Planet Green League alongside the growing interest and awareness of environmental issues across the country, universities are increasingly wary of the potential impacts of scoring low in the survey. As students look to go to university where they pay considerable amounts in fees, more and more will begin to consider a university’s ethics, for example, before making a decision. By the same token, scoring well could make a university more popular amongst prospective students.

Suicide nets installed at Foxconn factory

The Foxconn sweatshop scandal goes far beyond Apple. Check the brand name of the device that you’re reading this on. Google it, chances are that some part of it has passed through the hands of the factory workers at Foxconn. Those same workers who have been driven to suicide in protest at their working conditions. So we can’t do the ethical-consumer side-step and avoid complicity just by buying electronics that are stamped with a different name: there is no such thing as a fairly traded computer or smart phone.

What of Apple’s own response? In my view they too are neatly dodging the real issue. When you hear that a problem, any problem, is going to be solved with an audit, be suspicious. It’s often the final response of a corporation found guilty of wrongdoing, but in reality it’s no more than a spit and a promise. When complete denial, passing the buck, and excuse-making have run their course, it’s the next step of minimal action a company can take. If you use the right words, you can make doing very little sound like a solution. In the case of Foxconn’s response to earlier employee suicides at their factory they brought in counsellors, offered a 24 hour helpline, and notoriously put up safety nets to catch any further embarrassing suicides. Anything short of the profit-denting measure of ending the exploitation of cheap labour of course.

Apple have their own internal auditing system, which they proudly describe on their website as “comprehensive” and “in-person”. However it is described, however many pages on their website are devoted to the process, however many people they employ to investigate, type up reports and spin them, it has clearly failed to protect basic human rights at one of their largest suppliers. Apple are also already a member of the Fair Labour Association [FLA], who have been brought in with such fanfare as an “independent group” to investigate conditions at Foxconn. Given the extent of the problems that have been revealed at Foxconn, over the last months and years, it seems odd that such a commitment to transparency has not already led to more in-depth enquiries. Well, it would seem odd, if you weren’t aware that the FLA are largely funded by the organisations that they monitor, and are seen by many of those in the know as being professional white-washers.

Working conditions improve when people can collectively bargain for a better deal on their own behalf. Shiny “Corporate Social Responsibility” brochures and a touch of well-advertised philanthropy on top has never, and will never, lift factory workers out of dead-end poverty and dependency. But it can often seem as workers in the Global South are stuck in the obscure mire of global supply chains that make the traditional forms of union organising inadequate. What’s the point of demanding better wages if your distant employer can just move production elsewhere in a matter of weeks and leave you in an even worse situation?

Luckily there are already promising models that can bring about real improvements. One of these is the Worker Rights Consortium, an initiative that has taken root in American universities and is now spreading to Britain. Currently only an option in the garment industry, this model sees large buyers, such as universities, demanding genuine transparency in return for their custom, which then allows workers abroad to organise without risk of silent factory closures or hidden repression. This is the upside of globalisation, the positive information-sharing and international solidarity, often talked up but little seen. At present there is no equivalent organisation providing the same service in the electronics industry, but if we refuse to be fobbed off by audits and excuses, then hopefully we’ll soon see progress here too.

]]> http://blog.peopleandplanet.org/2012/02/apple-ipods-and-deaths-at-foxconn-by-beth-tichborne/feed/ http://blog.peopleandplanet.org/2012/02/the-place-of-the-scottish-greens-within-the-independence-debate-by-joanna-wilson/ http://blog.peopleandplanet.org/2012/02/the-place-of-the-scottish-greens-within-the-independence-debate-by-joanna-wilson/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:30:58 +0000 Jim Cranshaw http://blog.peopleandplanet.org/?p=2973

The Scottish Parliament

For anyone reading a newspaper, watching TV, or even walking down the street, the debate on Scottish Independence is hard to ignore. First Minister Alex Salmond has made his position on a referendum clear, even with debate over its legality. However, this comes at a time when Scottish patriotism is at a high, the haggis, whiskey and Addresses to Haggis’s clouding Scots’ minds. I’m sure as I write this (Burns’ birthday itself) the subject will be widely debated across the country. It is the Scottish Greens’ views on the matter which interest me.

Greens appear to agree with the idea that relations between Scotland and England would be better if they were equal partners and that small countries can be more dynamic and effective, Ireland being an example… There are various issues with these statements. While it may be true that there is the odd staunch Scotsmen who genuinely believe that all Englishmen are ‘posh twats’ this is hardly a nationwide idea. In fact, many people wouldn’t even think about the Scottish English divide. Even when watching films such as ‘Braveheart’, most of us are mature enough to realise that they Hollywood version isn’t exactly historically correct.

Even if Scotland is granted independence after a referendum looking more likely there are still many who are against the idea. Perhaps independence might not only further destroy Scottish English relations but there may be further enhance disagreements within the country.

Edinburgh Castle

The SNP and Greens also believe that and that sole economic control in Edinburgh is a good thing. But where is the money for Scottish public spending coming from, in an independent state? Oil! It strikes me as odd that a party which campaigns for the environment, for renewables energies and for sustainable development can justify the route to this by exploiting the planet for its rapidly depleting supply of natural resources. Yes, the money may be poured back into making the country a leader in renewables energies. Yes this may create some new jobs (some estimate suggest this could be a grand total of 5000 for the whole of Scotland…). But does this make it right? And what will happen WHEN, not if, the oil runs out?

How will the loss of 100,000 jobs in the Scottish oil industry be balanced out by the mere 5000 created by the renewable sector and what effect will this have on the Scottish economy? As a great believer in the future of renewable energies these questions need to be answered by Scotland’s leading Green party.