EVENT - LONDON AWARE '08

As provided by organisers*

MONTH - May 2008

FIELD: Environmental

WHEN: 10th & 11th May, 10am - 6pm

WHAT: LONDON AWARE '08

WHAT... MORE?:

Greener Living Expo
Pioneering Greener Living Expo, LONDON AWARE '08, will take place on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th of May 2008 in Exhibition Hall 1 of the Barbican. It will be a 'one stop shop' for regular people and businesses who want to live and work in a more sustainable way.

LONDON AWARE '08 will inspire the public, the business world and charities, bringing them together to share ideas.

Exhibitors
Our exhibitors will be showcasing a huge variety of products, services and advice to help you reduce your carbon footprint. These will include:

advice & information services
carbon offsetting
charities & NGOs
eco-build
eco-tourism
ethical investment
green consumer products
hybrid / alternative vehicles
organic food
recycling & eco-packaging
renewable & alternative energy

Authors
An inspiring selection of topical authors will be present at LONDON AWARE '08. They will be available for book signing and general discussion. The full list will be released shortly.

WHERE: EC1Y 8JL

WHO:
Speakers

To add depth and integrity to LONDON AWARE '08 there will be two lecture theatres with our selected expert guest speakers talking on climate change related topics. The speakers include environmental scientists, CEO’s, CSR managers, politicians, futurists and an Arctic explorer, all of whom share a common interest - to make LONDON AWARE '08 the success it needs to be. Because UK AWARE are keen to make LONDON AWARE '08 a thought provoking experience, all talks are free.

Non Profit Sector / Charity / Non Government Action Groups

1 Cat Dorey* Greenpeace
2 Martyn Williams* Friends of the Earth
3 James Lloyd* People and Planet
4 David Hall International Campaign Director for The Climate Group, Together
5 Bremely Lyngdoh Founder of 5 NGO’s, London School of Economics

Politics

6 Darren Johnson* Green Party and London Assembly
7 Chit Chong Green Party
8 Tom Pye* Ministry of Defence
9 Chris Huhne Liberal Democrats

Environmental Science

10 Lai Waqanisau Environmental Scientist
11 Jenny Bird Researcher for Climate Change Institute of Public Policy
12 Fred Pearce* Consultant to the "New Scientist" periodical

CSR

13 Charlie Browne* IKEA
14 Solitare Townsend* Futerra

Environmental Consultants

15 Francisco Ascui Founder of Climate Managers
16 Veronica Broomes Environmental Consultant and lecturer on climate change
17 Trevor Floyd* Chartered engineer, Environment Consultancy Group
18 Brian Whitington* Director of Carbonline
19 Martin Baxter Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment
20 Simon Graham Environmental Strategy Advisor for The Commercial Group

Misc

21 Nathan Allen Arctic explorer
22 Chris Church Community Environment Associates, London 21
23 Polly Higgins Concentrating Solar Power, TREC-UK

Sustainable Innovation

24 Trevor Baylis OBE Inventor of the Wind Up Radio
25 Mike Grenville Founder of Forest Road Transition Village
26 Suzy Edwards Sustainability Consultant
27 Robert Rabinowitz Pure, The Clean Planet Trust
28 Martin Charter Centre for Sustainable Design
29 Peter Littlewood Young Peoples Trust for the Environment
30 Mathew Rhodes Encraft
31 Sally Uren* Forum For The Future
32 Rob Holdway Giraffe Innovation, Channel 4 ‘Dumped’

HOW: £5.00 (children & students free)
As a social enterprise, we are keen to support suitable charities which we admire. Ticket sales from LONDON AWARE '08 will be donated to Cool Earth, People & Planet and Stop Climate Chaos.

URL: www.ukaware.com

COMMENTS: * I met one of the team recently and it was great to chat. My kinda peeps. Also... and please note, by using the templates provided to help me help them help you, they got up on blog (and will soon on site and in newsletter PDQ. Make my life easy, and rewards will flow...:)

... with the possibility of?

When you are mulling the massive, and massively complex issue of climate change, sometimes it's worth popping round the local science society.

