Eavis sails with the Rainbow Warrior III

Glastonbury festival organiser Michael Eavis has been on the bridge of Greenpeace’s new Rainbow Warrior III – on the first test run up the Thames in London. Eavis, once upon a time a merchant seaman before taking over the running of Worthy Farm, was joined by daughter Emily and her son George, Michael’s grandson, born just before this year’s festival. The boat will now undergo sea trials.

This is the third Rainbow Warrior– the first, notoriously, was sunk in New Zealand in 1985 by French commandos to prevent it hampering nuclear tests in a Polynesian atoll. The second has just been retired to Bangladesh, where it serves as a hospital ship. Rainbow Warrior III is bigger, greener and, for the first time, purpose built, which the organisation says will showcase green shipbuilding technologies. The huge A-frame mast system can carry considerably more sails than a conventional mast on a vessel of this size, meaning that the ship will travel, as far as possible, under wind power. The ship has 1200 Square metres of sail. The new ship will have both diesel and electric engines but these are expected to be in use for less than 10% of its time at sea and the aim is to drastically reduce emissions and to burn far less fuel and the main propulsion will be by wind. Systems to recycle the engine’s heat and waste “grey” water, and a hull designed to minimise friction in the water, add to its green credentials.

The Good, the Bad & the Queen, featuring Greenpeace supporters Damon Albarn and Paul Simonon, formerly of the Clash, gave a performance on-board for Greenpeace.

See the video here  http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/10/greenpeace-launches-rainbow-warrior-glastonbury and pictures and a video here http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/news/rainbow-warrior-photos

Picture: Greenpeace

ANOTHER PLANET

The so called ‘Greenest’ Olympics ever seem to becoming distinctly non green as the weeks go by and 2012 approaches. Two new stories surfaced this week, firstly that the operators of London Luton Airport would be building (or rather extending) a road to allow VIP guests swift car access to the M1 motorway to London. The airport’s Spanish owner Abertis is spending £4 million on road widening at a bottle-neck where queues of traffic stretch for up to half a mile on busy summer mornings. also in the news, the 2012 Games organiser, LOCOG, has said that it would be picking up the London Congestion Charge bill for the fleet of 4000 BMW cars available to VIPs, competitors, sponsors, media and officials. Officials and thers will also have priority use over 100 miles of roads linking sports venues and hotels. The £10 daily Congestion Charge is meant to deter car use in central London. LOCOG will pay the C-charge bills with a ‘Fleet Auto-pay Account’. Still, the Olympics won an ‘green’ award – see below!

Unusual weather conditions are set to return, wreaking havoc across the World as an evolving La Nina - the body of cold water on the Pacific – affects weather around the globe. La Nina refers to the cooler than average cool water in the Pacific which  leads to higher than average rainfall in South East Asia, North & East Australia and the Western side of North and South America. Conversely the Southern US and Mexico states lack rain and there is a higher risk of cyclones, and countries such as Argentina and Brazil on the Atlantic coast face dryer conditions. It is expected that the weather changes will have a profound effect in food prices as crops such as corn, soya beans, wheat, sugar onions and coffee suffer from both heavy rain in some areas and dry conditions in others. Heavy rain in South East Asia and Australia may also effect commodities such as palm oil and rubber and the mining of  coal and tin. Other climate change scientists believe that ‘Arctic Oscillation’ – unpredictable pressure changes in the Arctic – can also produce strong shifts in climate patterns.

Energy giant EDF has been found guilty of spying on environmental campaigners Greenpeace by a French Court. Judge Isabelle Prévost-Desprez, sentenced three men, including two EDF employees to prison terms. Judge Prévost-Desprez also fined the French state-owned business 1.5m euros and ordered it to pay half a million euros in damages to Greenpeace. EDF executive Pierre-Paul François was sentenced to three years imprisonment, with 30 months suspended. A second EDF executive  Pascal Durieux, received the same sentence, with two years suspended and a 10,000 euro fine for commissioning the spying operation. The judge also handed down a guilty verdict in the case of Thierry Lorho, the head of Kargus, a company employed by EDF to hack into the computers of Greenpeace.  Lorho was sentenced to three years in jail with a further two years suspended as and a 4,000 euro fine.

