Following last month’s talk on Communicating Climate Change, we are planning to see how we can use the ideas and inspiration Alana gave us and in particular how we could use them to put together a display for the SOW stall at Oakington & Westwick Village Day on 29th June.
Please bring your ideas/thinking hats and also if you have large sheets of paper, pens, or anything you think would be useful for creating display material bring them along!
Notes from the SOW meeting on 24 April 2024. 15 people present including 3 children.
The speaker was Alana Sinclair of Cambridge Carbon Footprint, whose activities include Open Eco Homes, supporting Repair Cafes, and the Net Zero Now training course which inspired SOW.
She told us about some techniques to use when discussing Climate Change, following lots of research and her own experience. People often feel uncomfortable about the subject because they can feel judged.
Do people care?
She began by asking: In general how concerned about climate change do you think people in the UK are? And how about in Oakington and Westwick specifically?
The answers surprised some of us. 74% adults reported feeling (very or somewhat) worried about climate change. When asked about a range of issues, climate change was the second biggest concern facing adults in Great Britain (74%), with the rising cost of living being the main concern (79%). (ONS 2022).
Globally, 89% would like their governments to do more to tackle warming, and 69% say they would be willing to contribute 1% of their income to addressing climate change.
But, Alana explained, humans are “conditional co-operators” who are more likely to contribute to public good if they see that others are doing the same. So one important motivating message is to let people know that most of the population, like them, cares about climate change and wants something to be done to stop it.
Britain Talks Climate 2024 is research which reveals what people think about climate policy. It shows that only 15% want to see a slow down in Net Zero efforts. Most people think that reaching Net Zero will be good for the UK – even those in the lowest income groups. There is near universal support for protecting nature and wildlife, and reducing pollution and increasing renewables are next highest priorities.
In rural areas like ours, climate change is a concern to 87% of people – ie higher than the national average, and rural citizens are more engaged with environmental concerns in general than urban citizens (although the actions they take may be different.)
Nationally, 75% said they made a lot or some lifestyle changes to help tackle climate change. So a useful engagement strategy is to recognise the efforts people are already making.
How to be effective when speaking to others about Climate Change
Alana had lots of tips, including:
Know your audience (their values and attitudes) and connect with what matters to them. (Eg locally this might be reducing waste, community pulling together, a sense of stewardship and shared responsibility to protect the environment)
Help your audience realise what they can do, and what are the key, most important actions. People don’t always realise what are the next steps
Recognise the scale of the problems we face, but emphasise how to overcome them. A sense of desperation will be counter-productive. Need to bridge the gap between anxiety and action. Avoid fear, doom and gloom.
Use captivating visuals, stories, narrative, humour and other creative forms of engagement.
Avoid the information trap. Facts and figures won’t change people’s minds. And avoid preaching. Instead, ask people for their tips, quiz them on what they already know. A smattering of facts will make things tangible however.
Listen and show empathy. The more people feel understood and respected, the more open they are to changing their behaviour. Even if you don’t agree, find common ground. Learn from one another.
Speak personally. Use stories and case studies (and don’t gloss over difficult bits.)
You have to roll with resistance. Don’t argue/retaliate or oppose directly – you won’t get very far. Sometimes it’s best to just walk away; or it may be a signal to ask more questions, show more empathy.
Climate change can feel distant so use anything that connects it to everyday life – eg weather (have they noticed any changes), gardening, the future for our children/grandchildren
Don’t talk in terms of radical change, hardship and sacrifice, or use language which evokes political divide eg left/right
Ask people what they are already doing for nature.
Maybe talk in terms of “reducing carbon emissions” rather than “net zero” which can mean different things to different people?
Trust that others are already concerned and taking action. We’re not in a place where we have to get a mandate for climate change action. We just need to convince people that we have that mandate and give them the tools to crack on.
Encourage people to consider climate change when they vote.
Alana gave some specific examples of engagements:
Imaginarium – a lecture theatre that was gradually transformed into a rainforest over a day with all comers joining in writing/drawing/crafts. Including sound effects! CCF are producing (maybe in June.=) a toolkit to support people.
World War ration books – showing that the diet of the past is also a sustainable diet for the future. (Used in Cottenham Sustainable Food Festival.)
