Sustainable Merton Some key points on Climate Change and what we can do

There are six crucial questions 1.Global warming - is it real? 2.Climate Change - is it happening? 3.What Causes Global Warming? 4.Who is responsible for Climate Change? 5.What route should WE as a nation follow? 6.What can WE do about it?

Long term changes in temperature and CO 2

Global Warming – is it real? This chart clearly shows that the global temperature began to rise at the start of the industrial revolution in 1800 and has gone on rising ever since. Pre Industrial Revolution

Climate Change – is it happening? If you were sitting by this flood in Inner Pakistan you would certainly believe that Climate Change is real!

Climate Change – is it happening? The number of Hurricanes, Typhoons, Major Floods, Serious Droughts and Forest Fires has increased by a factor of four in the last thirty years. You must know this if you listen to the news!

What can WE do? In UK 28% of our footprint is related to domestic activities about which we can do a great deal. 34% is related transport over which we have many choices. We have less control of the footprint generated by services or in the industrial sector.

What can WE do? Space heating accounts for 50% of our domestic footprint. Water heating accounts for another 20%. Make savings by being thoughtful. Lower ambient room temperature. Turn lights off. Many appliances still use electricity when on standby – turn them of at the wall.

What can WE do?

The total distance each of us travel increased almost 4 times between 1956 and During this time the population increased by 20% so the total distance travelled increased almost 5 times. Travel by car rose very rapidly while bus travel declined. Air travel rose from almost zero to 27% of the total by

What can WE do? Overall transport accounts for 34% of our footprint. Cars dominate our travel. Use public transport more. Use smaller cars and share. Drive carefully – this can reduce consumption by 10%. Sell your car and don’t replace it. Fly less and use trains. A flight to Malaga releases 8 times as much CO2 as the same journey by train. Walk and cycle more. We could halve our travel footprint by accepting minor inconveniences but travelling only 10% less distance. Slide 12Slide 12

What can WE do? CO 2 from Different Modes of Transport Gm/ passenger km In TownOut of Town Bus/coach9030 Underground80 Diesel Train9070 Electric train6040 Air300 Cruising at sea850 Gm per Vehicle km G-Wizz electric car84 Efficient petrol car (Seat Ibiza)14080 Family saloon (Peugeot 307 Diesel Family saloon (Peugeot 307 Petrol Gas Guzzler Range Rover – 4.2 V8) Most thirsty (Lamborghini 147 Roadster) Public transport on land is better than most cars but remember you may have several car passengers which reduces the foot print proportionately. This sometimes makes them competitive. Only fly if really necessary. Cancel your Caribbean Cruise. Choose a small efficient car. Never even think about a Range Rover of a Lamborghini. Using a realistic scenario we could reduce our travel foot print by 50% while reducing the distance travelled by only 10% Using a more optimistic scenario our footprint could be down by 67% and the distance travelled by only 14%.

What can WE do? CO 2 Emissions and Freight Transport Mode of TransportGm CO 2 / tonne km Road Light Goods in Town Heavy Goods out of Town Rail30 Sea Small Ro-Ro Large Ro-Ro Small Bulk Cargo Large Bulk Cargo Air Short Haul Long Haul 3,000 1,500 We have little control over how the goods we buy are transported but we can lobby suppliers to choose more efficient methods. Try to avoid goods which you know are flown into the country. Never buy strawberries in winter – they have almost certainly been flown in from Kenya or somewhere similar

What can WE do? Industry accounts for 24% of our overall footprint but there is little we can do directly to influence this. What we can do is lobby businesses and politicians to take the problem seriously and in particular support the generation of renewable energy. The Services sector accounts for 14% of our overall footprint. Here we can be a little more active by encouraging local schools, hospitals and councils etc to run their services more environmentally. In particular they should ensure that heating is controlled efficiently, lights are off when not needed, transport is operated efficiently and waste is recycled. We can be much more active with our own domestic and travel footprint. We can realistically reduce our domestic foot print by 45% and our travel footprint by 50%. This would reduce our overall footprint by about a third. The is certainly a worthwhile target to aim at.