The UK’s first CRC league tables have now been published and Edie.net reports that simple energy saving or regulating measures could have seen some of the 800 organisations making up the foot of the CRC league table improve their position. Astonishingly it appears nearly 40% of organisations on the 2106 strong list, which includes major public bodies like the Home Office, have no voluntary half-hourly meters or energy performance accreditation. While DECC is one of the top 25 performers the CRC’s own department, the Environment Agency, only manage to rank at 275 and only achieved a 62.5% early action metric. .Across the whole CRC league table the Ministry of Defence is the highest emitter and will need to spend around £21m on allowances this year to cover its emissions.

http://crc.environment-agency.gov.uk/pplt/web/plt/public/2010-11/CRCPerformanceLeagueTable20102011

One of the UK’s largest green energy producers Ecotricity has relaunched its ecobond renewable investment scheme. The drive, which was launched at the weekend, is a repeat of ecobond one, launched in October last year, which was oversubscribed by 50%.  Its new scheme called ecobond two is also seeking £10m and aims to ‘bypass’ the banks and allow people to share in the benefits of the green energy revolution ‘without needing to stick anything on their roof’.  The scheme offers fixed and will have an initial four-year term paying an annual rate of interest of 6%, however that rises to 6.5% for Ecotricity customers.

Cuts to the UK’s Feed In Tariffs may face a legal challenge after  solar industry leaders gave an impassioned defence of the sector following at Edie’s Sustainable Leaders Forum.   Solar Trade Association chairman, Howard Johns, denied the sector had been over subsidised and said he was losing business as he’d been forced to scrap contracts he had in place due to the changes.  Mr Johns says members of the solar industry will also lobby MPs on November 22 at the House of Parliament over this week’s announcement of a consultation into cutting the rates of Feed-In Tariffs (FITs).

Manchester United Football Club has reduced material consumption across its business by nearly 20% over the past eight years by working closely with its supply chain, achieving cost savings of £500,000.

Commuters in London will soon be able to travel using a greater range of zero emission vehicles as the UK’s first network of hydrogen fuelling stations prepares to open. As part of the Hydrogen Transport for European Cities (HyTEC) scheme, 15 hydrogen-powered black-cabs and five hydrogen-powered Suzuki Bergmann scooters will take to the streets of London, with the aim of reducing carbon emissions in the capital.

70% of people in Wales are in favour of the country introducing a minimum 5p charge on single-use carrier bags new research by Cardiff University shows.  The scheme has resulted in a 95% drop in use. And Ireland has launched a nationwide initiative to encourage more battery recycling following a survey that found 90% of Irish people were aware that irresponsible disposal of batteries may have negative environmental consequences.

The Environment Agency (EA) has launched a full investigation into how raw sewage leaked into a seven mile stretch of a tributary of the River Thames on November 1^st. An estimated 3,000 fish including mature pike, eel and perch have been killed so far.

The UK’s Secretary of State for energy and climate change, Chris Huhne, has unveiled the University of Salford’s (UoS) centre for energy and public policy.  The Joule House centre, has been part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund to help the university develop its portfolio of business support activity.

Using advanced wastewater treatment facilities to treat food waste through anaerobic digestion (AD) is the best environmental option, according to a new study. The Report from PE International examined the impact of various food waste disposal systems. It found that food scraps put into a sink-based disposal unit and sent to wastewater treatment plants resulted in lower global warming potential than landfill, incineration and centralised composting.  According to the study, commissioned by US company InSinkErator, if 30,000 households switched from sending food waste to landfill to a waste disposal unit instead, the reduction in global warming potential would be the equivalent of eliminating nearly 2,100 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

And a farm-based anaerobic digestion (AD) plant will use cattle dung and grass silage to power homes and businesses in Northern Ireland  The Greenhill Dairy Farm Biogas farm near Ardstraw claims to be the first plant in Northern Ireland in 20 years to provide sustainable heat and power in this way. The waste from 600 cows on the 700 acre site will help fuel the plant to produce 430 kWh – enough to supply 430 homes with electricity.

