Carol Finlay of the Church of Scotland World Mission Council recently interviewed Charles Agboklu about the work the EP church is doing to combat climate change. You can listen to the 30 minute interview below:
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Church of Scotland to debate Climate Change
The Church of Scotland General Assembly will be holding a debate on climate change during its meeting in May. Adrian Shaw, the church's Climate Change officer, has prepared this report for commissioners to debate. The report contains policy recommendations called deliverances which the assembly may accept or ammend.
Click here to read the report.
If you have any comments please contact Adrian Shaw at the Climate Change Project.
Click here to read the report.
If you have any comments please contact Adrian Shaw at the Climate Change Project.
To Hell and Back… on a Number 12 Bus
I was recently invited to a meeting in an office at the Gyle, the enormous office and shopping development to the west of Edinburgh. Being the proud user of a Lothian Buses Ridacard it seemed sensible to take the bus and knowing that the bus to the airport took about 30 minutes thought than about 20 minutes should do it. Bad mistake. The worrying omens started upon arrival at the bus stop on Princes Street to find that the usually excellent bus time indicators had all gone down. Eventually a No. 12 appeared, destination The Gyle, so I jumped on and off we set, on a leisurely tour of Edinburgh’s western suburbs, which eventually morph into the landscape of The Gyle. When seen from the train to Glasgow it is gone in a fleeting glance, but seen from ground level the amorphous and anonymous mass of roads, roundabouts, parking lots and corporate offices is a vast and bleak prospect. Make no mistake, this is the land of the car and of business; it is not a place to walk, or live or enjoy.
The bus eventually arrived at the shopping centre, a typical out of town development linking a large department store at one end to a supermarket at the other. From here I could see my destination but there was no direct way to reach it on foot, because of fast moving traffic on a wide dual carriage way in between. The map my hosts had kindly provided indicated a round about route through an underpass to another set of traffic lights and then a road that together described two sides of a triangle between where I was and where I needed to be. Following this prescribed route I found myself in a large car park. The destination was straight ahead but there was a beech hedge between the two and no visible way through. There was however a hole in the hedge revealing a wire fence with muddy footprints either side of it, which other desperate souls had clearly used as a means of passage. Slightly muddy, tatty and grumpy I arrived at the office a full hour after leaving George Street in the town centre.
The Gyle does not seem to be built for human beings; it is about making money. Office space is cheaper than in the middle of town and this is presumably why businesses choose to move there; this and ease of access by car. It is a landscape designed around the car, where people have to fit in and is consequently both inhuman in scale and design. Do we have to continue with developments like this? If we are serious about responding to climate change, or about reducing our dependence on the car or about protecting green space from tarmac and concrete then surely not: there have to be better alternatives.
Adrian Shaw
The bus eventually arrived at the shopping centre, a typical out of town development linking a large department store at one end to a supermarket at the other. From here I could see my destination but there was no direct way to reach it on foot, because of fast moving traffic on a wide dual carriage way in between. The map my hosts had kindly provided indicated a round about route through an underpass to another set of traffic lights and then a road that together described two sides of a triangle between where I was and where I needed to be. Following this prescribed route I found myself in a large car park. The destination was straight ahead but there was a beech hedge between the two and no visible way through. There was however a hole in the hedge revealing a wire fence with muddy footprints either side of it, which other desperate souls had clearly used as a means of passage. Slightly muddy, tatty and grumpy I arrived at the office a full hour after leaving George Street in the town centre.
The Gyle does not seem to be built for human beings; it is about making money. Office space is cheaper than in the middle of town and this is presumably why businesses choose to move there; this and ease of access by car. It is a landscape designed around the car, where people have to fit in and is consequently both inhuman in scale and design. Do we have to continue with developments like this? If we are serious about responding to climate change, or about reducing our dependence on the car or about protecting green space from tarmac and concrete then surely not: there have to be better alternatives.
Adrian Shaw
Friday, 25 March 2011
The Climate Change Election Debate
Eco-congregations across the country are being asked to help send a strong message to our future politicians that Scotland cares about climate change.
The run-up to the Scottish Parliamentary elections is an ideal time to ensure that – whichever party or parties are in power after the 5th May – climate change remains a priority on the political agenda.
We need your help to make that happen. As part of the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland coalition, Eco-Congregation Scotland is encouraging you to take part in a political debate on climate change. The Climate Change Election Debate will take place on Wednesday 13th April from 7.30-9pm. You can take part by watching and listening to what the parties have to say about their plans for tackling climate change, and – if you want to – you can ask them any burning questions you have on this issue. But, the difference with this event is that you won’t be in the same room as the party spokespeople who’ll debate and answer your questions. You’ll be taking part over the internet. If you have a broadband internet connection, you can take part from the comfort of your own home as the debate will be screened live over the internet.
