Woodbrooke Good Lives Project

Woodbrooke has solar PV!

2012-01-26T19:56:00.008Z

Almost two years ago (March 2010) I posted here about Woodbrooke's then new solar hot water. It's been working away ever since then, directly supplying our kitchen and laundry, which have heavy daytime use of hot water. This saves Woodbrooke money on our gas bill as well as reducing our carbon footprint.

Now we have solar electricity as well.

It was all brought forward and completed against the clock because of the government's sudden announcement about the changes to the feed-in tariff (this is the amount that you get paid for the electricity you generate from solar panels - it was originally set at a sufficiently high level to encourage people to install them).

The rate was always planned to be reduced from April 2012, reflecting the reduced price of panels, but the government tried to bring the lower rate in by mid-December, with little notice, and before the so-called consultation period had even ended. This caused great difficulty for householders, charities, local authorities and businesses who were part-way through getting an installation approved, and even greater problems for the whole renewables industry. Their willingness to invest in new technologies and staff training requires a stable, predictable business environment, which the government had, at a stroke, undermined. It has already cost millions of pounds, and tens of thousands of jobs are at stake.

Solarcentury, Friends of the Earth and HomeSun (representing three different kinds of interests in the matter) challenged the government in court and on 15 December the High Court ruled that the sudden change was unlawful. The feed-in tariff (FiT) rates were held at their previous level while the government appealed the decision. This week, on 25 January, the Appeal Court upheld the decision of the High Court. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced that it is seeking leave to appeal again, this time to the Supreme Court. However, the likely delay in such an appeal even getting to a hearing means that the FiTs may now revert to the original plan, decreasing from 1 April onwards, although this is not yet clear. This whole process has been an unintelligent and appalling waste, by the government, of time and public money .

So, here at Woodbrooke, we now know that our haste wasn't needed - but no matter: during all those bright, cold sunny days that we had in the middle of the winter, our panels were producing green electricty sooner than they would otherwise have done. Even with the sun low in the winter sky, our monitoring meter showed the kilowatt-hours clocking up.

Enough of the politics, here's more about our installation.

The side of Woodbrooke that looks towards the lake faces a little west of south.

When we had the solar hot water installed, the brackets to hold the tubes were placed off-square to the roof in order to face due south for maximum solar gain.

When it came to installing the solar PV panels, we had thought that the same thing would be done - brackets would be mounted on the flat roof and angled so that the panels faced due south.

However, this made less efficient use of the space - angling the panels due south reduced the number of them that could be fitted onto the available roof space. By keeping them square with the roof, more panels could be fitted, and this was beneficial overall - the slightly reduced generating capacity caused by the angle being west of south was more than outweighed by the capacity of the additional panels.

The whole array can be seen here. The system has an overall capacity of just over 10kW and will generate something over 8000kWh in a year.

There are two ways that we can monitor what is going on. A small unit, sited on a table in our entrance hall, gives a real-time readout.

And more detailed information can be displayed on the PC screen of the member of our management team who is reponsible for this aspect of Woodbrooke's work.

And the panels are well hidden from view (important, as we're a listed building). From the ground, you can see hardly anything at all - to take this photo, I was standing on a bench!

For information on smaller domestic scale solar PV installation and operation, see
http://woodbrookegoodlives.blogspot.com/2011/02/solar-panels-anniversary-update.html
and
http://woodbrookegoodlives.blogspot.com/2010/02/installing-solar-electricity.html

The Ecocide Trial - what happened?

2012-01-15T19:03:00.090Z

Back last September, I posted here about the upcoming Ecocide Trial. Since then it's happened, of course, and received some good publicity.

Simon Hamilton, originator of the idea of the Trial, writes below about the outcomes so far. Simon has worked as a Chartered Accountant in industry and in private practice, set up and run secondhand bookshops, crewed hot-air balloons and worked in the voluntary sector heading up fundraising teams for major charities. He set up Three Hands in 1998, devising and managing fundraising and leadership development programmes in the UK, Uganda, India, Malawi, Brazil, Belize, Cuba and Nicaragua. In 2011 he started The Hamilton Group, which brings the issues of the Earth to the forefront of decision-making. He led The Hamilton Group’s organisation of the Ecocide Trial at the UK Supreme Court in September 2011. He has a growing knowledge of India and has taken small groups of people from the UK to visit organic plantations and conservation programmes in the Western Ghats.

All photos: Habie Schwarz
Click here for more photos.

* * * * *

THE ECOCIDE TRIAL: A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME?

On 30 September 2011, two CEOs were put on trial in the Supreme Court of the UK, charged with three counts of the crime of Ecocide. Michael Mansfield QC led the prosecution with Christopher Parker QC defending. The courtroom was packed, the press was in full attendance and the trial was shown live round the world on SKY television. Everything rested on the jury’s verdict. A normal, high-profile trial? Yes, in every way except for three things - there is no legal crime of Ecocide, the CEOs were actors and it was a mock trial.

But could all this change? In April 2010, UK Barrister Polly Higgins who is spear-heading the Ecocide campaign, proposed to the UN that Ecocide, the environmental equivalent of Genocide, becomes the 5th International Crime Against Peace alongside Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, Crimes of Aggression and War Crimes.

The definition of Ecocide is:

the extensive damage, destruction to or loss of ecosystems of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished.

Examples of ecocide that would fall under the proposed new law include de-forestation of the Amazon rainforest, the extraction of oil from the Athabasca Tar Sands in Canada, the huge BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, extraction of natural gas by ‘fracking’, bauxite mining of Niyamgiri mountain in India, and deep sea mining of the Central and Eastern Manus basin in the Bismarck Sea off Papua New Guinea.

The fundamental concept behind Ecocide is that the Earth and the natural world have rights but, under the laws set up by Humans, have little protection and no voice. This may seem by some to be far-fetched and not likely to happen anytime soon but in 2008, Ecuador became the first country to include Rights for Nature in its national constitution. In April 2010, Bolivia’s President Evo Morales Ayma called for the First People’s World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth. Over 35,000 people participated in Cochabamba, Bolivia, resulting in the Universal Declaration of Mother Earth’s Rights.

The Ecocide Trial was devised and set up by The Hamilton Group to highlight the arguments for and against a crime against Ecocide. The Supreme Court had never done anything like this before and it took a little while for them to agree. Their main concern was that the trial should not be seen to be providing a formal legal agreement to Ecocide. Although the legal teams and many volunteers gave their time for no financial reward, funds still had to be raised to pay for the venue, filming the trial and to cover expenses. Raising sponsorship was an interesting experience. Major law firms were thought to be likely to give support as a new law would give them more work. But they were very nervous of being seen to be putting their name to something that clients might be prosecuted under, and although they loved the idea none of them were prepared to be sponsors.

It took just 50 minutes for the jury to return with two unanimous guilty convictions of ecocide against the CEOs of Global Petroleum Company* and Glamis Group*. Both were convicted on charges of ecocide relating to oil extraction at the Athabasca Tar Sands in Canada, while the boss of Global Petroleum was acquitted of charges relating to the Gulf oil spill.

Michael Mansfield QC said after the verdict,

Companies cannot be given a licence to spill and kill provided they clear it up. The most pressing issue for any government in the world today, is the attack on our planet.

He is among those supporting the proposal for the UN to make Ecocide an international crime. Supporters include: the former Environment Minster, the Rt. Hon. Michael Meacher MP, who attended the day long Trial; Dame Jane Goodall; Sir Jonathon Porritt former Chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission; Maude Barlow, author and Chair of the Council of Canadians, the World Future Council; representatives of numerous other international non-governmental organisations; and individual activists.

After the trial, Simon Hamilton, Chairman of The Hamilton Group, said

Ecocide should be on the Agenda at the Earth Summit in Rio in June 2012. The mock Trial proved that the crime of Ecocide is valid. The ethical and moral case for the banning of ecocides must now be at the forefront of decision-makers in Government and business throughout the World. We proved at the Supreme Court, that there is international interest in the passage of such a law and the Hamilton Group will continue to ensure that the implications are as widely debated and understood as possible.

Huw Spanner, Foreman of the Jury, said:

We reached unanimous verdicts on the two tar sands cases very quickly. It seemed to us beyond doubt that the two CEOs had willfully caused to be created large areas of water that were extremely hostile to life, and would probably remain so long after their companies had left the area. With regard to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, we all agreed that the CEO of Global Petroleum was very guilty of something very serious - but was it ecocide? We had only half an hour to consider this question and, on the evidence presented to us, nine of us were sufficiently unsure to acquit him.

We found the whole experience fascinating. Although the 'trial' was very condensed, and the time we had to deliberate very short, we tried to approach our task like a proper jury.

Vandana Shiva, the renowned Indian physicist, environmentalist and member of the World Future Council, said:

The Ecocide trial is a very important step in waking us up to the violence which is the foundation of the current economy. We need another model that is non-violent, a model that makes peace with the earth. Ecocide must stop. The ideal of limitless growth is leading to limitless violations of the rights of the Earth and of the rights of nature. This is ecocide. We need to stop the destruction of the very basis of life on Earth and of human survival.

For Polly Higgins, the Trial was a huge boost, not only for the Eradicating Ecocide campaign but also as a test for her new law:

My hope and aspiration for 2012 is a commitment by Heads of State to make Earth Law at the Earth Summit. This is our number one priority: to have our leaders commit to Earth Law -- Ecocide and Earth Rights. We shall be seeking business leaders who are willing to take responsibility and support Earth Law, faith leaders to stand up for the Earth, and the people. We believe that the Earth has rights too. Our journey will be epic, and most importantly it will be a challenge -- but I believe we can do it together as one. This can be our legacy for future generations. Together we can eradicate Ecocide. I visualise a world where all nations have come together to decide what they can do to help the Earth and to help those most adversely affected by Ecocide; all nations working together to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to work towards peace. I visualise all nations reaching out to make sure those who need help in every way, be it financially or otherwise, and planning how best to ensure the health and well-being of all peoples. This was the vision that inspired the United Nations in the last century and is embodied in UN Charter, a document that was written by “we the people.” In this century, this year ‘we the people’ can stand again and call on our leaders to speak on behalf of people and planet. We can start now to create the future we want. We can do it in small ways and big, each step is equally valued, be it changing our own lives at home or work, writing a letter to a leader you believe in asking him or her to support our campaign, spreading the idea far and wide through your networks, donating or meeting with others you think could help. Each time someone does this, a new connection is made, which in turn can pass on the baton and carry the message further forward.

On 31st March, the two CEOs will be sentenced. The Hamilton Group, in collaboration with The Institute for Democracy and Conflict Resolution at the University of Essex is organising the process. The plan, if the Judge agrees, is to sentence them to a programme of Restorative Justice. How they respond when brought face to face with the inhabitants, human and natural, which have been extensively damaged by their actions will be interesting to see.

* 'Global Petroleum Company' and 'The Glamis Group' are names invented for the purposes of the trial.

* * * * *

To see press coverage of the trial:

http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/10/24/is-ecocide-a-crime/

http://www.wildlawuk.org/1/post/2011/10/the-ecocide-trial.html

http://www.climaterush.co.uk/archives/773

http://climateradio.org/oil-executives-found-guilty-of-ecocide/

http://mercadoetico.terra.com.br/arquivo/tribunal-simula-caso-de-%E2%80%9Cecocidio%E2%80%9Dcomo-crime-contra-a-humanidade/utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mercado-etico-hoje

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2011/sep/29/ecocide-oil-criminal-court?commentpage=all#start-of-comments

http://www.worldwiseinvestor.com/blogs/article/124/A-day-in-the-Supreme-Court...what-next

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/mock-trial-finds-gulf-spill-bosses-guilty-of-ecocide-2363988.html

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15425719,00.html

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7e42cb72-eb88-11e0-a576-00144feab49a.html#axzz1ZW6zb2Yv

http://www.rnw.nl/international-justice/article/ecocide-a-fifth-international-crime-against-peace

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/blog/ecocide-environment-green-policy-un-law?newsfeed=true

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2116298/ecocide-lawyer-predicts-global-run-mock-trials

http://london.indymedia.org/articles/10325

http://www.sustainablescotland.com/index.php/Business-Communities/international-business-gulf-of-mexico-crude-oil-ecocide-snow.html

Last week, gardens - this week, houses!

2012-01-09T15:12:00.000Z

One of the surprises among my Christmas presents was a book I hadn't heard about, even though it was published 15 months ago: Local Sustainable Homes: how to make them happen in your community by Chris Bird. It comes from the Transition movement and is published by Transition Books. It's also available as a Kindle ebook.

The author lives in Totnes, home of Transition. He's been a freelance journalist for many years, writing about sustainable building, and he helps run the Building & Housing Group for Transition Town Totnes.

The book covers lots of practical and technical matters, as well as being full of real-life inspiring examples and case-studies. It covers everything from building a roundhouse in the woods to refurbishing council flats in Sheffield, developing an eco-cluster in rural Dorset and overcoming the psychological barriers to change. It includes town profiles showing what has been achieved in Totnes, Stroud, Brighton and Sheffield.

The table of contents shows the scope of the book. Following an introduction from Rob Hopkins (founder of the Transition movement), chapters cover: What is sustainable housing?; Making the case for change; Sustainable housing in Totnes; Refurbishment and retrofit; Building together; Sustainable housing in Brighton; New build; Social housing; Sustainable housing in Stroud; New tricks with old bricks; Land, planning and finance; Sustainable housing in Sheffield; Materials and skills; International and green - lessons from aropund the world; A look into the future - Stroud, Brighton, Sheffield and Totnes in 2030. There follows an extensive Resources listing.

As with all Transition publications, it's a fine mixture of the down-to-earth practical and forward-looking inspiration. This book would be useful to individual householders, looking for ideas and practical suggestions to make their own houses greener, and also to Transition or other local groups with larger ambitions for transforming housing in a street, a village or maybe even a whole town.

I've previously published some articles about greening homes on this blog. I posted about insulating roof spaces, windows and walls; and about my own experience of installing solar hot water and solar electricity. There's also a post about the experience of a Quaker meeting in Birmingham of greening its meeting house; and one about an urban new build eco house.

If you're fortunate enough to be part of a Transition community that has the ear of its local authority planning department, here are three other books that might be useful resources, either for your own group or to draw to the attention of a sympathetic/interestd local planning officer. They're all US-focussed, but have wider applicability.