And finally, the Edie Awards for Environmental Excellence 2011 Winners have been announced

Carbon Reduction – First UK Bus
Renewable Energy – Marks and Spencer
Green Corporate Initiative – Marks and Spencer
Green Retail Initiative – Sainsbury’s
Public Sector Initiative – North West Fire and Rescue Sustainability Network
Sustainable Transport – Transport for London’s Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme
Sustainable Construction – Olympic Delivery Authority
Water and Wastewater – Microbial Solutions Microcycle Technology
Waste and Resource Management – Coca Cola Enterprises
Climate Change and Renewables – SKM Enviros
Water and Wastewater – SKM Enviros
Waste and Resource Management – Amec
Impact Assessment and Planning – URS Scott Wilson
Due Diligence – ENVIRON
Corporate Sustainability – ERM
Contaminated Land – SKM Enviros
Environmental – Amec

more at http://www.edie.net/

Another Planet

The UK Government is now so seriously concered about the lack of rain in Southern and Eastern England it has held a crisis meeting with farmers  – with farmers warning Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman that crop production in the affected regios would be down 15% even if normal rainfall resumed. However a more alarming figure was that if the dry spell continues, yields will be down 50% and livestock farmers are struggling to feed their animals. Some parts of the country have had just 5mm of rain since the end of February and soli mosture levels are the lowest for 50 years. Food prices are expected to rise and drought warnings have been issued in at least five counties accross the Midlands and East Anglia.

The UK’s hot spring could be due to the shrinking Arctic ice cap – which has led to a block of high pressure sitting over Britain. Weather experts admit that they are still trying to work out why Britain’s weather is changing, but one possibilty is that global warming (due to greenhouse gas emissions) has led to both the ice cap shrinkage and a shift in the jet stream – although different models show different results.

Waste Connect have an interesting article on Eco-festivals RECYCLING ROCKS here  http://www.wasteconnect.co.uk/page.aspx?ID=2197c32e-cb45-49a3-9fb8-41a24b650548 and that features Green Gathering, Download, Big Tent, Criossant Neuf Summer Party, Glastonbury and Shambala and they link through to the Metro at http://www.metro.co.uk/news/167987-an-a-z-of-the-perfect-eco-festival with our very own A-Z for a green festival.

Solar power developers in the UK are going to take the Government to court for slashing subsidies for larger solar projects – by removing the higher than market price ‘feed in tariff’ for solar electricity – to protect small generating projects. Mark Shorrock, CEO of Low Carbon Solar said “if the Government issues a tariff and you have two years to develop a project, the Government can’t change the rules half way through that process”.  

Greenpeace have been ordered to stop oil protests in the Arctic against Cairn Oil. The UK company has obtained a injunction from a court in Amsterdam that, if breached, would cost Greenpeace E50,000 each day, capped at E1 million. Scottish based Cairn says it loses $4 million for each day lost to disputes on its oil drilling rig off Greenland.  Greenpace cannot go within 500  metres of rigs.

Greenpeace faces massive fines for Arctic protest

Greenpeace could be fined up to E2 million (£1.7 million) each and every day if it disrupts oil drilling in the Arctic. The UK’s Cairn Energy has filed the papers with a Dutch court saying that Greenpeaces’s protest activities at the company’s Leiv Eiriksson drilling platform are causing delays and costs of at leat £2.5 million per day. Greenpeace’s protest ship Esperanza is registered in Amsterdam.  Greenpeace want to rid the Arctic of potentially polluting oil explorers and says of Cairn “we’ll challenge them and their lawyers every step of the way. The stakes are high here,  the Arctic is the frontline of climate change”.  Cairn denies that it is trying the bankrupt Greenpeace. Despite the legal action, on Saturday (4th June) it appears that Greenpeace launched five small boats from the Esperanza, bypassing navy protection, and 18 activists climbed onto the 53,000 ton rig. Greepeace say that fter eight hours, all 18 activists were. arrested.

