I found myself spending some of the day thinking about the environmental impact of hill walking as an activity.
Read moreCOP26: Aftermath
It is now just over two weeks since COP26 ended. Most reports agree that it was a failure, but with a few minor positive outcomes. Not a complete failure, but not too far off.
Read moreCOP26: the role of finance
Wednesday 3 November is when world leaders discuss the provision of finance for lower income countries to help them deal with the climate crisis. But finance will also be a thread through the whole of the conference.
Read moreCOP26: the role of China
China is the single largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. It surpasses even the resource intensive economy of the United States. With this tag comes some responsibility to take action to reduce emissions.
Read moreCOP26: the approach to Glasgow
One bright spot in the approach to COP26 has been the reinvigoration of the commitment of the United States to take action to overcome the worst effects of climate breakdown.
Read moreCOP26: what can we expect?
COP26 is a huge event that involves much more than just the headline conference. This brings together many, many people in one location and together with the pre-conference and other associated events will emit a massive amount of greenhouse gases.
Read moreCOP26: the Glasgow conference
Over time, these conferences have grown to the extent that the number of people attending COP26 in Glasgow may be more than 30,000. But this is not the whole story.
Read moreCOP26: one year late
COP26 was initially scheduled for November 2020. But as we all know, some of us to our cost, the worldwide outbreak of Coronavirus began to develop in late 2019 and really took hold in February 2020.
Read moreCOP26: background
I will begin with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, sometimes known as the UN FCCC.
Read moreCOP26: an introduction
The 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC) will take place in Glasgow between 31 October and 12 November this year. This sounds like something that will only interest climate geeks and policy wonks! But please do not just move on, because this is important for all of us!
Read moreTree planting in the Dales: an opportunity to view
As a result of my financial contribution, the Trust was able to plant two native broadleaf trees in Ormsgill Wood, near Airton and a few days ago, we attended an Open Day to have a look at the series of woodlands that have been developed.
Read moreFriends of the Dales
I was pleased to be invited to talk to the policy committee of Friends of the Dales about climate breakdown.
Read moreBuild, build, build!
In his attempt to kickstart the economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK Prime Minister urged us to “Build, Build, Build!” . If this is going to happen, how can we make sure the new houses we need also coincide with our goals for a zero-carbon Britain?
Read moreEdge lands
Edge lands, “the urban fringe, the no man’s land between town and country”.
Read moreClimate lockdown?
What we can learn from the Covid-19 lockdown for the longer-term restrictions in our normal way of life that are likely to arise from climate breakdown? Are we heading for a climate lockdown?
Read moreSustainable purpose
A meeting was recently convened by Ben Kellard, Director of Business Strategy at Cambridge University’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). The meeting drew together a number of eminent thinkers from the field of business sustainability to discuss what they considered to be represented by the term “sustainable purpose”.
Read moreThe future of the UK motor industry
The future of the UK Motor Industry raises some interesting issues but before we can consider this, we first need to look at the current situation.
Read moreSwallows: an update
Since I wrote about the arrival of the swallows on 15 May, I have hardly seen a swallow here.
Read moreSustainable and resilient business models
As well as government policy, environmental, societal and scientific factors govern all aspects of our daily lives and forming a new business is no different.
Read moreA sense of place
This is where Naomi Klein’s book and another favourite of mine tend to collide.
Read more