Sustainability in America's Cities: Creating the Green Metropolis, edited by Matthew Slavin, published last year by Island Press. The editor is is founder and principal of Sustaingrup, developing clean energy technologies and sustainable buildings.

The book covers: the rise of the urban sustainability movement in the USA; strategic climate action planning (case study of Portland, Oregon); greening industrial districts (case study from Milwaukee); the role of universities in green-tech; case study of green building in Washington DC; the greening of mobility; clean energy; sustainable management of storm water; urban forest restoration (New York City case study); greening the food supply in New York; trends and prospects.

This is a technical/policy book - not recommended for the individual home-improver, but very useful if you're dealing with urban planning authorities and you want to give them inspiration and hard facts to help them raise their game.

Also from Island Press, and published last year, is Introduction to Restoration Ecology by Evelyn Howell, John Harrington and Stephen Glass. The first two authors are, respectively, professors of plant ecology and landscape architecture; the third is a restoration ecologist. The book is essentially a student textbook on the theory and practice of restoration ecology - you can read the very detailed table of contents on pp.3-7 of this PDF file. This book goes way beyond greening homes but it would be extremely helpful (for instance) for a group looking to bring a contaminated brownfield site back into use for eco-building.

And lastly (Island Press again), Intelligent Tinkering: Bridging the Gap between Science and Practice by Robert Cabin. The author is an associate professor of ecology and environmental science at Brevard College and has worked as a restoration ecologist. He uses the restoration of tropical dry forestland in Hawaii as an in-depth case study to investigate the scientific, practical, and philosophical issues associated with performing ecological restoration in the messy 'real world'. An approach he advocates is 'intelligent tinkering', following the work of renowned ecologist Aldo Leopold. In this model, practitioners employ the same kind of careful but informal trial-and-error strategy followed by such groups as indigenous peoples and hobbyist mechanics.

Again, this isn't a book for greening an individual home, but is an invaluable reference book for larger, more ambitious projects.

NB: the links above are, in each case, to the publisher's website, but all the books mentioned are available from your local bookseller or preferred online retailer.

Growing your own in small spaces - a crop of new books!

2012-01-03T13:14:00.000Z

My New Year's Day ritual is to sit down with my seed catalogues and plan the coming year's veg growing. I mostly use The Organic Gardening Catalogue, supplemented by some of the more mainstream commercial companies for specific items. I'm also a member of Garden Organic's Heritage Seed Library, so I get to choose a few varieties to grow each year that are no longer (or never were) commercially available. This is always a delight.

You can grow tasty, nutritious salad, fruit and veg in the tiniest of spaces. It's deeply satisfying, and the miracle of seeds germinating each spring remains a profound delight year after year. If you've never grown anything to eat, try Garden Organic's One Pot Pledge . . . and you may find yourself hooked for life!

The 'bible' for growing your own in small spaces remains, in my view, the wonderful Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew (plus an updated edition available on Kindle and lots of clips on YouTube).

'square foot' raised beds,
plus cordon fruit trees
along fence

This is the method I use in my own small garden. I knew nothing about growing veg, and had assumed I couldn't possibly attempt anything in my tiny plot. Then I happened upon a magazine article about Square Foot Gardening, maybe 10 or 15 years ago now, and thought: I could do that. And I haven't looked back since.

But sometimes you need a bit more inspiration, and some new ideas, alongside the basic 'how to' book, and there's a crop of new and forthcoming books to help with that.

When I was thinking about fruit trees three years ago, I wish I'd had to hand Fruit Trees in Small Spaces by Colby Eierman. It's USA-based, so some of the information needs to be adapted for the UK, but with sections on: 'Home orchard primer', 'Fruit tree guide', 'Practicalities' and 'Fruit in the kitchen', it's a valuable addition to the small plotholder's library.

Also useful then would have been Vertical Vegetables and Fruit: creative gardening techniques for growing up in small spaces by Rhonda Massingham Hart. Part 1 is on 'The whys whats and how-tos of making food grow up', Part 2 is 'Vertical annual vines' (includes beans, peas, tomatoes, squash), and Part 3 is on perennial fruits. As this book is also American, notes on varieties and suppliers won't work in the UK, but a web search will easily find substitutes. On a personal note, I can add that I grow my courgettes each year from a trailing/climbing variety that I train up over a trellis, making very good use of a small area of ground.

Also recently out is The Edible Balcony by Alex Mitchell (a step on from 'one pot'!). He covers city balconies, roof-top gardens and terraces, covering issues of sun, wind, water, shelter, weight of pots, compost, plant food, pests and diseases, design, layout and planning. There are practical tips on specific crops suitable for balcony growing, a section on growing things you can't find in the shops, and a section on reused/recycled containers. There are photos to inspire you to make best use of your space, and projects ranging from the very simple to the more ambitious. There's even a section on keeping bees on your balcony, plus recipes and kitchen ideas. And if you're seriously ambitious, there's a chapter applying the permaculture forest garden principles to a balcony or roof terrace! This is a UK published book, so the suppliers etc are relevant to this country.

For more on container growing, there's Fern Richardon's new book, Small Space Container Gardens: transform your balcony, porch or patio with fruits, flowers foliage and herbs. Published in the UK, the chapters in this book cover: choosing containers; water, weather and climate; attracting wildlife; growing food; ornamentals; pests and diseases; basic gardening techniques and knowledge. Appendices help you with understanding plant hardiness, and also suggest suppliers and further resources. It's a good beginner's book.

Another American book is Ivette Soler's The Edible Front Yard: the mow-less, grow-more plan for a beautiful bountiful garden. It covers design, practicalities, organic gardening techniques, kitchen ideas, and how to keep the whole thing looking good (this is designed to be your front garden after all - but no reason why you couldn't use the ideas anywhere).

After all this inspiration, you might want some more basic gardening nous if you're embarking on this for the first time. Try The Year Round Vegetable Gardener: how to grow your own food 365 days a year no matter where you live by Niki Jabbour. When I started with vegetables, the summer season was quite easy to get a grip on . . . growing food over the autumn and winter took me a while to get my head around. This is a very practical book that will help you with crops, timing, succession planting, use of of covers and protection to stretch the growing season, and so on. The 'further resources ' are US based, but the general advice and information can apply anywhere.

And lastly . . . the trouble-shooting book: What's Wrong with my Vegetable Garden? by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth - this is a compendium of organic solutions for pests, diseases and crop failures. It's arranged first by crop name, and offers tried and tested advice for the organic grower . . . it's a US book, so remember you'll find 'courgettes' listed as 'zucchini' ! Then there's a section arranged by common problems and how to tackle them. Suppliers listed are US based, but there are plenty similar in the UK.

So there you go - happy gardening!

NB: the links to the books are, in each case, to the publisher's website; however, all the books are available in the UK via your usual bookshop or online seller.

The Christian Census on Climate Change

2011-12-20T17:58:00.000Z

For the last posting of 2011, here's news of a Christian ecumenical initiative, emanating from a Catholic group from the North East of England.

Information about it reached me by a roundabout route that included Operation Noah and Quaker Peace and Social Witness. The information below comes from Emma Casson, the project's administrator. She also has recent experience of on-the-ground sustainability work in Africa, and I'll post her article about that in the New Year.

* * * * *

Emma writes:

A Christian Census on Climate Change has just been launched. The initiative is intended to allow Christians from all denominations to voice their opinions and produce lasting data for discussion.

From a Christian viewpoint, do people think that climate change is of little importance and untouchable, or is it something that needs to be tackled from both a scientific and moral perspective? We would love to have your views.

We would like as many people as possible from as many churches as possible to complete the census and email, or post it back to us. For efficiency, we would suggest that one person per church/meeting be the ‘messenger’ and promote the census to the rest of the congregation. They then return completed questionnaires to us.

The deadline for completing the census is the end of March 2012. Results of the census will be released at a special event in York Minster on Saturday 21st April. The morning service will be led by Archbishop Sentamu, Bishop Terence Drainey and leaders of other denominations. The afternoon will feature practical workshops on climate change and how congregations and communities can become more sustainable. The event is freebut tickets entry ticket s will be issued.

To download the census, and for more information on the York Minster event, please visit our website

For paper copies of the census, or if you want to participate in the event in York Minster, please contact:

Emma Casson
Administrator for the Christian Census on Climate Change
tel: 07879372999
email: CConClimateChange@gmail.com

* * * * *

So there's a project for your Quaker Meeting or church in the New Year - please take part. Thanks to Emma for these details.

I'm taking a break next week - back in the first week in January.

Where does money come from?

2011-12-14T14:41:00.013Z

This week's guest post comes from James Bruges. James, an environmentalist, is a memberof Redland Quaker Meeting and blogs on the Quakernomics site.

He is the author of:
The Little Earth Book,
The Big Earth Book
and The Biochar Debate: charcoal's potential to reverse climate change and build soil fertility.
He spoke about climate change at the 2009 Schumacher Conference - see the video on YouTube.

He is currently working with David Friese-Greene, advising an organisation in India (SCAD) on the use of biochar for soil fertility, and applying this experience to problems with the spread of Sudden Oak Death in Wales.

* * * * *

BOOK REVIEW

Where Does Money Come From? A guide to the UK monetary and banking system
By Josh Ryan-Collins, Tony Greenham, Richard Werner and Andrew Jackson
A nef publication.

Review by James Bruges

Spiralling inequality, chaos in the financial world and the Occupy protests force us to engage with economics. Where Does Money Come From? is about money itself, a subject that has, surprisingly, received little attention and about which there is widespread misunderstanding. It says:

Central banks around the world support the same description of where money comes from. And yet many naturally resist the notion that private banks can really create money by simply making an entry in a ledger.

And JK Galbraith had said,

The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled. When something so important is involved, a deeper mystery seems only decent.

The authors studied the implications of bank-created money through talking to key people in the City including those on the Vickers Commission, and referring to 500 documents from central banks and regulators. On receiving a copy of the completed book Professor David Miles of the Monetary Policy Committee, Bank of England, said,

the way monetary economics and banking is taught in many - maybe most - universities is very misleading and what your book does is help people explain how the mechanics of the system work.

But does it matter that the money we use is created by private institutions? A bit of history is revealing. At the beginning of the 19th century gold, silver and coins were the only official currency, but banks were allowed to print notes saying 'I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of £XX'. It cost them, say, 5 pence to print a £20 note, which they could sell for £20. The Tory government of Robert Peel realised the anomaly and his 1844 Bank Charter Act made it illegal for anyone other than the Royal Mint to print banknotes. It now costs banks and building societies, say, £100 in administrative costs to make a £100,000 loan attracting compound interest. The anomaly is the same: a business model for the '1%' that the '99%' can’t match.

Banks charge interest on loans, necessitating the amount of money in circulation to increase each year in order to cover this interest. The choice is either growth or recession. It was a Quaker philosopher, Kenneth Boulding, who quipped,

Anyone who believes in indefinite growth in anything physical, on a physically finite planet, is either mad or an economist.

So the monetary system causes world resources to deplete.

Most people think that the money they deposit in the bank remains their own property. This is wrong. Legally, it becomes a debt that the bank has to pay on demand but, in the meantime, the money belongs to the bank and it can do what it likes with it. The Royal Bank of Scotland, even after being bailed out by the government, invests in projects like Canadian tar sands that are directly contrary to government policy on climate change.

Our laws are biased in favour of the creditor, with bankruptcy being the only way out for the debtor. However if loans are underwritten the creditor is divested of risk so can lend irresponsibly. Irresponsible loans were a major cause of third-world debt as well as of the sub-prime mortgages that contributed to the 2008 financial crash. Compound interest builds on debt without any cost to the creditor, contributing to the enslavement of nations and people. There is therefore a moral case for cancelling or reneging on certain kinds of debt – as suggested, of course, by the biblical ‘jubilee’.

The government wants banks to finance the productive sector but

the government has in practice no involvement in the money creation and allocation process.

It is not surprising that few of the vast sums given to banks have been loaned to small businesses, which they regard as risky. The banks have invested most of their windfall in assets such as prime property, the value of which is enhanced by Russian oligarchs.

The book discusses 'financial instruments' that

are increasingly traded in a money-like fashion, moving around the world at great speed and frequency by investment banks and hedge funds.

The financial elite, joined by African dictators and corporations, have salted away £2 trillion tax-free in secret locations, many – perhaps most – of which are UK protectorates or ‘British Overseas territories’, the City of London itself being one of them. The UK loses £70 billion tax annually. The value of trade in financial derivatives is ten times the value of all goods and services in the world. No one knows what’s going on but these activities cause global instability and deprive governments of funds to help those in need.

I will end with two quotations that are horribly predictive of our current situation now that banking technocrats are the main influence on, or even taking over, countries. In 1838 the banker Amschel Rothschild said, 'Let me issue and control a Nation's money and I care not who makes its laws.' Then in 1863 the Rothschild brothers, London, said,

The few who could understand the system will either be so interested in its profits, or so dependent on its favours, that there will be no opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, will bear its burdens without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests.

I hope this is enough to indicate that the monetary and banking system is at odds with Quaker testimonies to integrity, justice, equality, community and the environment. Quakers could help to develop an alternative to laissez-faire capitalism that relates to real life in all its local variety, provides social welfare, and encourages cooperation, creativity, relationship and play.

* * * * *

Two useful articles by Richard Murphy:

• Collect the Evaded Tax

• The Cost of Tax Abuse

* * * * *

Many thanks to James for this post. An earlier version of this article appeared in The Friend of 9 December 2011.

Related material: see the obituary for Richard Douthwaite, co-founder of FEASTA

Two new sustainability handbooks

2011-12-06T18:35:00.000Z

A bit big for Christmas stockings, but might find their place as 'green' presents.

The Transition Companion: making your community more resilient in uncertain times by Rob Hopkins

Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition movement, has brought out his second book. His first, The Transition Handbook, published in 2008, brought together the experience to date of the Transition movement.

Since then there have been several books co-authored by Rob, or written by others, on specific aspects of Transition, and Transition Timeline by Shaun Chamberlin added to the mix.

So why this new one now? In his introduction, Rob writes:

This book seeks to answer the question: What would it look like if the best responses to peak oil and climate change came not from committees and Acts of Parliament, but from you and me and the people around us?

