On Thursday 4 March local groups from across London (including Southwark, Kensingon, Chelsea & Westminster, Hackney, Dagenham and Barnet) met at head office for the London Local Groups Forum meeting.

We spoke about what local groups were up to, what campaigns we were working on: all groups were working on Get Serious or Fix the Food Chain, or both (like us!). We heard about some interesting projects including Southwark’s Homes Going Green and the High Barnet Green Home Zone, and how Hackney local group had divided their group into sub-groups for people interested in public speaking, street stalls and research.

For campaigning during the run-up to elections on May 6 there’s a new website http://election.foe.co.uk which includes a blog and resources for election campaigning and an online action to co-sign a letter to party leaders calling for determined action to tackle climate change - if you haven’t signed this already please do!

We spoke about London strategies: Boris Johnson has just released his draft climate change strategy, but it’s not good enough! His CO2 emissions reductions target is 38% by 2020 (FoE are calling for at least 40% by 2020). His draft transport plan, also recently released, removes lots of good measures proposed by Ken Livingstone e.g. road traffic reduction targets have been removed. All the draft London strategies will be up for public examination in June, July, September, October this year, and we’ll be responding to them as a local group.

The next London Local Groups Forum meeting is on Saturday 5 June at Bonhill House, EC2A 4BX from 9.30am (light breakfast included!) preceeding the Greater South East Regional Gathering. All local group members are welcome to join - find out more and book your place.

We’ve joined forces with environmental groups across Camden - including Camden Greenpeace, Transition Towns, and the Camden Cycling Campaign - to hold the first ever Hampstead & Kilburn Resilience Hustings on Wednesday 14 April in St Stephen’s Church on Rosslyn Hill at 7.30pm

We’ll be asking the Camden question - how well are we prepared for external shocks like climate change and peak oil? The aim is to explain to the parliamentary candidates - our keynote listeners for the evening - what our thinking is on climate change, peak oil and transition through films, drinks, fun and debate.

There will be a screening of the film ‘In Transition’, and you will have the opportunity to pose your environmental questions to parliamentary candidates Glenda Jackson (Lab), Ed Fordham (LibDem), Chris Philp (Con), and Tamsin Omond (The Commons).

The evening is part of Ask the Climate Question, an initiative backed by a coalition of environmental and development charities and not-for-profits across the UK to ensure that climate change is firmly on the election agenda.


Event location map: St Stephen’s, Rosslyn Hill/Pond St, NW3

View Larger Map

For more information please email camdenfoe@gmail.com

Camden Friends of the Earth is part of the Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood Redevelopment, which opposes the current £4.5 billion Brent Cross Cricklewood (BXC) redevelopment plans. Following on from last week’s ruling on Heathrow, the following letter has been sent to local press (Update: 5 April 2010 - the letter was published in this week’s Ham & High, click the image on the right to view.):

Last week a high court ruling stopped the Government’s plans for a third runway at Heathrow on the grounds that it failed to take climate change into account. The judge rightly pointed out that the expansion ignores the Climate Change Act, requiring CO2 emissions to be cut by 80% by 2050.

Friends of the Earth groups across London have been campaigning against the proposed expansion, and welcome this landmark decision. It is ludicrous that aviation should be allowed to grow unrestricted, at the expense of other sectors in order to comply with emissions legislation. The consultation was also rigged to downplay the air and noise pollution impacts of, and exaggerate the business case for, the expansion.

Following this victory should we, amongst other groups campaigning against the Brent Cross Cricklewood development, await a sensible outcome on this front too? John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has put a “stop notice” on this controversial green-washed development, whilst he gives it further consideration. This is one of the largest developments in the country. Yet it is not “low emission” and is highly car-based. Will these outdated plans, conceived before current legislation, not make a significant contribution to carbon emissions as well as air pollution? The business case is also unravelling in the current recession, as developers struggle and look elsewhere to invest.

Will we have something else to celebrate before Parliament dissolves for the election?

Viv Stein, Robert Gray – Brent Friends of the Earth
Jess Gold, Susan Poupard – Camden Friends of the Earth
Phil Fletcher – Barnet & Enfield Friends of the Earth
Jim Roland – Islington Friends of the Earth

For more information on the Brent Cross Cricklewood development please see the Brent Friends of the Earth website.

Camden Friends of the Earth took campaigning to the catwalk (well, almost) when we were invited to the UCLU Modo Green Fashion Show on 28 February.

We ran a stall for our Get Serious about CO2 campaign, getting over 50 postcards signed and a lot of positive response from those at the event!

We also were lucky enough to see some of the amazing recycled and ethical fashion creations designed by students, inspired by the green theme. The Mododiva blog has some more great examples of ‘Trash’ fashion too, including the IKEA dress (pictured). Would you wear it?

Phew…we got up to a lot in 2009, so much that it’s taken us this long to write it all down!

We campaigned on renewables, climate change and to fix the food chain, getting support from local people, speaking to MPs and campaigning in many diverse locations including St Pancras station, the Houses of Parliament, London Fields, Parliament Hill Farmers Market, Swiss Cottage Peruvian Festival; even as far afield as the international climate summit in Copenhagen!

Check out our 2009 Round Up (PDF) to read about all the campaigning, stalls, events, marches and picnics that Camden Friends of the Earth organised and participated in!

And, if you’d like to be involved in 2010, get in touch - our next meeting is on Monday March 8 2010, 7.30pm at the Pirate Castle.

Unnecessary packaging forms a huge part of our waste. A new shop in Islington provides a place for you to shop, without the packaging. Just bring your own containers, and fill them up with what you need.

For more information, see http://www.beunpackaged.com/

“The amount of waste produced in North London, like everywhere, is growing year on year and although recycling it is great, preventing it is even better…”

Camden Council together with the North London Waste Authority are challenging residents to reduce their waste to zero. The challenge forms part of the Watch your Waste Week which is running from 4-12 October.

For more information about the week and the Challenge, including information packs full of useful tips
http://www.nlwa.gov.uk/html/watchyourwasteweek.asp#TheWatchYourWasteChallenge
and
http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/content/leisure/news/2008/september/watch-your-waste-week.en

6 – 21 September 2008
Join others for a week of eating only local organic food, free from plastic packaging to demonstrate to Government urgent action is needed to transform our food system. This is a ‘pilot’ in preparation for a bigger week next year!

Most of us would love to eat more locally grown food that has been grown in ways that are good for both our health and the environment. But how many of us feel we could actually do it with our current globalised and industrialised food system? Well three people, all with their different takes on local food, have decided to do just that and are asking you to join them for a week!

Between Saturday 6 and Sunday 21 September, during Organic Food Fortnight and when food is at its most abundant in the UK, we ask you, for one week, to only eat food from a selection of the following sources:

- Organically grown UK food without plastic packaging – if it is organically grown on British soil, it qualifies, but obviously the more local the better. Plastic packaging is out.

- Foraged food – food growing wild and abundantly all over the UK – free rich pickings!

- Self-grown food – any food you, your friends or family have grown.

Visit http://eatthechange.org for more information and advice on how to do it.

Sign up at www.pledgebank.com/eatthechange - if you are taking part please sign up even though we’ve already reached our target so we can show how many people are taking part: we need as many people signed up as possible to make an impact.

Check our website: www.camdenfoe.org.uk for details of our next meeting.

Camden Council has recently introduced recycling of beverage cartons for residents. Seven collection points have already been set up around the borough where residents can bring their clean, flattened cartons. Camden Friends of the Earth would like to thank the Council for setting up the scheme. Further information, including the location of collection points, can be found on the Camden Council site