More at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/02/cairn-greenpeace-arctic-drilling-protest

Updates and the image are from  www.greenpeace.org

ANOTHER PLANET

The UK has been accused of caving in to pressure from Canada by stalling on a proposed Europe wide ban to ban products such as petrol and diesel that come from mining Canada’s tar sands – a process the WWF says is worse for ecology than the Gulf oil spill.  It seems UK coalition ministers are refusing to back other EU countries that want the sands specifically named in a new fuel quality directive.

Oxfam says that a ‘broken’ food system will aggravate worldwide hunger with food prices doubling in the next 20 years, pushing millions of the World poorest people into hunger. Oxfams new report “Growing for a Better Future: Food Justice in a Resource-Constrained World” (what a terrible title!) says that scramble for food and land are pushing up prices and natural disasters brought on by climate change were also forcing prices higher. Commenting that the system is pretty much ‘bust’, Oxfams points to the negative role commodity speculation plays and also says that farmers should not be given incentives to plant bio-fuel in place of food crops.

“Support windfarms – it would be less controversial to argue for blackouts” says George Monbiot in the Guardian (31/05/11)  “Why do those who oppose wind power insist on spoiling their case with gibberish? In his column on Friday, Simon Jenkins claimed that onshore windfarms were being planned “with no concern for cost”. But the only reason for building them is a concern for cost. If it weren’t for this issue, they would be the last option governments would choose – God knows they cause enough trouble.” Read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/30/wind-farms-less-controversial-blackouts

Steve Bolze, the Chief Executive of General Electric has said that cheap gas will curb the growth of energy projects saying that this means that more gas fired power generation plants will be built than solar or wind in the next 10-20 years. If the drive for gas continues the International Energy Agency says that the world will miss its targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Germany is planning to shut ALL of its nuclear reactors by 2022 in response the Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster. Germany will become the only major industrial economy nuclear free for decades. Nuclear currently accounts for 23% of Germany’s power.

Cate Blanchett has found herself at the centre of a row in Australia after appearing in an TV advert calling on  Australians to support a carbon tax. Conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott lambasted the advert, funded by environmental groups, saying that “people who are worth $53 million have a right to be heard, but their voice should not be heard ahead of the ordinary working people of this country”. That, is seriously, from a politician in the twenty first century!!!!!  Blanchett is artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company and is striving to green the Theatre which has installed solar panels that provide up to 70% of its power.

Greenpeace has clashed with the Danish navy after protesters boarded a British owned oil exploration vessel about 90 miles off Greenland’s coast. The protestors occupied a survival pod they attached to the drilling ship Leiv Eiriksson. The Danish navy says that there is a 500m exclusion zone around the test drilling site. Greenpeace has accused the Greenland and Danish governments and Cairn Energy of threatening the fragile Arctic marine environment with another potential oil spill. Greenland has issued 20 exploratory drilling licences and insists that its safety standards are the most robust of any country.

Scientists in the UK say that world class research into future sources of clean green energy are being threatened – by a green tax. The complaint is over the unexpected impact of the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) scheme and one laboratory, the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy faces a £400,000 bill  this year- which it says is perverse as it is researching the production of ‘zero carbon  energy’. Scientific bodies are trying to persuade ministers to exempt research institutions from the carbon levy.

A new report from consultancy WYG on behalf of Biffa Municipal claims co-mingled collections for household waste result in the most improved recycling rates and cost savings for councils. The findings have been disputed by the Campaign for Real Recycling. The research claims that councils can boost household recycling rates and cut costs by adopting alternate weekly collections of co-mingled dry recyclables and waste from wheeled bins and according to the report, a  review of kerbside recycling collection schemes in the UK in 2009/10 found that most of the top 30 councils in the kerbside dry recycling league table for 2009-10, took the co-mingled AWC approach. According to the study, of the top 30 councils,  23 collected 75% or more of their dry recyclables co-mingled, 23 collected recycling each fortnight, 21 collected refuse fortnightly, over half collected both refuse and recycling fortnightly, and the vast majority used wheeled bins.