It's a big question . . . For the first Transition Handbook . . . this was pretty much a speculative question, but for this new book we are able to draw from what has, in effect, been a five-year worldwide experiment, an attempt to try to put the Transition idea into practice . . .

This book is called a 'Companion' because that is exactly what it is intended to be. It is a move away from 'The 12 Steps to Transition' that has underpinned the work of Transition initiatives up to this point, towards a more holistic, more appropriate model.

Part One of the book explains what Transition is, and gives a potted history; Part Two shows what transition looks like in practice - these two sections form just the first third of the main text.

The remaining two-thirds, Part Three, covers 'Starting out', 'Deepening', 'Connecting', 'Building', 'Daring to dream'. The whole book covers issues of practicality, psychology and spirituality, money, time, legal matters, community, media, scaling up, running meetings, handling conflict, food, local government, storytelling, appropriate technologies . . . and much, much more. It's full of good advice, helpful information and resources, inspiring case-studies, and lots of how-to suggestions.

Illustrated with many photogrpahs and other graphics, and printed entirely on photographic paper, this is a very heavy book (in the literal, physical sense!) - you might want to think twice about posting it to someone.

It costs £19.95 - money extremely well spent.

At the other end of the cost scale is Sustainability Toolkit: Becoming a low-carbon, sustainable community by Living Witness and Quaker Peace and Social Witness.

This handbook has been produced by Quakers, primarily for local Quaker meetings, but it has the potential for much wider usefulness.

Copies have already been sent to Quaker meetings in Britain, but individual printed copies may be purchased for £5, or the electronic PDF version may be downloaded free.

The handbook covers interpersonal and group skills needed for working on sustainability issues with a group or community; exercises for articulating a vision; advice on practical issues; tools for taking issues further with the group; further resources.

Also included are two forms of 'footprint calculator' - one for individuals and one for groups or communities. The latter, designed for Quaker meetings, could also be used by Parish Churches, youth clubs, community centres, and so forth. Paper versions of these calculators are included in the book, and electronic versions are online, for individuals and for groups and communities. Also available online is a bank of sustainability stories, examples of a wide variety of actions being taken by individuals and Quaker groups. You can add your own stories to this resource bank.

The book is well laid-out, attractive and easy to use, well illustrated, and a fraction of the weight of the Transition book! It won't break the bank to order it and post it to your friends . . . or buy it for yourself and start to use it in your own community.

Climate talks in Durban

2011-11-29T13:33:00.008Z

Have you been watching the latest David Attenborough series, Frozen Planet? One of the features of the programmes is the discussion of what happens to the wildlife as the ice cover recedes, at both poles. In the new Radio Times (out today, for next week's programmes) Attenborough writes 'a powerful message to the world leaders as they meet in Durban to discuss climate change'.

Accompanied by two of the stunning photographs we have come to expect from this series, he tells us that:

- the north polar ice is thinning from above and from below, and breaking up sooner and for longer each year
- the lack of ice inhibits the polar bears' hunting, so that a mother gives birth when she is in poor condition herself, raising the likelihood that her cubs won't survive
- the loss of south polar ice has been good for the king penguins of St Andrew's bay, South Georgia (they have more beach habitat, which suits them); but disastrous for Adélie penguins on the southern part of the antarctic peninsula (they rely on ice-loving krill for food)
- the loss of ice reduces the reflectivity of the planet, bouncing less of the sun's energy back into space, allowing more heat to warm the climate
- the melting water from the ice caps raises the sea level and affects the circulation of the ocean currents, changing weather patterns all over the world
- the antarctic Wilkins ice shelf (that used to be the size of Jamaica) started to break up in 2008; by the time of filming Frozen Planet it was just a litter of floating icebergs. A likely next break-up is one of the ice-shelves that acts as a 'plug', holding back the huge glaciers esting on the continental land itself . . . once one of these plugs melts, immense quantities of ice will start to flow into the sea, causing major sea-level rises all over the world . . . and half the world's population lives in coastal areas vulnerable to flooding in such a scenario.

For many years, climate campaigners have been urging Attenborough to speak out because he has the 'ear' and the trust of a huge public. But precisely because of that trust, he was reluctant to speak for a long time - he had to be certain, to get past any doubts about the science. He was wary of abusing trust he had. But Frozen Planet is now his platform from which to speak. In the seven episodes he has charted the ice, the oceans, the wildlife, the plants, the people . . . and the rapid changes now ocurring, faster than almost anyone had predicted.

So, in these circumstances, what can we expect from the Durban talks? Not a lot, if news reporting is to be believed. In the middle of last month, John Ashton (the Foreign Office's special representative for climate change), wrote in The Guardian that there is 'no plan B':

The lesson the world is learning the hard way from the financial crisis is that there is only one boat and we are all in it. To stay afloat, we need rules tough enough to stop systemic risks becoming systemic collapses. This lesson is as true for the environment as it is for the economy. A key battle in the campaign to build an effective system of global rules will shortly take place in Durban, where the UN climate negotiations reopen at the end of this month. The International Energy Agency [IEA] has set the scene, with the timely warning in its new World Energy Outlook that we are way off track to avoid dangerous climate change, and that the window for effective action is closing fast.

There really is no plan B for the climate. A voluntary framework will not be enough to keep us within the 2C limit of manageable climate change. Unmanageable climate change will precipitate systemic collapses, including of our food and water security. Success or failure will depend on governments convincing investors that they are determined to enact the policies necessary to drive private capital towards a low-carbon future. In the boardroom a voluntary pledge from a government sounds rather like "maybe".

The IEA report that Ashton refers to is significant - the IEA is a respected organisation, known for its caution and its careful assessment of long-term trends. The point being made in this report is that the infrastructure we are building now will lock us into those fuel consumption patterns for decades to come. Power stations built now will be emitting CO2 for a long time. So, to be building climate-changing power sources at this time is the exact opposite of what we need to be doing. Our infrastructure plans need to be way ahead, not lagging behind, in terms of limiting carbon emissions.

It should be encouraging that Ashton, on behalf of the UK coalition government, wrote (later in the same article):

Success or failure will depend on governments convincing investors that they are determined to enact the policies necessary to drive private capital towards a low-carbon future. In the boardroom a voluntary pledge from a government sounds rather like 'maybe'. That's why in the UK we have set legally binding carbon budgets through the Climate Change Act.

And similarly, it should be encouraging that Chris Huhne, the government's Energy Secretary, claims that a

'new global climate change treaty is not a luxury'. However, a recent Freedom of Information request has revealed that the UK coalition government is actively supporting the Canadian government to try to head off unfavourable treatment of the oil extracted from the tar sands there. The proposal is that this oil should carry a higher carbon 'tariff' because of the pollution created by its extraction and refinement. This would make it unattractive to other countries not wanting to import such a carbon burden into their own economies. This obviously impacts on the economics of extracting the oil

Nasa scientist James Hansen says if the oil sands were exploited as projected it would be "game over for the climate"

The prognostications for the Durban talks have not been good - reports of major players wanting a 'voluntary' arrangement, of postponing doing anything until 2020, and so on. National politics constrain international action - we all know that Obama can't deliver a ratification of any treaty because the Republican-controlled House of Representatives won't agree. And if the rich industrialised countries won't restrain their emissions, the rest of the world won't offer to restrain its pace of economic growth. And governments around the world, in these times of economic difficulty, see clearly that their electorates don't put climate change at the top of their lists of concerns . . . or indeed anywhere on their lists of concerns. Governments know they won't get re-elected by significantly increasing the costs of petrol, diesel, gas, electricity . . . and hence the costs of all goods manufactured or transported using fossil fuels.

The one glimmer of new positive action has been that developing countries are working together to highlight their situation. John Vidal reported that:

Diplomats from some developing countries may "occupy" the UN climate negotiations that begin on Monday in Durban by staging sit-ins and boycotts over the lack of urgency in the talks.
The move follows a call by the former president of Costa Rica for vulnerable countries to refuse to leave the talks until "substantial" progress has been made.

José María Figueres (Costa Rica) said:

We went to Copenhagen [in 2009] with the illusion we could reach an equitable agreement. We went to Cancún [in 2009] where we saw slight but not sufficient progress. Frustration is now deep and building. Now we hear that we will need more conferences. Sometime we have to get serious. We should be going to Durban with the firm conviction that we do not come back until we have made substantial advances.

The Alliance of Small Island States, which represents some of the countries most at risk from global warming, has called any moves to delay a new treaty "reckless and irresponsible".

James Hansen (mentioned above) was the person who first said that the ice caps would respond quickly to global warming, and he was right. His stark message in his most recent book may be summed up as this: the situation is worse than we are being told, your governments are lying through their teeth, nothing is being done, you can’t compromise with nature and the laws of physics; consequently, civil resistance may soon be the only way forward – it is up to you. It was published before the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit, and the outcomes of that event gave us nothing with which to challenge his message.

It was echoed, following the 2010 Cancún Climate Summit, by Gustavo Esteva, a Mexican activist and founder of the Universidad de la Tierra (University of the Earth) in Oaxaca, Mexico. He writes:

In the efforts to protect our planet from ourselves, the high level talks at Cancún were our last chance … and they failed. But we can learn from this sad episode: we must stop asking governments and international organisations for solutions that they don’t want to – and can’t – implement . . . All governments, even the most majestic, are composed of ordinary mortals, trapped in bureaucratic labyrinths and fighting vested interests that tie their hands, heads and wills . . . We must look . . . to the people, and what we can do ourselves . . . The time has come to change the system, not the planet. That depends on us, not on those who gain status and income from the system.

There are many things we can do before we get to the point of civil disobedience, but the recent wave of 'Occupy' movements around the world show that there are significant numbers of people willing to take that step. We can all take action on our own carbon emissions. We can all set a good example to others. And we all need to take steps in relation to both local and national politics to help ensure that climate and environmental campaigns remain in the forefront of people's and politicians minds.

Quakers support OccupyLSX

2011-11-22T17:25:00.000Z

At the end of last week, Britain Yearly Meeting put out a press release supporting the OccupyLSX group, best known for their encampment alongside St Paul's Cathedral. The press release follows immediately below, and the full text of the statement to which it refers is below that.

* * * * *

Dated Thursday 17 November

As the City of London Corporation gives notice to the Occupy London Stock Exchange activists to clear the "public highway" by 6pm this evening, Quakers in Britain have made a public declaration of support for the protesters.

A statement from Quakers in Britain says that they share the concern for global economic justice and sustainability expressed by the Occupy movement. And speaking from their long tradition of nonviolence, praise the peaceful nature of the Occupy movement.

The Quaker statement, signed by Paul Parker, Recording Clerk, goes on to say: “Quakers in Britain agree with the statement of Occupy London Stock Exchange that our current economic system is unsustainable. It is undemocratic and unjust. We need alternatives. We, too, ‘want structural change towards authentic global equality. The world’s resources must go towards caring for people and the planet, not the military, corporate profits or the rich,’ (as in Occupy LSX initial statement).

“The idea that another world is possible is crucial for us too,” the Quaker statement continues. “We cannot accept the injustice and destructiveness of our economic system as it is. At the annual meeting of Quakers in Britain in August 2011 we wrote: ‘We need to ask the question whether this system is so broken that we must urgently work with others of faith and good will to put in its place a different system in which our testimonies can flourish’. We support the process initiated by the Occupy movement to create a path towards a different future, and to develop it democratically.”

The statement also says that Quakers greatly value the movement’s peaceful quality. “We pray that this can be actively supported by all, including the civil and ecclesiastical authorities who have the difficult task of maintaining simultaneously both public order and the right of peaceful protest.”

* * * * *

The full text of the statement reads:

“Quakers in Britain share the concern for global economic justice and sustainability expressed by the Occupy movement. We agree with the statement of Occupy London Stock Exchange that our current economic system is unsustainable. It is undemocratic and unjust. We need alternatives. We, too, “want structural change towards authentic global equality. The world’s resources must go towards caring for people and the planet, not the military, corporate profits or the rich,” (as stated in Occupy LSX initial statement). We are grateful to the various Occupy groups for raising these issues so passionately and respond to the deep spiritual significance that we recognise in the movement.

“Those of us who have visited have been welcomed, and found the Occupy sites an exceptional learning experience. We honour the values and positive ways of working within Occupy communities: without hierarchy, based on care for others, open to the contributions of all and searching for the truth. These are in harmony with our Quaker practice and business methods.

“The idea that another world is possible is crucial for us too. We cannot accept the injustice and destructiveness of our economic system as it is. At the annual meeting of Quakers in Britain in August 2011 we wrote: “We need to ask the question whether this system is so broken that we must urgently work with others of faith and good will to put in its place a different system in which our testimonies can flourish”. We support the process initiated by the Occupy movement to create a path towards a different future, and to develop it democratically.

“We hope that individual Quakers will continue to provide support, both moral and practical, to the movement. We greatly value its peaceful quality and we pray that this can be actively supported by all, including the civil and ecclesiastical authorities who have the difficult task of maintaining simultaneously both public order and the right of peaceful protest.”

Signed Paul Parker, Recording Clerk for Quakers in Britain

* * * * *

See also: Facebook.com/occupylondon and Twitter.com/occupylsx

No peace without justice

2011-11-16T14:31:00.000Z

'No peace without justice' is a slogan that's been around for a very long time. It's not a 'command' so much as a statement of truth - that peace cannot be established where there is no justice. It's now also the name of an international non‑profit organisation that works for the protection and promotion of human rights, democracy, the rule of law and international justice.

The Good Lives Project's concerns are about sustainability, and there is already inequity of climate impacts around the world, and these will become even more stark as global termperatures and sea levels both rise. So the wider field of peace and justice work should be of concern to all of us whose primary focus may be climate change.

For 20 years Woodbrooke has shared its campus with an organisation called Responding to Conflict (RTC). RTC is a non-governmental organisation that works to transform conflict and build peace.

It was founded in 1991 by Simon Fisher, whose 2004 Swarthmore Lecture (Spirited Living: waging conflict, building peace) set out his passion, vision, strategies and hopes for this kind of work.

RTC has its offices at Woodbrooke and uses our residential and conference facilities to run training courses. It has established itself as a leader in the field of conflict transformation and its handbook Working with Conflict: Skills and Strategies for Action is acknowledged as a key resource for practitioners, trainers and academics throughout the world.