And there hear about it from the horse's mouth.. or, at least, an actual climate scientist.

Last night ours, Ross Science Society, hosted a talk billed as 'Global Warming' by Professor Bob Spicer.

Armed with no more than a laptop, projector and a ready, engaging wit (plus a bucketload of knowledge), the good Professor held a packed room in informed and entertained thrall for a good few hours. No mean feat as the majority of visuals were pretty much (initially) indecipherable graphs and charts. But there were a few laughs as well, which was all the more surprising as the subject matter, and his conclusions based on them, were none too cheery. As this is a chap who only the day before was having a chat with the DG of the BBC about their coverage of things planetary, he's a guy obviously worth listening to.

Let me nail my colours to the mast. I personally think there is an unusual level of climate change taking place, and am prepared to acknowledge that our race might not be helping it in the right direction. I also feel there is a lot of dodgy stuff flying about in the name of green.

So I was very happy to be in the presence of a scientist who was very keen to stick to the facts, what 'we' know and, more importantly, what 'we' don't. And how that can matter... a lot, especially when it comes to what the public gets told, and why, by all sorts of folk with all sorts of agendas.

For start, he made the valid point that the term 'Global Warming' is misleading. Because the climate can change, with no warming at all, in many places. So ‘climate change’ is the best way to hang a descriptor upon what is happening. And I was also pleased to find that is where he left it. Too often discussions on this topic have the prefix 'mad-made', which immediately carries a lot of baggage. I personally prefer, and subscribe to the probability of ‘man-worsened’, and I think the Prof. appreciated this description when I chatted with him afterwards.

Because to one who spends too much time reading on this topic, it was refreshing to see shared that, although there is compelling evidence that 'personkind' - and our activities - sure are not helping, nature has a history of throwing a series of highly (and lowly) volatile spanners into the mix, too. Ignoring this does not serve the intelligence of those trying to get a handle of this issues very well. Or help steer their intentions.

Why is all this important? Well for a start there's a lot of planning that needs to take place for the future, and you can only plan for something if you have a pretty good idea of what exactly (key word) you are planning for. In bald terms, if one does see climate change proceeding in the manner most scientists such as Prof. Spicer and his colleagues suggest (and, crucially, freely admitting that most if not all climate models being used are pretty 'loose' at best - Prof. Spicer had some rather colourful views on those produced, at vast expense, by our very own Met Office, which is a bit of a worry) , then governments are either looking at preparing for consequences, and/or mitigating against them.

And that, depending on where you live, means either looking at a lot more water around, and/or in places a lot higher temperatures. Neither of which is that helpful, reducing an already finite land area, and rendering what's left less able to sustain those upon it (the issue of population was touched upon but briefly, being both an elephant in the room and a can of worms, if you can handle that notion. Maybe a can of elephants?).

Having listened to the good Professor I had my personal knowledge base enhanced, and beliefs on the whole confirmed. I'm sure those of a ‘climate pessimistic’ bent would have had much to nod along with (though I do wonder whether those more zealously inclined might have paused to question some extreme or dogmatic orthodoxy that does get fired about too strenuously), and those more ‘optimistic’ (I find tags like 'deniers' unhelpfully pejorative) must surely been given good cause to think more deeply on whether much of what 'we' do is really sustainable, and should proceed unchecked.

What I was left with was even less doubt that this is a massive issue, and whilst individuals can make a difference with some well guided personal efforts, it is for those at the top who have the power to make the most significant differences in the timeframes necessary. Sadly, I did not get the feeling that those in charge were really yet on top of this.

So what can 'we' do, if so moved and persuaded to act? Well, I'd suggest the best is keep on trying to get to the bottom of issues, don't accept all you're told until you’re fully convinced on the enviROI (environmental benefits), and try and act in any and all ways that seem to offer the best mitigating outcomes: Reduction, Reuse and, where appropriate, sensible Recycling. All can, in a small way, help. As to sweating the big stuff, remember that we as individuals may not make a huge difference, but those who can still depend on one powerful thing we can still wield: our vote. Please use it wisely.