The world’s first hi-tech landfill mining project has been given the go-ahead in Belgium where gasification and plasma technology will be combined to extract materials and energy from buried waste.

Centrica, the parent company of household gas supplier British Gas, has carried out its threat not to reopen one of the UK’s largest gas fields following the Government’s decision to raise taxes on production. The energy firm said South Morecambe, the largest of three production areas that make up the offshore Liverpool Morecambe Bay gas field, would stay shut following routine maintenance work because the higher levy. Morecambe Bay supplies 6% of domestic gas. No job losses are planned.

Forecasters believe that a heatwave that could last until July will leave some parts of the UK even hotter than north Africa and the Mediterranean. Forecasters predict that temperatures will stay above 21C in June and July – and could even hit  32C. It looks likely that rainfall will continue to be below average in the second half of June in the South of England, which is good news for Glastonbury and Wimbledon but bad news for farmers and consumers, as food prices will increase as a result. The hottest summer on record was 1976.

The European Investment Bank has banned all further investments in Glencore’s mining projects after allegations of tax avoidance and environmental damage, The allegations are linked to the company’s copper mines in Zambia. Glencore has denied the charges but has admitted exceeding sulpher dioxide output limits.

Northhumbrian Water is going to use reed beds to water and sewage sludge to power its energy hungry facilities in a move to become the greenest utility company  in the United Kingdom. The company already uses anaerobic digestion to breakdown human waste and produce gas that can in turn be used to produce electricity. The company plans to build the World’s largest constructed reed bed in Essex to provide cheaper and more ecologically friendly water treatment.

Greenpeace asks performers to raise their voices at Glasters

CMU Daily reports that Greenpeace will set up a recording studio – made out of wood and straw – at the Glastonbury Festival this year and will encourage all sorts of artist  to record songs about the environmental and economic issues that are affecting the world right now.   Greenpeace said ”We’re calling for left-field artists, musicians and writers; everyone who opposes environmental destruction, exploitation, corruption, manipulation and fraud – the things that have become staple fodder of the increasingly half-baked media reports we routinely ignore. Raising Voices aims to use the uniquely positive atmosphere that is Glastonbury to build momentum around the protest song”.

The eco-group has teamed up with producer Joe Leach of Cowshed Studio London to create the temporary recording space, and a video feed from inside it will allow festival goers to see what is going on. Any artists or labels interested in getting involved should email glasto@cowshedstudio.com

A MESSAGE FROM GREENPEACE

Hi there Here are three easy things you can do this November – and beyond – to help keep Greenpeace in action. Our recent Go Beyond Oil tour was a great example of how important your donations are to us. Whether your money goes towards a ship satellite phone, a lifejacket or a climbing harness you can be sure your gift will be put to good use to help us deliver our campaigns. 1. Recycle your mobile If you’ve got a spare mobile knocking around that you’re unsure what to do with then please recycle it for Greenpeace. Go to www.shpforcharity.co.uk/greenpeace  and select ‘recycle now’. Find out how much your phone is worth and choose how much of it you’d like to donate to Greenpeace – you’ll be able to get a bit back for yourself too. 2. Put on a Flour Power fundraiser Join our new autumn fundraiser Flour Power and bake cakes, not the planet. So far over 1000 people have signed up and over 400 have downloaded our fundraising leaflet and recipe book online. We held our first Flour Power fundraiser here at Greenpeace HQ yesterday and raised nearly £50. Not bad for a cake break! To find out more and sign up go to www.greenpeace.org.uk/flourpower  3. Get your Christmas shopping started early Greenpeace Giving is back! We’ll be adding some special new gifts for Christmas over the next few weeks so watch this space. In the meantime you can still get all your old favourite virtual gifts like Protect an Ugly Fish and the Love Bug. You can request your ecards to be delivered at any time so you can order now for a future birthday or anniversary, or even get your Christmas pressies in the bag early. Visit www.greenpeacegiving.org.uk  to see the full selection of gifts.

A message from Greenpeace in the Arctic

Good morning, The sun is just coming up here in the Arctic and it’s been an exhilarating 24 hours.