RTC has trained practitioners from more than 70 countries, including those where some of the world's most violent conflicts are. It has provided specialist advice and consultancy services to governments, the United Nations Development Programme, and leading international NGOs and charities. It has designed and managed long-term programmes in the Middle East, the Balkans, East Africa and South East Asia, and is currently facilitating and working with partners on programmes in Nepal, as well as providing long-term support to programmes and projects in Kenya and the Middle East.

And my reason for writing about this just now is that last Saturday (12 November) RTC was awarded the Coventry International Prize for Peace and Reconciliation. The Prize aims to recognise groups and individuals who have made a major contribution to grassroots peace-building in situations of conflict around the world. This prize is awarded jointly by the Lord Mayor's Office, Coventry University, Coventry Cathedral and the Diocese of Coventry.

The City of Coventry, along with the Cathedral, has taken a corporate lead on issues of international reconciliation since the bombing of the Cathedral in World War 2. Out of the charred ruins, two symbolic crosses were created (one of wood, one of nails). Crosses of Nails were given to organisations, particularly in Germany, as post-war reconciliation work startedm, and in 1970 the Community of the Cross of Nails was formed, attached to the cathedral, to work for peace, justice and reconcilation.

Growing out of this history are a number of related initiatives. There is an annual Lord Mayor's Peace Festival, supported by the City Council, which has been running for many years under various guises. Coventry University has a Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies. The joint working of the City, the University, the Diocese and the Cathedral has led to the current version of the Peace Prize, awarded annually during the Festival.

The physical Prize that's awarded was designed by Coventry artist and jeweller Rachel Sutton.

Professor Alan Hunter, Director of Coventry University's Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies, said:

This inspiring choice comes at a time of violence and protest around the world. It is therefore critical to identify and train effective peace-builders, who can return to areas of conflict and place themselves in positions of influence in their own communities. Responding to Conflict does this extremely well, and is therefore a worthy winner.

Chair of RTC's Trustees, Cliff Allum sees the award as recognition of the energy, optimism and bravery of the people associated with RTC over the years. He believes the organisation has never been afraid to take up the challenges of addressing conflict, even in areas where many could not see that change was possible. RTC Programme Director, Simon Weatherbed said:

It is a great honour to receive this Prize. Building and sustaining peace is not an easy task and requires long-term commitment. Many of the people we have worked with have continued to transform violent conflicts and countless people’s lives, and in honour of these remarkable people and all who have worked with or supported Responding to Conflict, I am proud to accept this prestigious award.

RTC's work will continue and Woodbrooke will continue to support them.

The winter 'flu jab - a parable of experience

2011-11-05T13:03:00.011Z

I went this morning to get my winter 'flu jab. I'm not yet in a priority category (four years to go for that!) and I've never taken the step of having one before. But earlier this autumn I had a seriously nasty and prolonged chest infection and decided that I didn't want to risk another respiratory infection this winter.

The procedure at my GP surgery was that the Saturday morning clinic on 5 November would use up whatever vaccine they had left after priority cases had been done.

There's been quite a lot in the news about low vaccine uptake - repeated reminders to people in the vulnerable categories to go and get the jab. I had no idea how much vaccine they would have left at the surgery, so I arrived early to be near the front of the queue . . . and found the line already out of the door and into the street. And many in the queue were actually in the priority categories and were late responding to the letter they'd received.

So, no shortage of take-up here . . . but this is a nice middle-class little town, a lot university staff live here, and it's the sort of place full of the sort of people who know how to get the best out of public services.

While I was in the queue I was reading today's paper reporting on the 'new Jarrow marchers' arriving in London. They've walked 400 miles from Jarrow to Tottenham to protest against youth unemployment, as the figures get worse by the day. The original Jarrow March was in October 1936, a protest march against unemployment and extreme poverty suffered in North East England. The 207 marchers travelled from the town of Jarrow to the Palace of Westminster in London, a distance of almost 300 miles (480 km), to lobby Parliament. This new march left on the exact anniversary (1 October), but while the original march arrived in London on 31 October, the young people arrive today, 5 November, for a rally in Trafalgar Square and people are urged to support them by joining the for the last mile and the rally.

Since they started the march, the Occupy LSX protest ('LSX' stands for London Stock Exchange) has been at St Paul's Cathedral and widely in the news - another protest concerned with inequity. Today at 2pm they will be hosting a rally at St Paul’s Churchyard calling for a fairer, more just society and afterwards they will go to join the Jarrow marchers in Trafalgar Square. The only MP speaking at the rally will be Caroline Lucas from the Green Party - no Labour politican is standing up to support them; shame on them.

And what's this got to do with my 'flu jab? Well, it's too easy to point the finger - it's the bankers, it's the government, it's "them" . . . while ignoring the fact that we're all of us deeply in hock to this unjust, and now unstable, system. While all this protest is going on, in the past few days the world leaders at the G20 summit in Cannes have failed to put in place measures to stabilise the Eurozone. It all seems rather remote, but our savings, pensions, and overall economic well-being are implicated. Those on the new Jarrow march, already disadvantaged, will be diproportionately further affected by the fallout from the problems of the Euro.

Politicians who want to court middle-class support by appealing to the 'squeezed middle' fail to be honest about the fact that the educated middle classes will still come out of the wreckage in a better position than the people taking part in - and represented by - the new Jarrow March. None of has clean hands - the Occupy movement's appeal to 'the 99%' must not be allowed to obscure the deep and significant differences among that 99% - as George Orwell pointed out (in Animal Farm, published in 1945): some of us are more equal than others.

And Quaker John Woolman, writing his Plea for the poor in the mid eighteenth century, said:

May we look upon our treasures, and the furniture of our houses, and the garments in which we array ourselves, and try whether the seeds of war have nourishment in these our possessions.

The Seven Billionth Baby

2011-10-26T00:06:00.000+01:00

There has been a lot of press coverage in the past few days about the fact that Earth’s 7 billionth baby will be born sometime toward the end of this month. This has spawned a raft of articles about population, population control, the use of Earth’s resources, climate change and peak oil . . . and so on.

Below is an opinion piece written by Roger Martin, chair of the charity Population Matters. It is reproduced with kind permission of Roger Martin, and was originally printed in The Guardian of 25 October 2011

* * * * *

Why current population growth is costing us the Earth

Our population is rising while our ability to sustain life on Earth is shrinking – we must change before nature does it for us

The 7 Billion Day is a sobering reminder of our planet's predicament. We are increasing by 10,000 an hour. The median UN forecast is 9.3 billion by 2050, but the range varies by 2.5 billion – the total world population in 1950 – depending on how we work it out.

Every additional person needs food, water and energy, and produces more waste and pollution, so ratchets up our total impact on the planet, and ratchets down everyone else's share – the rich far more than the poor. By definition, total impact and consumption are worked out by measuring the average per person multiplied by the number of people. Thus all environmental (and many economic and social) problems are easier to solve with fewer people, and ultimately impossible with ever more.

Since we passed one billion in 1800, our rising numbers and consumption have already caused climate change, rising sea levels, expanding deserts and the "sixth extinction" of wildlife. Our growth has been largely funded by rapidly depleting natural capital (fossil fuels, minerals, groundwater, soil fertility, forests, fisheries and biodiversity) rather than sustainable natural income. Our global food supply is heavily dependent on cheap oil and water. Yet peak oil means rising prices, while irrigation is quarrying out vital aquifers in many countries.

Thus our population rises at the same time as the number of people Earth can sustain shrinks, while spreading industrialisation and western consumption patterns only accelerate this process. The poor should get richer; but high birth rates, compounded by resource depletion and environmental degradation actively hinder development.

The crunch point is that indefinite population growth is physically impossible on a finite planet – it will certainly stop at some point. Either sooner through fewer births by contraception and (non-coercive) population policy, the "humane" way – or later through more deaths by famine, disease, war, the "natural" way. As Maurice Strong, secretary general of the 1992 Earth Summit put it: "Either we reduce our numbers voluntarily, or nature will do it for us brutally."

Some people, notably George Monbiot, argue that western over-consumption is the sole culprit, so criticising expanding population means "blaming the victims". Of course he is right that our self-indulgent lifestyles are grossly inequitable, and must become much more modest – each additional Briton has the carbon footprint of 22 more Malawians, so the 10 million more UK people the ONS projects for 2033 would equate to 220 million more Malawians. But all poor people aspire to become richer; if they succeed, their numbers will matter immensely.

That is why Population Matters campaigns to stabilise the UK's as well as the global population, effecting a culture shift in favour of smaller families here, while massively increasing the priority and resources for family planning and women's empowerment programmes in developing countries, enabling the 215 million women with an unmet need for contraception to control their own fertility.

Perhaps we can feed 9.3 billion people in 39 years' time – I don't know. We're barely feeding seven billion now. But Norman Borlaug, accepting his Nobel peace prize in 1970 for his "green revolution", said: "I have only bought you a 40-year breathing space to stabilise your populations."

On a finite planet, the optimum population providing the best quality of life for all, is clearly much smaller than the maximum, permitting bare survival. The more we are, the less for each; fewer people mean better lives.

* * * * *

Thanks to Roger for permission to use this piece.

For further reading see:

The No-Nonsense Guide to World Population by Vanessa Baird

Peoplequake: Mass Migration, Ageing Nations and the Coming Population Crash by Fred Pearce

Click here to read a review of Fred Pearce’s book.

The Swarthmore Lecture 2011

2011-10-13T17:27:00.000+01:00

The title of this year's Swarthmore Lecture, and of the (much longer) accompanying book, is Costing Not Less Than Everything: sustainability and spirituality in challenging times

The book is available from Quaker Books (link by clicking book cover image, top right); what follows below is the text of the spoken lecture, as given on Monday 1 August at Yearly Meeting Gathering, Canterbury. This text is also available as a free downloadable PDF.

* * * * *

My title for this lecture as well as for the book that accompanies it is Costing not less than everything: sustainability and spirituality in challenging times. During this lecture I’ll follow the shape of the chapters in the book: Only one Earth; What kind of community? What does a good life look like? How long is “sustainable”? We are all crew; The time is now.

So I start with that fundamental truth , that we have only one Earth.

(Image: NASA 1968)

This image from the 1968 Apollo 8 moon mission shows a gibbous Earth hanging low in the sky above a barren moon surface It’s known as Earthrise. In 1980 the astronomer Carl Sagan gave it the caption: ‘The home planet of an emerging technical civilization struggling to avoid self-destruction.’

This was the first of the famous photographs of Earth from space but arguably the most influential image to come out of the whole American space program was the one sent back by Apollo 17 four years later.

(Image: NASA 1972)

This image shows the whole disc of Earth, with the oceans either side of the African continent, and a swirl of white cloud above. It’s known as the ‘Blue Marble’ and came to be the most widely reproduced image in all history. It was used by environmental campaigning groups, by commercial organisations, in advertisements, on book covers and on stickers, postcards, and more. This view of the world alone in the blackness of space touched something deep in many, many people.

The photograph was widely sold as a postcard with a one-word caption, ‘Home’; and on another one with the words, ‘Love Your Mother’.

The power of such an image, the idea that it would foster if it ever became available, had been predicted as far back as 1950. That idea was, in essence, about the unity of Earth and of life on Earth. Blue Marble’ was the most used but it was the Earthrise image, the first one we ever saw,that Al Gore credited with starting the whole modern environmental movement. It’s estimated that about two billion people (a bit more than half the population of the world at that time) watched the live TV transmissions of that first moon shot on Christmas Eve 1968. And the sequence of events that followed bear out Al Gore’s suggestion: Friends of the Earth was founded in 1969; the first ‘Earth Day’ in the USA was in 1970; Greenpeace was founded in 1971; along with many other less well-known initiatives all around the world.

The decade-long Apollo programme was the largest and most expensive undertaking in the whole of human history that wasn’t about waging war. Looking back now, the lessons and emotions of that time flow into our current concerns about climate change and other environmental threats that have magnified since then.

Recalling what was stirred in many people including those professed as non-religious we need to take with utter seriousness the place of theology religion and spirituality as necessary to our human response to the challenges now facing us. People of faith, of all faiths, have a crucial role to play.

Our sense of the oneness of Earth can now be reinforced by developments that have occurred in the time since those space missions, in another area of science altogether: genetics. The study of something called mitochondrial DNA shows that the genetic heritage of humanity retains only one female lineage surviving from our earliest ancestors to us now.

There is only one Earth, and only one family; we are indeed all cousins. And we might look to cultures other than our own, where family relationships are reckoned differently, and where relations whom we call ‘cousins’ would be viewed as brothers and sisters. We are all truly one family, we are all truly brothers and sisters, not only ideologically or spiritually but also biologically; in our flesh and in our bones we are family.

Of course further back than humanity we’re kin to all life on Earth through the process of evolution. It really is the case that there is a tree of life; one tree, not a forest. We’re deeply connected to the whole chain of living beings even down to the level of our biochemistry.

As Friends we would perhaps look first to our spirituality as a response to the majestic scale of what confronts us, but we shouldn’t underestimate the place of theology in creating frameworks of meaning and purpose that can inspire and move us to action. A significant consequence of a theistic religion is the sense of human dependence: we didn’t make this Earth, we don’t sustain it, we don’t own it.

So this brings us to the issue of community. What we somehow have to rediscover, we as the whole human community, is that the Earth is not ours to dispose of as we wish. Even if people can’t subscribe to a belief that ‘the Earth is the Lord’s’ there are other ways of seeing that we’re not the owners. We’re merely tenants passing through, with the responsibility of a full repairing lease on the premises and borrowing everything we use. We’re the current stewards of the Earth and we urgently, very urgently, need to start being good stewards.

There’s a saying that we don’t inherit the Earth from our ancestors but rather we borrow it from our children, and their children’s children. We’re currently borrowing more than can we can pay back, and it’s not only about our carbon emissions. ‘Earth Overshoot Day’ is the point in the year when we’ve used up as much of the Earth’s total resources as the Earth itself can regenerate in a year. Since the late 1980s We’ve been going into eco-deficit each year progressively degrading the whole environment, with the overshoot day arriving a little earlier each year.