Cambridge Climate Map – a map of local shops/businesses/other resources that can help people reduce their footprint. CCF have done a stall in which people added their own suggestions to this.
What next?
We had a lively discussion, and the conclusion at the end was that we would postpone the planned May 29th meeting (“Composing for Sustainability and Wildlife” followed by a visit to Lou’s garden) until June (26th) and use the May meeting to discuss what we learned tonight and use those insights to prepare a stall for the Village Day (29th June) – in collaboration with the village Environment Action Group.
Email us if you’d like to ask to see the slides for the full presentation, which included a lot more than in these notes.
(Thank you to John whose notes these are based on.)
Notices
Don’t forget the Plant Swap on Sat 18 May 10-12 and Sun 19 May 2-4pm, in Coles Lane.
Cambridge Nature Festival runs 25th May – 30th June. Events and activities for all ages, abilities and interests – creative activities, nature walks, live music, bat punt safaris, BioBlitzes and much more. Visit www.cambridgenaturenetwork.org/cambridge-nature-festival for a full list.
SOW will be represented at the Pollination Festival at the Garden Centre on 22nd June and at Village Day 29th June – help on the stalls very welcome.
SOW meeting 24 April: Communicating about Climate Change
Do you sometimes feel despairing about climate change? Look around you and think that nobody’s doing anything to help? Come to the next SOW meeting and be inspired. Alana Sinclair from Cambridge Carbon Footprint is giving a talk on “Communicating about Climate Change” which is guaranteed to make you see things differently, and positively!
Cambridge Carbon Footprint is the organisation that connects all the local groups in the area, combining small efforts to create a larger impact. For instance, they support the Repair Cafe network, loan out thermal cameras, and run the Net Zero Now course which was the inspiration for SOW.
We’ve all had those frustrating conversations with people who resist doing anything about (even believing in) climate change. And the reality is that things can’t improve if only a passionate minority are taking action. But how do you engage and persuade people? The answers might surprise you!
Wednesday 24 April, 7:30 at the Church Hall.
Plant Swap Stall
Free Plant Swap / Stall
10–12 on Saturday 18 May 2–4pm on Sunday 19 May
Outside 36 Coles Lane
Bring some vegetable plants you’ve grown and take away something planted by someone else. Even if you don’t have anything to swap, take some plants anyway – leave a donation (collection for the Cambridge Ukraine Fund.)
Sow some extra seeds now so you can bring along spares to the stall. While the main focus is on veg plants and sustainable food, we won’t turn away flowers!
Eight people present; apologies from a large number of people! Jenny and Paul led a discussion on…
Making Change with Money
Spending – we’re used to thinking about making environmentally conscious choices when shopping
Saving – if we’re lucky enough to have money to spare, we also need to think about
Bank accounts (although everyone needs a current account)
Pensions & investments (such as ISAs)
Two Things to Think About…
(1) Greening our pensions cuts our carbon footprint 21x more than going veggie, giving up flying and switching energy providers combined!
(Research by Make My Money Matter/WWF-UK/Aviva: “Moving the national average pension wealth to the sustainable fund used in the calculation is 21 times more effective (respectively) than the combined annual carbon savings of switching to a renewable electricity provider, substituting all air travel with rail travel and adopting a vegetarian diet.”)
(2) What’s best?
(Short of avoiding anything to do with the capitalist system – extremely difficult!)
Divesting from eg fossil fuels and investing in windfarms – eschewing the bad, supporting the good
Influencing companies through shareholders – by investing you get a say in what “bad” companies do
High Street banks have been around for hundreds of years, and have been able to get away with unethical practice. Until recently there were no new banks to challenge them – the film “Bank of Dave” describes someone who found a gap in the banking market to help his community! Since then there have been a few other newcomers.
Which? Eco providers for current accounts:
Nationwide Building Society – only one to have a branch in/near Cambridge. A mutual, investing money in houses via mortgages
The Co-operative Bank – has long had ethical principles, eco considerations were then added
Triodos Bank – does not simply exclude eg fossil fuels but seeks out positive causes to lend to
Pensions & Investments
Unscreened investments will use your money to fund whatever makes the most profit. But there are funds which have a small or large degree of ethical screening. (A fund is a collection of investments in different companies which is managed by one fund manager, according to pre-defined criteria.)