Our activists are still hanging from the underside of the oil rig and they’re sleeping soundly. Early yesterday under the cloak of darkness we managed to evade Danish navy commandos and our climbers successfully scaled the legs of Cairn Energy’s Stena Don rig, bringing the company’s Arctic drilling project to a grinding halt. If you haven’t emailed him yet, please email Cairn’s boss Bill Gammell and tell him to stop drilling in the Arctic. So far, 12,000 of you have sent messages to Cairn’s boss Bill Gammell telling him to stop Arctic drilling. Thank you – it’s already had an impact.

We heard that we’ve scared BP off drilling in the Arctic. According to the Guardian, a senior source said: “With the Greenpeace ship already harassing Cairn off Greenland – a company which has an exemplary safety record – everyone realised it would be political madness to give the green light to BP.” But that’s not enough. While we’re happy to have stopped BP drilling in the Arctic for the moment, Cairn Energy is drilling here now. And we have to stop them. It doesn’t matter which company’s logo is on the rig, it’s the drilling for oil that’s the problem. And that’s exactly why our climbers are still on Cairn’s Stena Don rig today. If we can hang on long enough, Cairn will miss their summer drilling window and have to head home until the ice melts next year. The situation is still tense – we’re getting reports that the Greenlandic police and Danish navy are planning their next move, as they certainly didn’t expect us to get past their warship and patrol boats so quickly. Our climbers have food to last for days in their suspended tents, but we can’t predict what the response from either Cairn or the authorities will be.

We’re prepared for every eventuality though. I’ll keep you up to date with developments as they happen. You can also follow what’s happening live and listen to updates we made yesterday. I also want to say a big thank you for all of your messages of encouragement, supporting us and for calling on Cairn to stop their drilling. If you haven’t already, please email Cairn’s boss Bill Gammell and tell him to stop drilling in the Arctic. Thanks, Lisa – on board the Esperanza

Email Bill via this link http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=18&ea.campaign.id=7593&utm_source=ebulletin20100901espyactionupdate&utm_medium=email&utm_term=oil&utm_campaign=climate

Live updates at  www.GoBeyondOil.org

News at  http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/hanging-there-still-rig-20100901?utm_source=ebulletin20100901espyactionupdate&utm_medium=email&utm_term=oil&utm_campaign=climate

One of the world’s highest profile ‘climate change sceptics’ seems to have a had a change of heart – miraculously at the same time as he has published a new book! Bjorn Lomborg has now said that global warming is ‘undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today the Guardian reports, saying in his new book Smart Solutions that tens of billions of dollars need to be spent to battle climate change – on clean power, on climate engineering concepts such as cloud whitening to reflect back the sun’s rays, planting trees and on adapting to climate change by eg building up sea defences. He wants the new money to be funded by a carbon tax which he says could raise $250 billion per annum which he would allocate as follows : $1 billion in geo-engineering; $50 billion on adapting to change; $100 billion on research and development of clear energy technology (wind, wave, solar); and $99 billion on healthcare, clean water and education.

In other news, there is increasing pressure on Rajendra Pachauri, who leads the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to stand down and let someone new takeover the reins of the organisation, which recently faced widespread criticism for flawed research that showed that all Himalayan glaciers would have melted by 2035. Pauchauri, who has faced criticism for being on the board of energy companies and personally financially gaining from his role at the IPCC has said that he has no intention of resigning unless the 194 governments who control the IPCC ask him to go.

Fewer flyers are offsetting their flights – in fact just 7% offset now – despite well over half being aware of offset schemes. A study of passengers at Stanstead airport in the UK by the Civil Aviation Authority said that 93% of passengers didn’t offset – but 56% were aware of offsetting.

Greenpeace have let us know that their activists have “evaded massive security” including Danish navy commandos and have scaled Cairn Energy’s controversial oil rig off Greenland in Arctic waters. Activists are now hanging from tents suspended from ropes. For live updates go to http://links.mkt1875.com/ctt?kn=1&m=35748175&r=MzYzNzA2Nzk5NAS2&b=2&j=ODA4MDIxOTMS1&mt=1&rt=0.

