How does the EU affect Climate Change and Air Pollution?

In all the hype and overload of ‘facts’ about the EU there seems little coverage of Climate Change and Air Pollution. Detailed lists of some of the activities and effects of EU legislation eg on Air Pollution are covered at WHAT ARE WE DOING – What is the EU Doing?.

For those who believe that our current transport, energy and agriculture choices are causing the greatest threat to humans ever, talking about trade, jobs, immigrants and even wars – but not Climate Change or Environmental implications – just seems weird.

Friends of the Earth lists the environmental topics of Beaches, Bees, Nature, Waste&Recycling, Green Energy, Air Quality and Fish, concluding that the EU has had significant beneficial effects.

What will happen on many issues if we stay IN or if we come OUT is largely speculation, but the effects of poor leadership and regulation on the causes of Climate Change are becoming increasingly clear – and many of the causes of Climate Change are also the causes of our Air Pollution.

April 2, 2016

Will the New London Mayor reduce Air Pollution and slow Global Warming?

TH Editor / Climate Change, Pollution, Transport /

Sources: Map from May 2012 BBC report, pictures from election material

The new London Mayor will have a variety of powers that would help him/her clean our polluted air and lower our carbon emissions. Many powers are ‘soft’ ones such as ‘influence’ and ‘promotion’, but they also include the power of £11.5bn expenditure (p21 of the draft GLA 2016/17 budget being prepared for the new Mayor). Apart from (limited) powers over areas such as Transport and Planning the Mayor will be constrained by UK, EU powers and existing agreements and the candidates can only state their aspirations and ideas at this point, to try to convince London voters that they are the best candidate. The winner will have to try to turn rhetoric into results by dint of their limited powers, their procurement muscle and their leadership and influence skills .

This post has samples from the public domain of statements and promises from the four frontrunners Sian Berry – Green; Zac Goldsmith – Conservative; Sadiq Khan – Labour and Caroline Pidgeon – LibDem, regarding Global Warming and Climate Change; Renewables and Community Energy and Low Pollution Transport. It also has responses to Greenpeace’s questions to the Mayoral candidates at Sadiq Khan, Zac Goldsmith, Caroline Pidgeon..

A summary transcript of the Green Alliance’s Green Hustings. (1hr 34mins) is also included at More.

December 13, 2015

POST PARIS – NEW DAWN NEW DAY

TH Editor / Climate Change, featured /

To quote from Avaaz “World leaders at the UN climate talks have just set a landmark goal that can save everything we love! ” To see the full Avaaz announcement click We did it! — A turning point in human history

See see Carbon Briefs initial assessment of the agreement here. Also see a Quick Guide to the Paris Agreement from The Conversation. (See topics at ‘more’)

December 9, 2015

What can any of us do about climate change?

TH Editor / Climate Change /

On 15th Nov 2015 Mike Berners-Lee, author of the Burning Question, and consultant at Small World Consulting spoke at the bi-annual Budgett-Meakin lecture at the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution.

The full set of his slides are here: Highgate CBM lecture MBL 151122.

November 8, 2015

St Pancras International. A greeting for COP21 delegates

TH Editor / Climate Change /

“The dress will digitally display data which will show the impact of climate change on our physical world. It will show our planet as it will be, if we do nothing. The dress has been developed in partnership with the interactive creative agency Holition, and the data has been extracted from a major study of the global risks of future shifts in ecosystems due to climate.”

The installation encourages people to use social media to “start to make sense of what climate change means to us… ” Click here to join in “How One Person Can Make a Difference“.