In 2010 the moment of overshoot was estimated to be on 21 August. The final calculations for 2011 aren’t yet available* but it looks as though it might be a little later this year, a tiny shred of hope generated by the global economic downturn and reinforcing what we know: that the fundamental problem is our ever-increasing consumption.

The sense of one vast human community (6.7 billion now compared with about 4 billion during the Apollo missions) may act as a focal point or motivator for some people but for most of us our actual sense of community is much closer to home. As the effects of climate change and peak oil start to impact significantly on our own, local, lives we’ll need to rely much more on our immediate community. And indeed starting to do that now, before we’re forced to, is one of the ways of reducing carbon emissions caused by the transportation of both goods and people. It also gets us used to new ways of doing things. It’s good practice.

For an increasing number of people there’s a deep sense of recognition that a ‘good life’ ‘good’ in material, ethical and spiritual ways is very far removed from the average western lifestyle and, fundamentally, that such a life has some kind of community at its core. Such a community, enabling real belonging, has to be based on reserves of trust, mutuality and unselfishness; trust that one isn’t alone, trust that there are others who’ll help to make life possible. In our individualised materialistic Western lives those are qualities fast fading from the norms of everyday life.

One thing we do know is that creating and living in community isn’t easy. For instance in The Rule of St Benedict Chapter 70 is titled, ‘That no one presume to strike another unlawfully’. It’s always instructive to note what’s forbidden by any institution, whether religious or secular. The fact that someone has taken the trouble to forbid something is a sure sign that it’s happening and perhaps often!

Of course ‘community’ isn’t limited to intentional residential community. In the religious context there’s a long history of the local church congregation being ‘community’ for its members in many ways including, at its best, spiritual nurture, practical help, human fellowship and common purpose. And for much of Quaker history this has been a significant dimension to the life and organisation of the Society of Friends. Indeed in Quaker Faith and Practice Chapter 10 is titled, ‘Belonging to a Quaker Meeting’ and its first sub-heading is ‘Our Community’, a section containing 20 extracts.

The fact that the next sub-heading is ‘Conflict within the Meeting’ tells us something else important about community, as does the fact that this section has only four entries: it’s not a matter that we find easy to deal with. This isn’t so much about a need for ‘conflict resolution’ as about finding together the deep grounding of our commonality, something deeper than mere ‘agreement’.

In many of our local Quaker meetings today there’s concern about the ‘meeting as community’ and how that sense may be fostered. Newcomers among us often speak of finding Friends as a kind of ‘coming home’ and it’s vital that we foster our capacity to welcome and include those who seek us out, as well as finding ways to make ourselves more accessible to those who might have assumed that our way isn’t for them. But one of the dilemmas about being welcoming to newcomers, and about ‘being community’ for and with each other in our local meetings, is finding the right balance between separateness and togetherness. Quakers as a group, for many reasons, have a higher proportion of introverts than is the case in the surrounding society. So a particular challenge for us, and perhaps therefore a gift we may be able to offer to others, is how to create community that works for introverts.

As Friends we may find that the fruits of our explorations into creating and sustaining community in our meetings can become a resource for others in our local areas, as we discover together how to move towards a lower-carbon way of living. Some of our Quaker processes and practices are so familiar to us, so taken-for-granted, that we can forget how precious, powerful and significant they are. If we’re true to our Quaker principles and practices, true to our leadings, and to what we’re capable of being at our best, then we have a gift that we can offer to the wider world in this era of growing need.

While there are some Friends involved in creating forms of intentional community, living together in some form of shared housing, for the vast majority of us our community will be forged from the locality where we happen to find ourselves living. And community does have to be created – it doesn’t just happen by virtue of living in close proximity with one another. Much of Transition Town activity, for instance, while being stimulated by the challenges of peak oil, climate change and energy descent, is actually directed to the re-creation of local community in terms of both practical activities together and enhanced relationships. And, of course, it’s often the case that undertaking a significant task together is a deeply effective way of building community relationships.

We also need to start thinking about what kind of national community we want to be here in Britain. The current best estimates of how a warming climate will affect these islands suggest that we’ll fare relatively well compared to many other parts of the world. We’ll be neither drowned nor drought-stricken. This will make us, along with some other particular places, one of the attractive destinations for the slow but inexorable stream of climate refugees from all over the globe; we’ll become one of the ‘lifeboats’. But we’re already a crowded island. If we had to be self-sufficient because of disrupted international trade we don’t have enough land and fishing grounds to feed our present population, let alone a vastly increased one. Friends have a history of concern for refugees and asylum-seekers. That concern, projected forwards, implies that we should start now to prepare a response to the popular and political voices that will certainly be raised in antagonism to the needs of those beyond our shores.

This will be a very difficult dilemma. Do we turn people away in order to preserve the life and health of those already here? Or do we take people in and, if the latter, how do we feed a growing population on a small land-mass? If we take in some people but not all, how do we make those decisions? While these problems aren’t yet pressing upon us, we need to start now, in this relatively peaceful and non-urgent time, to think long-term about this aspect of our future. As Friends we need to have confidence in our history on these matters in our ability to influence and to ‘speak truth to power’.

Considering the aspirations of any form of intentional community, or enhanced local neighbourhood, can tell us something about our dreams for the kind of life we’d like to be living: what does a ‘good life’ look like?

Our cultural roots offer many prescriptions for what the ‘good life’ might consist of and some of them resonate with current ecological concerns. Some three and a half thousand years ago, for instance, Moses gave the Israelites what we now call the Ten Commandments. In our 21st century times of environmental awareness, not ‘coveting our neighbour’s goods’ takes on a modern twist as a commandment against consumerism. Our Quaker testimony to simplicity can lull us into thinking that we know all about this but, living in a rich country, our calibration of what ‘simple’ consists of is a very, very long way from the global average. If we’re to be truthful in our witness to simplicity we have a long way to go.

We’ve become accustomed to thinking about ‘peak oil’ and our ‘carbon footprints’ but these are only a beginning. Our next focus should be on ‘peak water’ and our ‘water footprints’. Beyond water, ‘peak wood’, ‘peak food’, ‘peak phosphate’ and ‘peak soil’ all require our attention. Reduced availability of fossil fuels, water and good land all impact on food production. ‘Food insecurity’ is something we’ll be hearing about with greater frequency and urgency.

The concept of eco-justice hasn’t yet made its way into the mainstream public conversation about the environment and Friends may need to consider how our voice should be raised on that concern. Every reduction or saving of resources that we undertake here is an act of solidarity with the poorest people in the developing world, whose lives are already being worsened by climate impacts. The dimension of what we might term ‘generational justice’ has barely been heard yet. This is a theme I’ll return to later, but suffice it to say here that those of us born in the industrialised world in the middle portion of the twentieth century have, as a generational and geographical cohort, lived with more than our fair share of even the rich world’s resources.

There are other areas where Friends have a track-record of concern and action from which we could bring time-honoured concepts to bear upon the current environmental situation. For instance, arising out of our long-standing concern and work in the field of criminal justice can we bring models of restorative justice into the climate debate? In this case the ‘victims’ are both the environment itself and poor people in the parts of the world already most devastated by the effects of climate change. The tragedy currently unfolding in the Horn of Africa is a warning on many levels: climate, politics (both local and global), economics and armed conflict. What might restorative climate justice look like on a global scale?

Another example would be Responsibility to Protect (known as ‘R2P’) which was discussed by Paul Lacey in the 2010 Swarthmore Lecture. R2P currently focuses on preventing and halting four crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. Building on our history of support for and work with the United Nations we might initiate a movement to add to this list, crimes against the environment.

The changes required of all of us, the demands that will be made on humanity over the next 30 to 50 years, are enormous. A few people and communities have started to grasp the magnitude of this but collectively, as nations, as political entities, we haven’t even taken the first step. Beyond recycling, beyond changing our light bulbs, beyond ‘doing our bit’, lies the biggest challenge of humanity’s entire history. This isn’t about guilt and isn’t a matter for self-laceration. It requires intelligence, imagination, and cooperation from everyone.

For those of us starting from a faith commitment it requires re-orientation to the inward springs that nourish outer action. For Friends specifically we must revitalise what ‘testimony’ really means: a powerful outflowing from the depths of our spiritual experience, because we are impelled, because we can do no other.

How do we become the change we want to see? How do we motivate ourselves and others to do what we know is needed? How do we as a community of Friends, as a religious body become beacons, ‘patterns and examples’? Alongside members of other religious groups we have deeply held views about the nature of human beings. We also believe that the best can be elicited from people given love and the right circumstances. We need to be more bold in our beliefs in the face of what can often seem to be an indifferent and cynical world. If our ‘good life’ flows out of our love of life, our compassion, our joy, then it will also touch others. If we love the Earth, we reduce our consumption and our waste because it’s truly a joyful thing to do and not a grim, guilty necessity. A good life can’t be for ourselves alone but flows out of a love that embraces the whole of life on Earth past, present and imagined future.

Which brings us of course to ‘sustainability’. How long is “sustainable”?

Cosmologist Brian Swimme said this,

It’s really simple. Here’s the whole story in one line. This is the greatest discovery of the scientific enterprise: You take hydrogen gas and you leave it alone and it turns into rosebushes giraffes and humans.

The point is that you leave it alone for a very, very, very long time. We have great difficulty imagining even much shorter time-spans than this. If the human habitation on this Earth is to become sustainable in reality we have to use our imaginations and expand our time horizons. We have to believe, really believe, that the far distant future will be real, and act in such a way that it will remain broadly bio-friendly (and not just deceptively people-friendly in the short term).

Some years ago, as the millennium approached, there was a public consultation in Britain to discover what people felt would be appropriate commemorative projects, and there was an overwhelming surge of public support for tree planting. To plant a tree is to believe in a future, maybe 100, maybe 1000 years hence. To plant a tree is to be hopeful, not in the sense of casual optimism but hope as an act of will, a choice to take a certain attitude to the future. And trees can tell us something about that vexed term ‘sustainability’. It’s an abstract word, difficult to get a grip on in ways that make it mean something real to us. But it’s actually quite simple: if we all carry on doing what we’re doing now, forever, will that work? Of course it won’t, but to make ‘forever’ real to us we need to enlarge our sense of time and trees help us to begin to do that. The oldest trees we know of are more than 3000 years old; they date back to the Iron Age. We need such images to help us comprehend these long timescales, because tangible images of the long past may help us imagine a long future.

And as we take that long look into the future we start of course from where we are now, a physical and social world that has already been deeply shaped by the forces of industrialisation, mechanisation, mass production and consumption; but also a social world in which the real costs of this are only now becoming truly understood. Early Friends believed they were living in the ‘end times’, that the Second Coming would occur in their lifetimes and so everything about how to live, about choices and priorities, was shaped by this. As time went by and it became clear that this wasn’t happening there began a slow adaptation to living in the ‘meantime’. As an old cartoon has it: ‘The end is not near you must learn to cope!’

The present environmental crisis is often portrayed in apocalyptic terms: is humanity facing another kind of ‘end time’? What kind of spiritual response is required of us? I think we need a combination of ‘now’ and ‘forever’, like the old country saying, ‘Live your life as if you’ll die tomorrow; farm your land as if you’ll live forever.’

The greatest barrier to making effective change in our behaviour towards a more sustainable way of living is the hugely powerful force of habit, the extraordinary proportion of our lives that are run by our ‘autopilot’. Buddhism teaches that our habitual way of existing is like being ‘asleep’ and we need to ‘wake up’. The way to do this is the practice of mindfulness, together with the cultivation of compassion. If you seek to practise mindfulness or awareness, then everything every action, every moment, every situation may be regarded as an occasion of practice.

Given that our governments aren’t taking sufficient action sufficiently quickly on climate change, and given a worsening global economic environment, we’re all going to face failures of our infrastructure and interruptions to our normal supplies of energy, food, goods and services. So when temporary glitches cause this to happen now, treat it as practice – that’s in the usual sense of a rehearsal (get used to the idea, get used to handling it and being resourceful), and as a personal mental discipline leading to equanimity in the face of irritations or worse. Treat everything as practice. For all the changes ahead of us we need to be prepared, we need to be practised and the practice we need is spiritual, psychological, emotional and very, very practical.

Marshall McLuhan is reported to have said, “There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We’re all crew.” In the current environmental crisis, and I don’t say ‘coming crisis’ because it’s already with us, there’s no space for passengers; we all have to take responsibility. And if we’re all crew, then we all need to be well-informed and ‘trained’; just as, among unprogrammed Friends, our commitment to the priesthood of all believers means that we each have to offer gifts, talents, ministry in many forms, leadership and seriousness of purpose.

So what’s needed to turn ‘passengers’ into ‘crew’? There’s substantial field of research into human behaviour in emergencies that goes under the name of ‘bystander intervention’ or ‘bystander apathy’. If I’m a bystander to some emergency event, I have to make a series of decisions about whether or not I’ll step forward to intervene. First, I have to notice that something is happening and then interpret it as needing intervention. I have to decide if I feel I have a responsibility to act; if so what form should that take – should I try to help directly or call the emergency services?

This research applies to perceived emergencies and although the current environmental crisis actually is an emergency, it’s what one writer calls a ‘long emergency’, which makes it hard for most people to perceive it as such. But let’s bring this field of research specifically to the subject of climate change and apply the five steps in the ‘bystander’ process:

- notice that climate change is a problem

- interpret this as a situation in which something needs doing

- assume personal responsibility for doing something

- choose what to do

- implement that

It’s clear that climate change is a problem – it’s already been noticed! And it’s clear that something must be done. These are the easy steps. The critical third step is that we, each and all of us, take responsibility for doing something. There are many, many reasons for not doing something, whereas the one valid reason for doing something is that it’s the right thing to do. And one of the common factors found among the bystanders who intervened, who assumed responsibility in the situation they found themselves in, was a strong belief that what you do or fail to do does actually make a difference. It matters what choices we make.

Perhaps even more pointed in our current situation is James Hansen’s advice. Hansen, a senior scientist in NASA, was the person who first said that the ice caps would respond quickly to global warming and he was right. His stark message in his most recent book may be summed up as this: the situation is worse than we’re being told; your governments are lying to you; nothing is being done; you can’t compromise with nature and the laws of physics; consequently, it’s up to you – civil resistance may be the only way forward.