]Friends of the Earth are urging EU countries to stop their African ‘land grab’ in the race to open up more production for bio-fuels to meet new EU targets. In the report Africa – up for Grabs, Friends of the Earth says the EU needs to drop its goal of producing 10% of all transport fuels by 2020 saying that vast swathes of rainforest will be cleared and local communities will be deprived of farmland and food with the UN estimating that biofuel production could push up food prices by 40% over the coming decade.

The plan that all UK new homes would be ‘zero carbon’ by 2016 is to be scaled back in the face of pressure from house builders. The plans was to achieve a massive reduction in carbon emissions, including emissions from household appliances, hearting and lighting and energy saving plans included installing solar panels on new builds.

Sun, Sweat & Charity – a Glastonbury Tale

Here’s a link to the Community Channel’s new programme that looks at the charities and volunteers that are so important at the Glastonbury Festival  - and why the Festival is so important to them. Featuring WaterAid, Greenpeace, Oxfam, Shelter, The Festival’s world famous Green Police, the festival’s radio station Worthy FM, The White Ribbon Alliance, The National Trust, the on-site medical team – Billy Bragg and Michael Eavis! It shows just what a Festival can do to promote messages at an event – here a range of different charities promoting sustainability, safe child birth, access to water and climate change amongst others! 

http://www.youtube.com/v/ojgpgbJvZ38&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0

and http://www.communitychannel.org/content/view/3733/75/

Shout for rainforests

Here is a link to Greepeace’s new video, shot in and around Glastonbury 2010, asking us all to shout out against rainforest destruction. Greenpeace asked their very own Recycled Orchestra to adapt the old Tears for Fears classic “Shout” to reflect this years theme, using only instruments made from recycled waste and a little help from fellow artists Florence and the Machine, The Foals, Flaming Lips and a whole bunch of festival goers.

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/forests/let-it-all-out-glasto-shouts-against-rainforest-destruction-20100628

A message from Greenpeace

Hi,

It’s all down to these last few days. World leaders have begun arriving in Copenhagen and they have until the end of the week to agree a global treaty that will save our climate.

Billboards like this one appeared around Copenhagen last week. We need your help to make sure this future does not become a reality. Follow our updates online to find out what you can do to help.

We are now more than half way through the two-week UN climate summit and there are three issues that are going to make or break it:

•  
  • Developed countries need to commit to greater emission reductions so that they are in line with what the science demands;
  • We need long term commitments of around £100billion a year to pay for climate action in the developing world and to help end deforestation by 2020;
  • We need a legally binding treaty to ensure the words become action.

This is vital for the survival of millions of people.

There is still time to do the right thing, but unfortunately it seems that some developed nations are more interested in an agreement that can be heralded as a success rather than one that has environmental integrity.

This is where you come in…

Pressure from people like you all over the world has brought the world’s leaders here, and now we need to keep the pressure on to make sure that they follow through with action to reduce green house gas emissions. We cannot allow them to fail.

So, as the summit comes to a close this week we need your help to make sure the truth is told and we hold our leaders to real action on climate change.

Please follow our Twitter, Facebook, or email updates from the summit, and be ready to spread the truth as the summit finishes. Take a minute to spread the outcome via twitter, your facebook status, by mobile – wherever you can to tell as many people as possible.

We cannot let leaders leave Copenhagen without knowing that we want them to take the action that science demands in order to protect our planet and the millions of lives threatened by climate change.

I sincerely hope we will all be celebrating on Friday night, but if not, we must act together to change the future.

Jamie Woolley
16 December 2009

PS. You can also make a vital contribution by joining Greenpeace with a direct debit or making a one-off donation by credit card. Thank you!

Get the new Amchitka double CD and give Greenpeace a chance!

