Category Archives: climate

Support Derby City Council in its stand against Fracking

We in Derby Climate Coalition are opposed to fracking for one reason above all: the impact on Greenhouse Gas emissions. To have any hopeof avoiding runaway climate change the world needs to wean itself off fossil fuels and invest in a renewable energy infrastructure.

There are many other reason to oppose fracking; some are shown on the attached leaflet. But we want to draw your attention to the fact that Derby City Council are debating this motion (on Wednesday 11 June 2014 at 11.00 am) at their Annual Meeting.

Public Discussion: WHAT IS THE IPCC UP TO?

greenhouse gases wind turbines

Please join in with us and come to our PUBLIC DISCUSSION

 CLIMATE: WHAT IS THE IPCC UP TO?

Wednesday 16 April, 5.00 pm

The Council House, Derby
Room G

Introduced by Chris Crean

Organiser for Friends of the Earth

The Intergovernmental Panel (IPCC) on Climate Change officially released the “Fifth Assessment Report” from working group three on Sunday, 13/4/2014. [1] The report is on mitigation; which is described as “human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases”.[2] The IPCC has told the world yet again that climate change is a huge risk we must tackle. What is new is the clarity and urgency of the message. This report warns that governments are set to crash through the global CO2 safety threshold by 2030. Humans have tripled CO2 emissions since 1970, it says – and emissions have been accelerating rather than slowing. The report finds “without additional efforts to reduce GHG emissions… likely temperature increases from 3°C to more than 5°C” are projected by the end of the 21st Century”. It would also push us beyond ‘tipping points’[3] which would mean run-away climate change, with drastic shifts in the Earth’s natural systems including the melting of the Arctic and the Greenland ice-sheet leading to huge sea-level rise; and the dying-off of the Amazon jungle, triggering mass extinctions.

We will be showing a five minute video from leading climate scientist Prof Kevin Anderson on the need for urgency and ambition. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7pwpjthh6E

We suggest you share this on your social media platforms and tweet etc.

This meeting, on Wednesday the 16th, will also discuss ongoing business. One of the items is FRACKING. We will hear reports from what is happening and what can be done.

The Council consults on it’s plan to scrap inner-city recycling

Paul Robinson,  Derby City Council strategic director, came to speak to the Derby Climate coaltion on May 17. As a result we sent him this letter on the May 23rd, copied to the leader of Council, Paul Bayliss and to cllr Ranjit Banwait 

Dear Paul,

Thank you very much for coming to speak to the Climate Coalition last Thursday. As you know, people were very engaged. We agree with you that that many of these streets do have problems with waste management and that a move to a simpler system may help.

Since last week we have had a further discussion among ourselves and as a result, there are a number of issues that we wish to explore with you further. Continue reading The Council consults on it’s plan to scrap inner-city recycling

Waking the giant!

waking the giantHow can climate change affect the Earth?

Last Saturday I heard Bill Mcguire, Professor of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at University College London, talk about how a changing climate can trigger earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. Ironically he was speaking at Cromford Mill in Derbyshire, which contributed, as much as anywhere else, to the start of the Industrial Revolution . It was here that Richard Arkwright proudly opened the world’s first factory nearly 250 years ago. Continue reading Waking the giant!