Now, we know that not everyone is totally confident using the internet, and not many people have taken part in a live event online. So, to make it really easy, we’re suggesting that you could get together with other people in your eco-congregation to watch the debate in a small group. You could get together in someone’s home or in your church hall – wherever you’ll be most comfortable and that has a broadband internet connection. You could enjoy some tea and cakes during the debate to make it even more fun!
If you want to, you could come up with a question as a group and get the person in your congregation who’s most comfortable using the internet to email it through or to ‘post’ it on our online forum. You can email your questions any time between now and the debate, or while the debate it taking place – or both! Email your climate questions to info@stopclimatechaosscotland.org.
We want this event to be open to anyone, regardless of how much or how little they use the internet. So we’re going to provide a simple step-by-step guide on how to watch the debate over the internet and how to send us your questions on the evening of Wednesday 13th April.
If you want to organise a Climate Change Debate evening as an eco-congregation group and need any help, Christian Aid will be providing some giudance. Contact the Eco-Congregation Scotland office and we will put you in touch.
Together, we can show the political parties that this is an issue that won’t go away and that we want to see action from them if they are elected.
More information on the debate is available here:
The run-up to the Scottish Parliamentary elections is an ideal time to ensure that – whichever party or parties are in power after the 5th May – climate change remains a priority on the political agenda.
We need your help to make that happen. As part of the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland coalition, Eco-Congregation Scotland is encouraging you to take part in a political debate on climate change. The Climate Change Election Debate will take place on Wednesday 13th April from 7.30-9pm. You can take part by watching and listening to what the parties have to say about their plans for tackling climate change, and – if you want to – you can ask them any burning questions you have on this issue. But, the difference with this event is that you won’t be in the same room as the party spokespeople who’ll debate and answer your questions. You’ll be taking part over the internet. If you have a broadband internet connection, you can take part from the comfort of your own home as the debate will be screened live over the internet.
Now, we know that not everyone is totally confident using the internet, and not many people have taken part in a live event online. So, to make it really easy, we’re suggesting that you could get together with other people in your eco-congregation to watch the debate in a small group. You could get together in someone’s home or in your church hall – wherever you’ll be most comfortable and that has a broadband internet connection. You could enjoy some tea and cakes during the debate to make it even more fun!
If you want to, you could come up with a question as a group and get the person in your congregation who’s most comfortable using the internet to email it through or to ‘post’ it on our online forum. You can email your questions any time between now and the debate, or while the debate it taking place – or both! Email your climate questions to info@stopclimatechaosscotland.org.
We want this event to be open to anyone, regardless of how much or how little they use the internet. So we’re going to provide a simple step-by-step guide on how to watch the debate over the internet and how to send us your questions on the evening of Wednesday 13th April.
If you want to organise a Climate Change Debate evening as an eco-congregation group and need any help, Christian Aid will be providing some giudance. Contact the Eco-Congregation Scotland office and we will put you in touch.
Together, we can show the political parties that this is an issue that won’t go away and that we want to see action from them if they are elected.
More information on the debate is available here:
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Stop Climate Chaos 2011 Elections
On Climate Day, Wednesday 13th April, political parties will announce and publish their climate change polices. At the same time, Stop Climate Chaos is encouraging people across the country to engage with the issue on this through an online community, where you can access blogs and other video content and take part in conversations and debate on climate change issues.
Climate Day will culminate with a live, online debate with climate change spokespeople from each of the five political parties currently represented in the Scottish Parliament. Tune in and post your questions and comments live via the online forum and Twitter.
For more information see the web site: www.stopclimatechaos.org/scottish-elections
You can follow or take part in the campaign online:
Twitter: #SCCS_Elections
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-Climate-Chaos-Scotland-Elections-2011/136042149794674?sk=wall
Climate Day will culminate with a live, online debate with climate change spokespeople from each of the five political parties currently represented in the Scottish Parliament. Tune in and post your questions and comments live via the online forum and Twitter.
For more information see the web site: www.stopclimatechaos.org/scottish-elections
You can follow or take part in the campaign online:
Twitter: #SCCS_Elections
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-Climate-Chaos-Scotland-Elections-2011/136042149794674?sk=wall
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Calculating your car's carbon emissions
Following on from yesterday's article, this calculator will give a very rough idea of your car's carbon emissions without having to look up the rating for the car. Just enter the number of miles driven in a month and the average miles per gallon. This is the same calcualtor which is on our web site as an excel spreadsheet but working in gallons rather than litres.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Carbon Footprint Calculator
As part of our module 13 on climate change we provide the calculations for working out your church's carbon footprint. We have made an online version of this which you can try out below:
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