This concert at the Pacific Coliseum in British Columbia on October 16 1970 was organized by the late Irving Stowe, co-founder of Greenpeace. The artists, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Phil Ochs  waived their fees and $18,000 was raised to send 11 peace activists on a fishing boat renamed ‘The Greenpeace’ to protest nuclear bomb tests on the Aleutian Island of Amchitka off the coast of Alaska in 1971. The tests were eventually cancelled and the voyage put Greenpeace on the world map. This new 2 CD disc collection comes with a 48 page booklet with never before seen black and white shots from the concert, photos of the Amchitka voyage and photos of modern day Greenpeace activities. You can see reviews at http://www.amchitka-concert.com/blog/

Track Listing

Phil Ochs (Disc 1)

• Intro Irving Stowe
• Intro Phil Ochs
• The Bells (E. A. Poe/P. Ochs)
• Rhythms of Revolution
• Chords of Fame
• I Ain’t Marching Anymore
• Joe Hill
• Changes
• I’m Gonna Say It Now
• No More Songs

James Taylor (Disc 1)

• Intro James Taylor
• Something In The Way She Moves
• Fire and Rain
• Carolina In My Mind
• Blossom
• Riding On A Railroad
• Sweet Baby James
• You Can Close Your Eyes

Joni Mitchell (Disc 2)

• Intro Joni Mitchell
• Big Yellow Taxi/Bony Maroney (Larry Williams)
• Cactus Tree
• The Gallery
• Hunter
• My Old Man
• For Free
• Woodstock
• Carey/Mr. Tambourine Man (Bob Dylan)
• A Case Of You
• The Circle Game

You can buy the two CD  set here  - http://www.amchitka-concert.com/

 

First sustainable events conference a big success

The first Sustainable Events Management Conference, hosted by Buckinghamshire New University and sponsored by A Greener Festival, Julie’s Bicycle and the European festival’s association Yourope, proved a big hit with delegates at Missenden Abbey on the 23rd September. The one day conference, with delegates from Denmark, Eire, Germany, Finland, Switzerland,  The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, featured presentations from Meegan Jones (Festival Republic) on the waste salvage programme at Reading Festival,  Thomas Neibuhr (Roskilde Festival) on Roskilde’s climate change campaign and a keynote speach from Alison Tickell (Julies Bicycle) on the impact of audience travel. The afternoon kicked off with a panel chaired by musc lawyer and A Greener Festival co-founder Ben Challis (AGF/BNU) featuring Bob Wilson (Greenpeace), Claire O’Neill (AGF/Association of Independent Festivals) and Joby Russell (Big Green Coach Company) along with Meegan and Alison looking at the topic   ‘is green too expensive’ and this was followed by a presentation from Penny Mellor (the event safety and welfare specialist and one of A Greener Festival’s environmental assessors) on new developments and trends in environmentally friendly practices at music festivals.  The whole day was chaired by Teresa Moore (Bucks Uni) who summarised a number of key thoughts from the Conference:

*  Behavioural change is critical – from organisers to the audience to  crew to artists to suppliers to regulators.

*  Event organisers and artists can influence environmentally friendly practices by managing the supply chain

* Benchmarking and working towards year on year reductions in carbon emissions is an important step forward.

*  Clear and authoritative research is critical – it supports change – but when implemented organisers need to balance scietific evidence with practical decision making

* Events are often strong brands and can be used to influence others such as sponsors and suppliers.

* Implementing green can be expensive initially but as an ongoing process soon benefits from economies of scale

*  It is clear that in the future legislative change will mean we will all have to implement cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. Doing nothing is not an option. Preparing for change is responsible and sensible action.

* There will soon be a cost in NOT having sustainability at the core of your business

Delegtates included representatives from Ruisrock Turku (Finland), Open Air St Gallen (Switzerland), RheinKultur (Germany),  Provinssirock (Finland), The Glastonbury Festival (UK), Reading and Leeds Festival (UK), Lattitude (UK), The City of London Festival (UK),  The Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Roskilde Festival (Denmark) , North Sea Jazz Festival,  Lowlands  Festival (both in the Netherlands), Vantaan Festival (Finland), Derby College (UK) , Buckinghamshire New University (UK), Espirit Arena (Germany) and Trinity College Dublin (Eire).

Delegates at the 2009 Conference – say ‘cheese’ please

Some of the presentations from the day will shortly be available online at  www.crowdsafetymanagement.co.uk