If it’s ‘up to us’ what might this mean in practice? To start with it’s all those things we already know about but may not yet have fully implemented in our own lives: insulate our houses; use less gas and electricity; reduce our travelling; change our means of travel; eat less meat (or none at all); reduce all consumption and waste; re-use, repair and recycle everything we can; shop less and shop local; reduce food miles; grow your own; compost food waste; buy without packaging; cook fresh food from scratch instead of buying processed food . . . and so on, and so on, and so on.

Many of us are already doing some of this, some of the time. We all need to do all of it all of the time consistently and reliably, forever. These are all decisions we can make individually or by household. Beyond that, things start to get a bit more difficult. Beyond our private lives, how about tackling the carbon emissions of the places where we work? This might involve us in difficult conversations with management; if we are ‘the management’ then it might involve us in difficult conversations with trustees or shareholders; if we are the trustees or shareholders then it’s time we faced the fact that increased costs or reduced profits in the short term are not an argument for doing nothing.

And then there’s our local area, the place where we live and the local government structures there. Have we got Transition Town activity already happening? If so, are we involved? If not, can we help to start it? Would it help to think of ourselves as ‘Transition Quakers’ or ‘Transition Friends’? Do we know what our local councillors are doing, or not doing, about sustainability? Might a few more of us be called to take our Quaker values into the public, political arena and stand for election? What about our constituency MPs? We can start holding public figures to account. We can do all of this before we get anywhere near James Hansen’s advised position of ‘civil resistance’ – though we might find ourselves called to that at some point.

These are all the basic minimal things that every responsible citizen needs to do, whether or not they have any religious underpinning. For those of us who profess a faith how can we countenance doing less? Some scientists are saying that it’s already too late to stop runaway climate change. Others are saying that we still have a small and rapidly narrowing window in which to act. Either way how we choose to live together will be crucial.

The critical stage in the process of becoming a ‘bystander who intervenes’ (turning ‘passenger’ into ‘crew’) is the step of ‘taking responsibility’. What can help and enable that? So now we come to the implications of all this for us as Friends. The time is now.

I’ve already mentioned a number of campaigns and movements to which we might appropriately lend our voice and energy, but I have in mind something more fundamental than that. ‘Action’ in our Quaker context is ‘testimony’, faith in action, witness in the world, Spirit-led ways of living because we can do no other. The point is to ‘bring in the Kingdom’ (or ‘the republic of heaven’), to engage in tikkun olam, a Hebrew phrase meaning ‘repairing the world’.

For me the central and underlying question for us as Quakers is this: are we content to be merely a support group for people on their individual spiritual journeys or are we able to rediscover a solidarity as a people of God? The latter would of course include elements of the former, but would be something much larger and deeper, much more demanding, much more daunting and challenging, much more exciting and far-reaching. I believe we’re called at this time to rediscover what this would mean and I offer three pointers: spiritual discipline, community and action.

First, the rediscovery of the importance of spiritual discipline (or maybe discovery for the first time). This matters both for its own sake (for God’s sake) and as preparation for the times ahead of us. The point of a spiritual discipline lies in what the Buddhists call it: practice. It’s practice in the same sense as playing your scales and doing your five-finger exercises if you’re a pianist. It’s not exciting, mostly it’s not interesting but you do it regularly and faithfully because without it you can’t do what you deeply and truly desire to do. Spiritual discipline is five-finger exercises for the soul. It trains the mind and heart, the psyche and the emotions, so that when the going is tough, when the ordinary comforts aren’t available, when the demands on us seem to be greater than our capacity, we have something that we discover we can rely upon. We can’t start to create this resilience when things are already difficult any more than we could run a marathon tomorrow morning if we only started training this afternoon.

What distinguishes any practice as a ‘spiritual discipline’ is that it takes a particular aspect of your life and turns it constantly towards the Spirit. There are many forms of such discipline: traditional prayer and reflective reading of the bible or other texts; mindfulness meditation; various body-disciplines such as yoga, Tai Chi or Chi Gong; journal-writing, painting or other art work; walking, gardening or various types of handwork undertaken mindfully; and many others. It can also be faithfully visiting an elderly neighbour or undertaking some other form of practical service.

Turning any of these activities into a spiritual discipline involves first intention – that we approach them with that purpose and desire; second mindfulness – that we actively seek to sustain a focussed and calm awareness of the present moment and turn away from distractions and scattered thoughts; third that we practise regularly so the habit of mindfulness will grow and start to spread out into more and more of our daily life. All such practices remove our individual egos from the centre of the stage. Similarly, we – humanity – need to find ways of moving our collective ego out of the way.

In addition to the three characteristics – intention, mindfulness, regular practice – there are three helpful attitudes for establishing a life-giving spiritual discipline. The first is a version of “pray as you can, not as you can’t” – don’t try to do something you think you ‘ought’ to do if it means setting yourself up to fail. This shouldn’t be like taking out gym membership on 2 January and then giving up by the end of the month! Second, find something that works for your temperament abilities and daily pattern of life: be realistic. Lastly, consider finding a Spiritual Friend, a ‘prayer buddy’, a companion for your journey, so you can encourage and uphold each other.

Undertaken faithfully and sustained over time such practices attune our inner ear to the promptings of the Spirit so that when we’re called, when our service is required, we will first of all hear the call and secondly will have the capacity to respond. This is all true for each of us as individuals. It’s also the case for us as local communities of Friends and as a national or world Quaker community.

Which brings me to my second pointer: are we, and in what ways, willing to ‘be community’ with and for each other? Being community means being willing to be accountable to each other in ways that early Friends were, and in ways that we find much more challenging in our 21st century individualistic culture. Being community, being accountable, means relinquishing some of our individual freedoms and the benefits to be gained from that can’t become apparent to us until after we’ve taken that step.

And so to my third pointer, action. “Only a demanding common task builds community” says George Mcleod, founder of the Iona Community. The ‘demanding task’ facing the whole of humanity is quite clear even though our political leaders have repeatedly ducked it. But what specifically might be our task as Quakers? Here is one possibility.

We know that it’s imperative for both individuals and institutions to reduce their carbon emissions, and that this isn’t a one-off operation but a progressive year-on-year-on-year reduction. Groups of people who work together to achieve this are known as low carbon communities. In most cases a low carbon community is a geographical group, perhaps a village, a street, a school or other institution, a business or other similar grouping. But let’s consider the possibility of a dispersed low carbon community. Of course, I have in mind Britain Yearly Meeting. What would it mean for Quakers in Britain to be truly a low carbon community?

It would require a number of steps to be taken: that each of us as individual members of the Yearly Meeting commit ourselves honestly and practically to reducing our own carbon emissions progressively, by an agreed amount, year on year on year (the 10:10 campaign would make that ten per cent – challenging but achievable); that each of our meetings and meeting houses does the same; that our gathering together for area meetings or other functions be held in a manner that reduces the carbon emissions of all that travelling; that Woodbrooke and Friends House, along with all the other Quaker-owned or Quaker-run organisations around the country also succeed in this reduction; and that we find low carbon methods of holding Yearly Meeting and Meeting for Sufferings.

This would require from us both commitment and discipline. Our commitment would have to be not only to carbon reduction but also to the corporate witness of Quakers in Britain. The discipline required would encompass our carbon-related behaviour as well as the mutual accountability of being part of a larger corporate body.

Friends have been most influential and effective in our witness when tested by external circumstances, when the world presents dilemmas that require the best of Quaker spiritual discipline, both individual and corporate. In Britain this was particularly manifest in the two world wars. Friends had a clear issue to confront, it required steadfastness and faithfulness to do so, and the public stance taken drew many people to seek out Friends for succour, spiritual nurture and practical support. For the generations alive now climate change is the testing issue of our times.

So this is potentially a moment in history when Quakers are needed: needed to be faithful to Quaker testimonies; needed to be visible, to be speaking out, to be offering leadership; needed to ‘do the right thing’ in the face of external pressing circumstances. To accomplish this we have to deepen our spiritual grounding, alone and together, not solely for inward exploration but for the future of human society. A further challenge will be to find the corporate will, the rediscovery of a depth of corporate discipline, to undertake this together wholly and fully, and not just as a matter of some individuals’ personal choices.

But if we as Friends were to find our way truly to ‘be the change’, we would contribute to the necessary decarbonising of British society, we would offer a beacon of leadership to others lacking a community context and we would strengthen, deepen and revitalise the life of our Religious Society. Are we ready to undertake this? We are the people alive now, we are the people who know about the problem, who else do we imagine is going to do what needs to be done? We need a consciousness and a spirituality that creates in us joy, gratitude, determination, courage and humility. And we can’t do this without spiritual practices and ways of living that will sustain and nourish us over the very long haul.

First we need to strengthen or remake the depth of our connectedness with the rest of creation, with the whole web of life. Remaking this heart-connection won’t be without emotional cost. We may find ourselves needing to grieve the loss of species and habitats, the impoverishment of our environment and our inability to save everything.

The second thing we need to do to is to rebuild community, within our Meetings, within each of our local neighbourhoods and by integrating our Meetings more deeply and broadly within the geographic communities where they happen to be located. Building a community requires us all to participate, all to take responsibility. It’s another version of us all being ‘crew’. Community isn’t something that other people create so that I, you, we can then become parasitical on it and reap the benefits. Community only happens when everyone takes part in creating it. If we want our local Quaker meetings to be more vibrant places then none of us can be a passenger. This view of ‘community’ fits so well with our ways of organising ourselves as a religious society, with no ‘separated ministry’, that we might hope we’d be ‘naturally’ good at this. But we need to practise, we need to get good at it, we need to make it habitual and we need to make it a vital part of our personal and corporate spirituality.

The third change we have to make is to find new ways of framing the issues, to reclaim as well as declaim a radical vision for the future. Here’s one example of what I mean: in the film The Age of Stupid, about climate change, there’s a short animation sequence that illustrates the idea of ‘contraction and convergence’ – a dreadful abstract phrase that will never inspire anyone. The animation starts by showing the current global distribution of per capita carbon emissions represented as differently sized people: the USA is huge, Europe quite a lot smaller, China smaller still; India is very small and Africa is tiny.

The characters then walk forwards along the timeline, the smallest growing a little, the largest shrinking a lot until, at the year 2035, all the characters reach the same size; and then as they walk forwards to 2065 they all shrink at the same rate. This is a powerful image, not only of carbon reduction but also of global equity, of eco-justice. Let’s reclaim a powerful political word for this: levelling. The Diggers (often referred to as the ‘true levellers’) were the group with this genuinely radical vision. They were part of the same seventeenth century cauldron of religious and political ferment as gave rise to Quakerism and their leader, Gerrard Winstanley, was among London Quakers at certain times of his life. ‘Levelling’ is the Quaker testimony to equality given a political edge.

And fourthly we need to act. The particular action appropriate for each of us will vary with our circumstances and one of the significant circumstances for any of us is our life-stage.

To my own cohort, often tagged the ‘post-war baby-boom generation’, I want to say this: by accident of birth our generation has, in many ways, been given the best of what the modern world had to offer and subsequent generations won’t have many of those benefits. As we stand at perhaps the summit of our working lives we stand simultaneously at the summit of industrialised society as we’ve known it. We benefited hugely from the massive industrial expansion that characterised the second half of the twentieth century and now we’re beginning to know what that has cost the planet. Even if we escape the worst effects ourselves, our children and our grandchildren will not. So what are we going to do with our active years beyond paid employment? There’s a lot of us, we changed the face of politics when we were young, we could do so again. I believe that we owe a debt of gratitude and have a responsibility to do what we can, not only as individuals but also collectively.

To young people, just embarking on the steps into adult life, I want to say this: as you look at the options ahead of you, in terms of education, life skills and future work, consider what will be the truly essential skills in the future that you’ll need in the changed world that’s coming. If you plan to go to university either study something practical, such as engineering, medicine or agriculture; or, if you want to study for pleasure, enrichment and interest, start preparing now to acquire additional skills which will be the ones you’ll need to support yourself and contribute to the life of your community whatever that is. Everyone needs to learn how to grow food, how make, mend and fix things. Between us, as extended families, networks of friends and local groups and communities, we need to take back the hand-skills that the modern world has ‘outsourced’ to mass production on the other side of the world. Also take care to develop your ‘soft skills’ – facilitation, leadership, conflict-handling, and learning how to build community around you, wherever you are in your life.

To older people, perhaps feeling that you’re starting to move beyond an exterior active life, remember that you have skills and knowledge that urgently need to be passed on to subsequent generations. Consider how you may be able to ensure that your experience does not die with you.

And to everyone else, the large adult group that sits between these ‘bookend’ life stages: start now to acquire these new skills and attitudes for yourselves and help ensure that your children and grandchildren realise how essential and significant they are. This applies equally of course to those of us who don’t have our own biological children and grandchildren. Just as we’re all ‘crew’, we’re all the ‘parents’ and ‘grandparents’ of humanity’s next generations. We’re all the ancestors of tomorrow.

(Image: NASA 1990)

This picture, known as the Pale Blue Dot, was taken in 1990 by the spacecraft Voyager 1. As it was about to leave the Solar System for ever, its camera was turned around to take this picture of Earth across a vast expanse of space, roughly 4 billion miles. The image, reconstructed electronically from pixels, shows a tiny distant speck, in a black space streaked by faintly coloured bands. These are rays of light from the sun.

Carl Sagan said of this image:

"Look again at that dot. That’s here, that’s home, that’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering [. . .] on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam [. . .] There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world."

This is it, this is home, this is Earth, and it’s the only one we have. Looking again the ‘Blue Marble’, the whole disc of the Earth, we know that one-planet living isn’t just a nice campaigning slogan. We either achieve one-planet living or we all perish.

And this isn’t only about the choices that each individual ‘I’ must make. It’s also about us as the gathered body of Quakers, as the Religious Society of Friends in Britain and around the world.

It’s also about us as a people of God, as a people of faith alongside all other peoples of faith.

It’s also about us as the human community, all of us together, all of us part of the community of all living beings here on Earth.

* The information has since been published.

Permissions

Carl Saga quoted with permission of the Estate of Carl Sagan.