“Ethical” considerations are wider than just environmental, eg. avoid alcohol, gambling, arms trade, animal testing. But ideally you’d want to be able to choose what matters to you, eg investing in village-scale artisan alcohol producers OK, investing in BP not OK
“ESG” = Environmental, Social & Governance. You’ll hear this phrase. Many providers now consider ESG risks/performance. (Examples of Environmental: Climate change policies, waste & pollution; of Social: Human rights, labour standards, data protection & privacy; of Governance: Board diversity, Anti-corruption policies, Corporate behaviour.) ESG is positive but does not go very far. Eg. can have tobacco, armaments, and fossil-fuel companies that manage their ESG – publishing annual reports about protecting biodiversity or providing apprenticeships, and some companies “greenwash” – talk about their ESG but don’t actually do much.
“Light green” or “dark green”. Dark green funds are very strongly ethical, avoiding the bad and seeking out positive companies to invest in. Light green funds still have an ethical focus but might not, for example, avoid an oil company altogether, if it was aiming to move over to greener energy. Types of company invested in by most ethical funds also include “neutral” or “helpful” areas of business like medical and food retail.
Source: Make My Money Matter. Note that these scores are averaged over all the pension company’s funds. Individual pension funds can be more ethical/sustainable, eg. Aviva will have a sustainable fund.
Performance?
Well-chosen eco funds can perform as well as unscreened. Investing against climate change makes long-term business sense!
Sustainable funds can fluctuate more over the short term. In tougher times the market favours old-school stocks like oil. In times of growth new technologies do better.
What to do?
May be possible to change funds within pension company. Don’t always have a choice about your workplace pension, but might be possible to change funds within it.
Or change pension company. This may well cost a fee.
Specialist IFAs (Independent Financial Advisers). A IFA who specialises in environmental/ethical investment can make sure the new provider both fits your ethics/eco goals and will make also a good return for you. Ethical Consumer has a list and SOW members have personal experience with one of these.
Find Out More
www.ethicalconsumer.org ‘All the information and inspiration you need to revolutionise the way you spend, save and live.’ A consumer organisation a bit like Which? With purchasing advice and a magazine subscription available.
www.makemymoneymatter.co.uk A movement calling for the trillions of pounds invested in UK pensions to build a better world.
www.which.co.uk/money The consumer organisation’s Money section, who have information on ethical banks and pension.
Deeper dive into financial skulduggery
As an example, Paul played part of Mark Thomas’s podcast which reveals that all of us until 2015 were effectively paying off the government compensation awarded to slave owners (you read that right, owners, not slaves!) in 1834 when slavery was banned in this country.
Bank of Dave (a film) Dave in Burnley wants to open a bank, but a new banking licence hasn’t been issued in over 100 years.
Tax Justice Network (website and podcast) www.taxjustice.net Taking on a system that fuels inequality, fosters corruption and undermines democracy.
They publish The Financial Secrecy Index and The Corporate Tax Haven Index every two years, which makes for interesting reading, and also produce a very informative podcast.
A blog and podcast with more information than you will ever likely need on money laundering, bribery, corruption, fraud and trafficking.
Treasure Islands (a book)
A book about, amongst other things, how billionaire Warren Buffet, currently the third wealthiest man in the world, paid the lowest rate of tax among his office staff, including his receptionist.
The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire (a film)
Britain’s transition from colonial power to global financial power
The Things About Us: Slavery (a podcast episode)
Listen to the full podcast, ‘Slavery’ through your podcast provider.
Dates & Notices
March meeting (27th March) – Leo will re-run the popular fruit tree grafting workshop
April meeting (24th April) – Alana from Cambridge Carbion Footprint is coming to give a talk about communicating climate change
May meeting (29th May) – maybe the garden wildlife session, or will people be away because it’s half term?
Many of us try very hard in our everyday lives to make sustainable choices – recycling, saving energy, gardening for wildlife, etc – but if we’ve got money in a bank or invested in a pension that’s being used to fund e.g. the oil industry, that’s having a bigger negative impact. In this session we’ll pool and share our knowledge about ethical and environmental choices in finance. If you’ve got some experience or knowledge of this area please do come along. If you haven’t, come along as well and find out more!
