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Special Interest Group for Doubling Nature

Convenors Cllr Pippa Heylings & Jason Billin

14 September - date subject to change due to guest speaker's availability...

Improving biodiversity by challenging the impoverishment of our declining natural economy.

The group will look at how significant increases in biodiversity might be reached by commitments to `Double Nature` both by government action at a national level, but also, significantly, by actions that can and should be taken by local authorities and community groups in particular.

Changing the Preamble for People and Planet

We hope to see many of our GLD family at the virtual conference this coming weekend and we have four fringe meetings to whet your political appetite. The fringes are loosely grouped under the strapline "For People and Planet" and there is a conscious element of addressing the issue of `Wellbeing` this year too. Indeed, our second fringe meeting, which is on Saturday evening, will address Wellbeing as its central goal, with our former MEP, Councillor Jane Brophy, Chairing the session from 17.35 pm onwards.

How to Cut Carbon Emissions Quickly and Effectively

Fossil fuels have delivered enormous benefits to humanity. Now, however, scientists are saying that the earth can't absorb much more of the carbon dioxide that fossil fuels produce.
The scientists can't be exact, but the remaining carbon budget will be used up in less than 10 years at the current rate of consumption.

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Special Interest Group for Renewable Energy

Convenors Steve Mason & Geoff Harvey

Chelmsford City Council wants bids from local people and groups, to combat climate change and improve community infrastructure. The Lib Dem-led council is making a greener Chelmsford a top priority.

Environmental funding to help make Chelmsford greener

Greener Chelmsford Grants make £100,000 available for projects that address the climate and ecological emergency in Chelmsford. Applications are more likely to be successful if they are for projects which protect and enhance wildlife and green infrastructure, lower energy consumption, reduce waste or lower carbon emissions. These are the priorities set out by the council for addressing climate change and ecological crises.

Alan said "As the UK and the Medway economy recovers from the effects of the Covid-19 'lock-down' cycling has an even more important role as a healthy and green method of transport. Around Medway's urban and rural areas, it provides an attractive alternative to car and public transport, enabling social distancing to be fully observed.

IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'

Yesterday`s IPCC report pulls no punches and has been flagged up as a 'code red for humanity'. It lays all of the global heating responsibility on we humans, so it is clearly up to us to put things right. Green Liberal Democrats have (no surprise!) been saying that for a long time now and as one commentator said, "people have apparently been listening - but not hearing!" On a similar theme, Doug Parr, chief scientist with Greenpeace UK, said "world leaders have done a terrible job of listening" to warnings about climate change. "This year, this has to change. We don't need more pledges, commitments and targets - we need real action right here, right now."

Opposition Liberal Democrat Councillors have hit out over Herts County Council policies on providing electric vehicle charge points as totally lacking vision and unambitious.

Herts County is proposing to only allow for on road chargers in limited circumstances creating a two-tier system.

Liberal Democrat councillors tried to get the council to agree to allow their installation in residential streets which lack off road parking using, where feasible, existing street furniture. They were voted down by the ruling Conservatives.

The Climate Emergency is upon us. It'll get worse still before it gets better. The top priority for every individual & government is to work hard to slow it down & turn it around. If we don't start making some serious political and life-style changes then at best our great grandchildren will face horrible conditions - and at worst they mightn't be there at all.

At a personal level, we have to try to limit our travel especially using fossil fuel powered vehicles. At a political level we need to limit air travel and accept that publicly supported road and rail transport must be appropriately provided.

And we must do similarly dramatic things in every other field of activity that generates carbon dioxide, heating, manufacturing, food production, materials uses - as well as recycling elements, metals, compounds, chemicals.