Sources for the spoken lecture

Robin Dunbar, The Human Story (London: Faber and Faber, 2005)

James Hansen, Storms of My Grandchildren: the truth about the coming climate catastrophe and our last chance to save humanity (London: Bloomsbury, 2009)

James Howard Kunstler, The Long Emergency: surviving the converging catastrophes of the twenty-first century (London: Atlantic, 2005)

Paul Lacey, The Unequal World We Inhabit: Quaker responses to terrorism and fundamentalism (Swarthmore Lecture 2010) (London: Quaker Books, 2010)

Robert Poole, Earthrise: how man first saw the Earth (London: Yale University Press, 2008)

Quaker faith and practice: The book of Christian Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain (London: The Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, 1995

Alice Roberts, The Incredible Human Journey (London: Bloomsbury, 2009)

Carl Sagan, Cosmos (London: Macdonald Futura Publishers, 1980)

Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: a vision of the human future in space (New York: Random House, 1994)

The Rule of St. Benedict (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2007)

http://www.1010global.org/uk

http://www.brianswimme.org/

http://www.globalfootprint.org/

http://www.waterfootprint.org/

The Age of Stupid, DVD, 2009; http://www.spannerfilms.net/films/ageofstupid

Spiritual Practices for Times of Crisis

2011-10-06T13:34:00.000+01:00

This article is by Joanna Macy. It was sent to me in a recent email, and I reproduce it here because of its relevance to the purpose of this blog. Apologies if I've inadvertently breached copyright.

* * * * *

At this turning in humanity's journey, science and spirituality converge, and we can glimpse new possibilities for a life-sustaining civilization. But the going is rough. One mega-disaster follows another. Economic, political, and ecological systems spin out of control, in what David Korten aptly calls the "Great Unraveling."

As the rug is progressively pulled out from under us, it is easy to panic, and even easier to simply shut down. These two instinctive reactions — panic and paralysis — are the roadside ditches that border our pathway to a livable future. To fall into either one is the greatest of all the dangers we face, for they deaden the heart and derail the mind. If ever we needed spiritual practices and disciplines for staying alert and connected, it is now.

The greatest gift we can give our world is our presence, awake and attentive. What can help us do that? Here, drawn from ancient religions and Earth wisdom traditions, are a handful of practices I have learned to count on.

1. Breathe
Our friend the breath is always with us. When we pay attention to its flow, it merges mind with body, and connects inner world with outer world. Mindfulness of breathing in and breathing out can center and steady you.

"Feel how your breathing makes more space around you," writes the poet Rilke.

"Pure, continuous exchange with all that is, flow and counterflow where rhythmically we come to be." Notice that you are not deciding each time to exhale or inhale; it's rather that you're being breathed. Breathed by life. And so are all the other animals, and plants too, in vast rhythms of reciprocity. Feel that web enlivening you and holding you.

The felt flow-through of matter/energy brings a measure of ease, and opens us to the flow-through of information as well. This lowers our usual defenses against distressing information, and begins to unblock the feedback loops, so we can more clearly perceive what we've caused to happen.

2. Come from Gratitude
As burning rain forests and dying plankton progressively diminish our oxygen supply, each breath seems more precious. Thankfulness for that precious gift galvanizes us to act, to protect.

With gratitude we affirm our birthright to be here in Earth, endowed with self-reflexive consciousness, the power to choose. To be here in solidarity with each other. To be a living, intrinsic, blessed part of this living Earth.

We have excellent teachers of gratitude in indigenous peoples the world over, and especially Native Americans. In every council meeting of the Six Nation confederacy of the Haudenosaunee, the thanksgiving address constitutes "the words that come before all else." Spoken afresh each time with spontaneous variations, these words offer not only "thanks," but also "greetings" to each being and element of the natural world they honor. I think this practice is at the root of the dignity and self-respect that has survived centuries of dispossession and humiliation.

As we adapt this practice to our own lives, say at the start and close of each day, and even bring into meetings, we make two discoveries. The first is that gratitude is not dependent on external circumstances. The second is that gratitude is a revolutionary act. Helping us realize how much we already have, it helps to free us from the grip of the consumer society.

3. Respect your Pain for the World
We are in grief. With all that's being inflicted on the natural world and the social fabric of our lives together, there's fear too, anger as well. These responses are natural and healthy. If we disown them, we cripple our vitality and intelligence.

So we bow to them instead. When pain for the world arises within you, recognize it and pause. Pause and breathe, as if making room for it, as if letting that pain flow through your heart. Realize that you are capable of suffering with your world. Suffering-with is the literal meaning of compassion. It is proof positive of our interconnectedness, indeed of our inescapable inter-existence.

"There is no birth of consciousness without pain" said Carl Gustav Jung. Our pain for the world releases us from the illusion of separation. It has a key role to play in birthing the collective consciousness that may well be the only resolution to the global crisis of our time.

4. Engage the Power of Benevolence
Metta or loving kindness is a Buddhist meditation-in-action that many today are finding wonderfully efficacious. It is good for dispelling fear and ill-will, as well as generating care and understanding.

This practice functions not as a vague, diaphanous feeling, but as a series of fairly precise person-by-person intentions. One traditional Burmese practice, for example, takes a four-fold form such as this:

- May (a specific person) be free from physical suffering.
- May he/she be free from mental suffering.
- May he/she be free from conflict.
- May he/she have ease of well-being.

It's important to extend this to oneself as well ("May I be free from mental suffering" etc). Variations are encouraged ("May he/she be free to develop the beauty of his/her mind.") This practice, when in play, cannot co-exist with fear.

5. Inhabit Larger Fields of Time
We are relating to time today in a way that is surely unique in human history. The growth economy and nano-technologies require decisions made at lightning speed for short-term goals, cutting us off from nature's rhythms and from the past and future as well. Both the legacy of our ancestors and the needs of our descendants become less and less real to us.

This relation to time is not innate. Throughout history men and women have labored at great personal cost to bequeath to future generations monuments of art and learning they'd not see completed in their lifetimes. And they honored through story and ritual those who came before.

We, too, can broaden the temporal context of our lives. To help us do that, cosmology and evolutionary sciences now offer vast vistas into the past. As to connecting with the future, ten thousand generations are now brought within our reach by nuclear wastes. The consequences of our actions (our karma) play out on a geological time scale.

Our moral imagination is the essential tool for opening us up to the depths and breadths of time to which we belong. Extend it both backwards and forwards. Open your mind's eye to the immense journey of life on our planet by meditating on your hand. "See" its evolutionary development, one life-form to another from its origins as a fin in primordial seas. Behold in it also the countless generations of human hands whose tasks and skills shaped our world.

Invite the future ones into your awareness. Feel the strength of your desire that they find clean air to breathe, water to drink, trees, topsoil. Try asking for their guidance in the work that is now to be done. And, for a practice I hope you'll enjoy as much as I have, imagine a person of a century or two hence (perhaps related to you, perhaps not) who can see back through time, and sees you at this moment of your life. And then write yourself a letter from this future person.
__________

Joanna Macy is an Eco-philosopher and Buddhist author

27 September 2011 - Today is Earth Overshoot Day

2011-09-27T11:07:00.000+01:00

The following is taken from today's press-release from Global Footprint Network.

* * * * *

Humanity is surpassing nature’s budget for the year, and is now operating in overdraft, according to Global Footprint Network calculations for 2011.

Earth Overshoot Day, which this year falls on September 27, helps conceptualise the degree to which we are over-budget in our use of nature. In approximately nine months, we are demanding a level of ecological services – from producing food and raw materials to filtering our carbon dioxide emissions — equivalent to what the planet can provide for all of 2011. From an ecological standpoint, we have effectively spent our annual salary, with a quarter of the year still to go.

“From soaring food prices to the crippling effects of climate change, our economies are now confronting the reality of years of spending beyond our means. If we are to maintain stable societies and good lives, we can no longer sustain a widening budget gap between what nature is able to provide and how much our infrastructure, economies and lifestyles require.”

(Global Footprint Network President Dr. Mathis Wackernagel)

Meeting the Needs of 7 Billion
This year, Earth Overshoot Day comes as the UN is projecting the human population to reach 7 billion sometime in late October. Current resource trends pose these questions:
- How will we be able to meet the needs of a growing population?
- Support the increased consumption as millions in emerging economies join the swelling ranks of the middle class?
- Provide for the 2 billion alive today that lack access to enough resources to meet basic needs?

Global Footprint Network’s preliminary 2011 calculations show that the rate we are now using resources would take between 1.2 and 1.5 planets to sustainably support. If we continue on the course estimated by (the very moderate) United Nations projections for increasing population and consumption then, by well before mid-century, we will need the capacity of two Earths to keep up with our level of demand.

“Providing good lives for the world’s people is certainly possible – but it will not be possible using the resource-intensive development and growth models we have pursued in the past. That means finding new models of progress and prosperity that limit demand on ecological assets. It also means maintaining the resources we have left as an ongoing source of wealth rather than liquidating them for fast cash.”

(Global Footprint Network Director of Research and Standards, Dr. Juan Carlos Morales)

Have We Reduced Global Overshoot?
The Ecological Footprint and biocapacity calculations that Global Footprint Network made last year placed Earth Overshoot Day a few weeks earlier in the year than this year’s estimates do. This has raised the question as to whether we have reduced global overshoot. The answer, unfortunately, is no. Global Footprint Network is constantly improving the calculations and data sets that are the basis for determining Earth Overshoot Day, and as such the date shifts from year to year.

Currently, we are undertaking some revisions to the way we compare productivity across different geographies and land types – forests in Russia, for example, as compared to fishing ground in Chile. If we look at where Earth Overshoot Day would have fallen over time based on these new assumptions (which we are still testing), we would see overshoot continuing to grow slightly year on year. (Learn more about these revisions, and when Earth Overshoot Day would have fallen over time using our most current assumptions.)

It is not, of course, able to determine with 100 percent accuracy the exact moment when we bust our budget. Hence, Earth Overshoot Day is meant as an estimate rather than as an exact date.

Our methodology does change and may continue to shift, but no matter what scientific approach we have used, and what improvements we have implemented to try to account for both human demand and nature’s supply, the trends remain consistent: we are in significant overshoot, and overshoot is growing.

The 'when' is less important than the 'what': a mounting ecological debt, and the interest we are paying on that debt – food shortages, plummeting wildlife populations, disappearing forests, degraded land productivity and the build-up of CO2 in our atmosphere and ocean, with devastating human and monetary costs.

Overshoot and the Global Economy
In spite of the global recession, resource trends indicate that since October 2008, humanity’s resource demand has been on the rise, although more slowly than in the first eight years of the millennium.

There is more and more evidence that rapidly rising resource costs, in particular for food and energy, played a major role in accelerating, if not sparking, the current global downturn. Now we are trying to reverse the downturn by building jobs and stabilising our economies. But this depends on a reliable resource supply.

“As resource constraints tighten even more, it’s going to feel like trying to run upward on a down escalator. As we look to rebuild our economies to be healthy and robust, now is the moment to come up with ways of doing so that will continue to work and be relevant in the future. Long-term recovery will only succeed, and can only be maintained, if it occurs along with systematic reductions to our dependence on resources.”

(Dr. Wackernagel)

We are moving to a new paradigm – from one in which resources were treated as limitless to one in which they must be as prudently spent and as carefully managed as financial reserves.

Global Footprint Network and its network of partners is working with individuals, organisations and governments around the globe to make decisions that are aligned with ecological reality – decisions that can help close the ecological budget gap and provide for a prosperous future in the face of changing and challenging resource trends.

• Learn more about Earth Overshoot Day
• Still wondering, “What is Overshoot?” Watch this video

Down on the farm . . .

2011-09-20T19:13:00.000+01:00

A few months ago, I introduced the National Trust's new 'My Farm' project. A lot's been happening since then!

Back in May I wrote about the first members' decision about which crop to plant in a particular field. In the end, the decision was for the most clearly and reliably commercial option - sowing wheat. Scott, one of the the farmers on the estate, was delighted . . . it was the decision he would have made.

The next decision to be put before members was about livestock. The sheep flock was to be increased, so the question was: should they go for additional rare breeds, or for a 'safe' commercial breed? The project billed this, on their website, as a 'head vs heart' decision, but I'm not sure that's really accurate - there are very good 'head' reasons for stocking rare breeds. The issue is really, in my view, about short-term, self-centred, commercial return; or long-term, socially responsible approach to sustainability in livestock management. Rare breeds are pools of important genes for future breeding. When we face an uncertain future in terms of food production, keeping open as many options as possible is part of farming sustainably.

Scott originally posed the question as

We originally asked: 'What sheep should we buy' but actually it's more along the lines of 'What sheep should be breed?' To date, Wimpole has kept sheep only on the parkland, which is suitable only for grazing. The sheep kept here are all rare breeds, as part of our work with the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, and we should be very clear this is not under threat in any way. However, as we start to establish the organic rotation on the arable farmland, 2/5ths of the farm will be sown with grass and clover at any one time – so we have the opportunity to expand the sheep flock, as their fertility will be important to this phase. We have a decision to make as to which sheep to breed on this land. The question is essentially whether to continue our work with rare breeds, or to start keeping a more commercial breed.

This was followed by a video of a discussion about the market for different kinds of meat, and then one about rare breeds vs commercials. Some of the points made in this latter were [edited from the transcript]:

Scott: On paper, financially, it would be obvious to go with the commercial sheep. But there's the genealogy and everything else that goes with the Rare Breeds. Tell us why we should extend the Rare Breed flock?

Mark: It's probably true that the figures don't stack up, but anyone now can go out and purchase reasonable quality lamb from the supermarket, that isn't very special or different from the next leg of lamb. I think keeping and breeding Rare Breeds adds another aspect to it, that you enjoy the meat more because you know they've lived longer, they take longer to mature. A visitor once bought a half lamb off me and described it as "the taste of Wimpole". And I feel that the Rare Breeds are the taste of Wimpole. Anyone can farm regular sheep and get a lamb into the supermarket as soon as possible. Because we take longer to rear them, longer to grow them, and probably give them a bit more love and attention, I think that comes out in the flavour of the meat. So as a unique selling point, I'm always in favour of keeping Rare Breeds.

Scott: So as a stockman you've probably got a passion that if we don't look after these Rare Breeds, they become extinct right? And once they're gone, they're gone.

Mark: Once they're gone they're gone. Someone has to do this. And I think we're uniquely set up here at Wimpole to carry on this work. We're all used to dealing with these Rare Breeds and their unique characteristics.

There's a video clip of a discussion with school children about rare breeds vs commercial stocks (and you can also read a transcript).