Plus discussion of any other environmental issues, action planning and tea, biscuits and chat! And the Green Library will likely be open for lending.
Oakington’s first Repair Cafe was held on Saturday 10 February. The grand total was 70 repairs, of which 41 were successfully repaired, 19 were found to be repairable and 10 deemed end of life. But not only did we prevent unnecessary waste and landfill: people were inspired by and learned from the 14 amazing volunteer repairers, enjoyed the cafe and the friendly community atmosphere.
Thank you to the repairers, everyone who helped and to all who supported it – the very generous donations and cafe takings covered costs and will help with the next Oakington Repair Cafe.
Here’s just some of the feedback received after the event:
“Excellent. SO pleased to have it fixed. Very grateful”
“Amazingly helpful, very pleasant volunteers. Please do it again soon!”
“Excellent experience… Very helpful, enthusiastic and informative. Thank you.”
“Very friendly and informative.”
“Great to see it so busy + very pleased with the help.”
“Really lovely friendly welcoming atmosphere.”
“Very friendly & efficient. Good job.”
“So pleased with the repair. Very patient lady and enjoyed the chat.”
“Very friendly excellent service with a smile + time to chat + have refreshments with friends + new people.”
“Wonderful assistance and advice given … Thank you so much all of you.”
Sustainable Cottenham have asked us to let people know about their event in March:
Cottenham Swish: swap your way to a new wardrobe
SWISH at Cottenham Village Hall on Saturday 16 March from 2.15-3.45
Swishes, or clothes swap parties are a fun, free way to refresh your wardrobe without buying new clothes. The fashion industry has a huge environmental footprint accounting for more carbon emissions than aviation and shipping combined, and is often exploitative of workers too. Meanwhile, an average Briton’s wardrobe contains a whopping 57 unworn items!*
It’s those under-worn clothes you’ve fallen out of love with that we want you to dig out from your wardrobe and swap with others. Bring women’s, men’s and children’s clothes, shoes and accessories in good, clean condition. You can bring and take as much as you like*.
Drop your items off at 1:45 and whilst we sort your clothes there will be refreshments and stalls from local groups. Swishing will start at 2:15pm and end at 3:45pm.
All leftover clothes will be donated to charity.
This is a free event organised by Sustainable Cottenham. Donations gratefully received towards our costs (please bring some cash!), all welcome.
*Figures from this BBC article on Fast Fashion **No underwear, please. ***Please only take what you/your family will personally use – not to sell on. We reserve the right to challenge anyone not acting in the spirit of the event.
Come along to the meeting on Wednesday 31 January, 7:30pm at the Church Hall.
Led by John, we will be discussing the Nature Recovery Project in Oakington & Westwick – we got this started last year with lots of ideas and enthusiasm, but now is the time to plan actions for this year onwards.
We’ll also be planning other SOW activities in 2024/hearing updates on plans; and gathering ideas for future evening sessions.
And as usual a chance to exchange ideas, get tips and even just offload about environmental issues that are on your mind!
Dates for your diary:
Saturday 10 February – Repair Cafe at the pavilion, 11am-2pm
Wednesday 27 March – a repeat of last year’s popular fruit grafting workshop, 7:30pm at the Church Hall
A reminder of the projects/actions we’ve been planning:
Community Meal – proposed we have this at one of the SOW Wednesday evening meetings
Plant native hedging, or fruit trees, or hazel/willow coppice, along busway
Build and put up bee hotels (birdboxes, etc) in public spaces.
Research which areas of the village are owned by whom, plus paths/ rights of ways / land use.
Terracycle recycling
Wildlife capture-cam
Nature Recovery Project, Repair Cafe – see above
Other ideas: Talk on Energy efficiency and coming off gas; Local resilience plan – what can village do to prepare specifically for heatwaves, droughts, flooding etc.; More wildlife walks. Eg trees, birdsong, moths, etc.
The Green Library will be open for borrowing! And of course there will be tea, biscuits and a chance to chat.
Sustainable Oakington and Westwick 