Then Morris talked with an agribusiness consultant (Keith Preston) about the economics of the flock [edited from transcript]:

Morris: We're proposing to increase our sheep by 100% - an extra 100 ewes this year. What would you do in that situation?

Keith Preston: I think you have to look at how the Wimpole business has evolved. Initially they ran a commercial flock and some rare breeds, and it was a financial disaster. We restructured it on the basis that we'd keep the rare breeds, and have enough sheep to provide a gene pool for each of the breeds, and the lambing weekend. So that's why we've hit at the 300 ewe flock. You've now got a fantastic opportunity because you've got all these green manures that are part of the fertility building phase. In the past there was a constraint because there was only a certain amount of parkland. The parkland was managed extensively, but now you've got lots of forage. So, the real challenge is going to be, can you absorb these hundred sheep into the existing management without increasing your labour costs.

Morris: So that would suggest the commercial breed gives us potentially the better returns.

KP: I think it'll be an interesting challenge, won't it? I mean, my own view is that Wimpole's got a fantastic opportunity, with all the visitors that you get - it's just a fantastic site for a farm shop. So, if you think you've got a quarter of a million people visiting the park, we don't have to sell to many of them to get rid of all the progeny from the 300 or the 400. So can we actually add more value by extending our rare breeds, and making sure we get the rare breeds that will come up with the goods, because some of the breeds are rare for a very good reason, that they have attributes that make them not worth keeping. But, they have a wonderful role in the gene pool.

Morris: So either could work, and the pressure is on the marketing.

KP: The marketing, yes. The simplest, if you're just going to put them into the supply chain rather than direct marketing, would be to go for the commercial breed, because it will give you more performance, and will be a nice test against the rare breeds, and how they perform as well.

And then there was a discussion with Richard Broad, from the Rare Breeds Survival Trust [edited from transcript]:

Morris: Richard is the field officer for the Rare Breed Survival Trust, and has come to convince [the members] to vote for the rare breeds. Richard, why is it important that people like ourselves keep these rare breeds?

Richard Broad: The RBST was started in 1973, and prior to that in the 20th century we lost 26 different breeds of cattle and sheep and pigs. Since then we haven't lost any, and we're trying to maintain their genes. They are lower cost, there are lower inputs needed as far as buying in concentrates. And most of them are very good at converting cheap products such as grass and grass-clover into meat and sheepskins and things like that which we can use.

Morris: On this farm it's good quality grass and clover, really high protein, good food. What would you say the rare breed has going for it as against the financial opportunity with the commercial breeds?

RB: The inputs needed are available on the farm. They're better at converting the grass and grass-clover into meat, rather than having to buy in expensive concentrates. Also, with the rare breeds I think you really need to be looking at what you're going to do with the products, before even you decide to have the rare breed of sheep. Look at adding value to the meat instead of selling it in a market or to the supermarket, maybe looking at it as a branded product: Wimpole best White Faced Woodland meat, or something like that. A lot of the breeds are coloured, which means that skins can sell at £50 to £60 a piece as well. So as an added value product, the horned breeds, the walking-stick makers are interested in the horns. What you need to look at is all the end products, and also trying to sell them as a product rather than just a commodity.

Morris: So, in your opinion the rare breeds stack up equally against the commercial breeds in opportunity.

RB: Definitely. People can sell rare breeds as a premium product. But they need to understand that they need a market, and they need somebody with an ability to produce those products, and sell it to the end producer, without a middle man there. Hopefully at Wimpole you've got access to a restaurant, and also customers that come to the farm as well.

And lastly - they were being really thorough about all sides of this discussion - there's an audio of a conversation with Phil Stocker from the Soil Association [edited from transcript]:

Phil: I’m Director of Farmer and Grower Relations at The Soil Association, overseeing our work for farmers and growers. I provide information and advice, and make sure we have an interesting programme of activities.

Scott: We’re about to have a vote on which sheep should we breed. Morris has the opportunity to extend his flock for roving grazing across Wimpole Farm, of up to 100 ewes. He’s got a dilemma as to whether just to extend the existing rare breeds or to buy in some commercial breeds. He hasn’t got any commercial breeds on site at the moment. We’re putting this vote to our members, and I wondered what The Soil Association’s take would be on that in terms of organic farming? He wants to increase from 300 to 400 ewes.

Phil: You should consider whether he’s got a market for that rare breed meat, and if he can expand by another 100 ewes and still find a market. If he’s got as many of this particular breed that he can sell, then he’s is likely to be selling more into the open market and he needs to think about a more commercial ewe breed. The rare breed is likely to be producing a carcass which is likely to be a thinner, less fleshy, less meaty carcass. There is a market for that but it’s usually selling direct to the public.

Scott: From an organic point of view is there any real difference in rare breeds grazing compared to commercial sheep?

Phil: There’s a difference between rare breeds and indigenous breeds and certainly some of our more native breeds are probably better at grazing, and do well on foraging lower grade, rougher; whereas some of our more commercial improved breeds want improved grass to perform well, and are more reliant on concentrate cake feeding as well. So I think some of our more native and indigenous breeds are quite different to other rare breeds. Some of our rare breeds thrive very well on particular habitats, in upland situations or in coastal regions where they’re raised on coastal grasses. Some of our rare breeds are very closely adapted to the conditions where they were initially developed but there’s no requirement for an organic farmer to use a rare breed. There are benefits in organic farmers using traditional and indigenous breeds, but The Soil Association’s view would be that the most important thing is really that the sheep are developed on farm, on site and allowed to adapt and to evolve to the situation on that farm. You know sheep will become accustomed to the grass type, to the climate, to the topography, to the mineral status of the soil and the most important thing is to have a flock of sheep which are permanently on the farm and are allowed to adapt to the farm’s unique situation.

In the end, the members voted for rare breeds, interestingly a different outcome from the crops question; and the responses of Morris, the stockman on the farm are very interesting when set in a global context[edited from transcript]:

Morris: Very clear win and very interesting result. I must admit I’m disappointed. This was an expansion to our sheep and wasn’t detracting at all from what we do with conservation. This was an opportunity to increase our revenue increase the potential for the farm. I saw this as a as something to expand on, where we could increase production, put more food into the food chain, and I feel - you watch the news last night [famine in the Horn of Africa] - this is a decision we’ve made with food on our plates. If we were in another continent without food on our plates, what would we decide?

Scott: Why do you think they went for rare breeds?

Morris: There is a tremendous value in the conservation work we do and there’s a huge need to ensure those genetics go forward and I’m not decrying that work - it’s important that we do it. But we must always remember that at the back of our minds that there’s a population to feed.

After all the discussion about whether to buy rare breeds, the next vote was on which rare breed! There was a members' discussion on the website about sheep genetics. The choice was between extending the current flock of Norfolk Horns, or bringing in either Oxford Downs or Hill Radnors. The Oxford Down emerged as a clear victor with 66% of the votes. These are large, hefty sheep and probably supply more 'commercial' type benefits than the other two (interesting in the light of the discussion about rare breeds vs commercial).

Other things have been happening, of course, and I'll summarise them briefly. After the decisions to sow wheat in Pond Field, there was a subsequent decision on which variety to sow, and the vote went to Magister, a high protein good milling wheat, perfect for bread making - a good commercial decision this time. And they posted some recipes online to get people baking!

Meanwhile, Queenie, one of the farm's Shire horses, lost her foal in a neo-natal death. The labour and birth were webcast live, and had attracted a lot of interest, so this was an emotional experience for a lot of people.

More updates in a few weeks. If you'd like to sign up as a member - either as an individual or on behalf of a class of children, say, you can do so here. You don't have to be a National Trust member to join in.

The Ecocide Trial - coming soon

2011-09-06T17:01:00.000+01:00

During my Swarthmore Lecture, Costing Not Less Than Everything (and in the book, p.46) I discuss briefly the concept of Responsibility to Protect (known as R2P). This is part of a United Nations Human Rights initiative. At present it stipulates that

The State carries the primary responsibility for the protection of populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

In my lecture I suggested that Quakers, building on our long-standing support for, and engagement with, the United Nations might start a movement to add a fifth item to this list: 'crimes against the environment'.

I now discover that this is underway, with a very imaginative, high-profile and eye-catching campaign.

* * * * *

The Ecocide Trial

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
30 September 2011

The Hamilton Group is a not-for-profit organisation encouraging businesses, organisations and communities to bring responsibility for the Earth to the forefront of their decision-making. They are a growing network of individuals, businesses and organisations that have adopted their Ethos as part of their values They invite everyone to take responsibility for their communities, organisations, businesses and the the human-made and natural world by signing up to their Ethos and joining them in this Mission.

The Ecocide Trial is the next event of the Hamilton Group. What follows is adapted from their website.

* * * * *

"Once upon a time people did grievous harm to the environment without fully understanding the consequences of their actions. That defence is no longer available, and that sure knowledge we now have entails equally sure moral obligations. In this context, the idea of establishing the crime of Ecocide is both timely and compelling."
Jonathon Porritt, former Chair, Sustainable Development Commission

"In these days when the human impact on the environment is becoming everyday more evident and proves to be not only damaging to our surroundings but a serious threat to human life and survival, it is imperative that we should declare Ecocide a Crime Against Peace. The Club of Budapest is happy to endorse this initiative and is committed to following it up to the best of its abilities and potentials."
Ervin Laszlo, President, Club of Budapest

It has been proposed that Ecocide, the environmental equivalent of genocide, becomes the 5th International Crime Against Peace alongside Genocide itself, Crimes Against Humanity, Crimes of Aggression and War Crimes.

The new law has been proposed to the UN by British Environmental Lawyer, Polly Higgins who proposes that under the new law Heads of States and Directors of Corporations be required to take individual and personal responsibility for their actions.

On September 30th 2011, London's Supreme Court of the United Kingdom will be the venue for a Mock Trial, played out as though the crime of Ecocide had already been adopted.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan have shown us the unstoppable power of nature. There is little we can do to protect against these events but we can take responsibility for our own actions and their effect on the Earth.

One of these actions could be to create an international law on Ecocide, the environmental equivalent of genocide. This law would establish the requirement of heads of states and corporations to take individual and personal responsibility for their actions. What will this mean in practice? Is it legally possible? Will it have more negative effects than positive? Would the Alberta Tar Sands mining, destruction of the Amazon rainforest, oil spills, the threatened existence of the low-lying Maldive Islands because of rising sea-levels, the Pacific Gyre, the island of garbage twice the size of Texas slowly spinning in the Pacific Ocean, be classed as Ecocide? Who would be the individuals prosecuted under this proposed law? Could Banks be culpable as well if they provide funding for activities prosecuted under Ecocide? In reality, what effect would the law have on the environment and businesses and the people who run them?

Background
Polly Higgins, the British barrister and international environmental lawyer, proposed to the United Nations in April 2010 that a law on Ecocide to be classed as an international law alongside Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, Crimes of Aggression and War Crimes, as a 5th Crime Against Peace. If Ecocide is accepted as a crime under international law it will have a profound effect on Governments, Heads of State, Corporations and those who run them, and on the ecosystems of the Earth.

Ecocide is defined as:

"the mass damage, destruction to or loss of ecosystems of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished."

The Trial
The Ecocide Trial is a mock trial, will last one day and follow UK court procedures.

Michael Mansfield QC, the prosecuting barrister, and Nigel Lickley QC, the defence barrister together with supporting legal teams, will lead the case for and against a fictional Mr X, CEO of a major corporation. Before the case is heard, legal argument will be put as to whether Ecocide and the Earth Right to Life should be applied to the charge against Mr X. Mr X will be played by an actor and has been charged with a number of ecocides - which one will be tried will be determined on the day. It could be:

Deforestation of the Amazon
Arctic drilling
Fracking for shale gas in Nigeria
Major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
Bauxite mining of the Niyamgiri mountain
Unconventional tar sands extraction in Canada
Deep sea mining of the Central and Eastern Manus Basin

The trial will examine how the crime of Ecocide protects the Earth Right to Life and will be tried as though the proposed crime of Ecocide has been adopted by the UN.

What will happen is not pre- scripted; it is ultimately for the jury to determine whether the crime of Ecocide is made out and whether the Earth Right to Life is breached.

The trial will be the focus for a sustained campaign to raise awareness of the issues around Ecocide and to have them debated and discussed fully within Government, business, communities, the media, universities and schools, nationally and internationally.

Filming

It will be filmed and streamed live to social network sites. Edited versions of the event will be available for international, national and local television, radio and other media outlets and for public and private screenings.

The Witnesses
We are in discussion with a number of experts in relevant fields. Their names will be announced nearer the date of the Trial.

The Lawyers
Prosecuting team
Leader: Michael Mansfield QC, Tooks Chambers
Kirsty Brimelow QC, Doughty St Chambers
Junior: Steven Powles, Doughty St Chambers

Defending team
Nigel Lickley QC, 3 Paper Buildings Chambers
Adam Hiddleston, 3 Paper Buildings Chambers

All lawyers are giving their time and expertise free.

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
The Hamilton Group is using the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in London as the venue. This in no way implies endorsement by the Supreme Court of the opinions raised in the trial or the verdict reached by the trial jury.

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Watch a video about ecocide.
For more information, or if you want to support this event in any way, please contact the group direct.

To donate to The Ecocide Trial please use CrowdFunder or PayPal.

The Fate of the World - computer gaming and climate change

2011-08-28T17:19:00.106+01:00

Ever since I first heard about a new game, called Fate of the World I've been trying to find someone who could review it for this blog. I don't play computer games myself and consequently know nothing about them, so I needed someone else . . . and then Oliver Robertson asked if I'd be interested in a review . . . so of course I said, "yes, please". Oliver is currently Programme Officer at the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva.

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double-click on any image to view it full screen
and then click 'back' to return to the blog

‘The world really needs a reload function.’

This is a quote from one player of Fate of the World, a computer game about climate change released earlier this year. It places you in the role of President of the Global Environmental Organisation (GEO), a kind of proto-world government, or a United Nations with more clout. You have a range of policies available to achieve your goals (chiefly, curbing global temperature increases) and a limited amount of money with which to do it.

There are various reviews on the web of how the game plays, the merits of its mechanics and its educational value (the game’s designers have made much of the fact that they used real climate modelling in designing it).