Tom Youngman

All this week People & Planet and the UK Youth Climate...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:30:45 +0000

All this week People & Planet and the UK Youth Climate Coalition have been campaigning to prevent oil from the Canada’s Tar Sands - a huge fuel deposit that requires decimation of the Canadian wilderness to extract - from being sold in the EU. This oil’s extraction is at least five times more carbon-intensive than usual and, if Canada’s tar sands are fully exploited, according to NASA climate scientist James Hansen it’s “game over for the climate”.

Europe is on the verge of banning this and other especially damaging fuels from being sold within it’s borders - but the UK is obstructing progress! Join me in calling on the UK government to support the European Fuel Quality Directive preventing the sale of tar sands oil.

"Beauty is in the eye of the gasholder"

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:17:02 +0000

Two weeks ago Bryan Chalker (author of the terrible/amazing pun above), the Mayor of Bath, wrote to the Bath Chronicle suggesting the reuse of Bath’s soon-to-be-demolished gasholder as a space for education, community and creativity. He referenced this incredible project in Vienna where old ‘gasometers’ have been beautifully refashioned into housing and community space.

This week my letter supporting the proposal, and bemoaning Bath’s lack of community space, was published in the Bath Chronicle:

The city of Bath desperately lacks space for the community. In the search for tourism and international acclaim, Bath’s council has forgotten its residents.

Our city centre is no longer a space for the community – high rents and council bias have meant our city centre is now a space reserved for boutiques and large chains appealing to visitors from outside the city.

What we do not need is new space created. The city occupies a large area already. What we need to do is use our space more intelligently. Our city is filled with old, disused buildings that with a bit of imagination, could provide Bath with space for the community and for creativity. The empty shops of our high streets and the empty offices of London Road could easily become lively space for events, exhibitions and social enterprise. At present they stand empty – some for a matter of years – while inspiring community projects are cancelled because they cannot find affordable space in the city centre.

Recently, the Mayor of Bath, Councillor Bryan Chalker wrote to the Chronicle to propose the reuse of the city’s remaining gasometer as a community space. This is exactly the sort of ambition and imagination the city needs. The structure is a part of Bath’s heritage, and with a bit of imagination and architectural skill (provided by one of the many architects resident in the city) it could become a gem in our skyline. But more important is what could fill it.

A concert venue. Housing. A new school. These are some of the ideas being thrown around. Personally, I would like to see a space open to the whole community – a space for creativity and social enterprise. A space for discussion, exploration or even performance. A space to bring Bath’s currently separate communities – of young people, families, older people, students and others – together. A space the community can come together whether it can afford to spend money in Bath’s expensive businesses or not.

I hope others in the city see the true potential this project has.

"The urge to knit is surely the most moral force in the world."

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:31:21 +0000

“The urge to knit is surely the most moral force in the world.”

- The Guardian, 10th February 1961: “Teenage knits: two thirds of teenagers are knitters, says survey”

Matt Adam Williams: Decisions, decisions

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:32:17 +0000

Matt Adam Williams: Decisions, decisions:

What is the role of a conservation organisation in debate around national public projects? A great piece from my friend, Matt, on the stance of the RSPB. I find the case in the extract below particularly uplifting - all too often ‘conservation’ gets itself confused with ‘conservatism’ and panders to NIMBYism. Great work, RSPB.

mattadamwilliams:

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve come across a lot of public projects that the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has had an outspoken public opinion on. The voice of a conservation organization making mainstream media is a very welcome sight. At times, however, the position can be a little more complicated than just sticking up for the interests of wildlife.

…

Today, a piece in the Guardian focuses on local residents’ criticisms of the RSPB which is refusing to oppose plans for wind turbines near its Bempton Cliffs seabird colony reserve. The RSPB sensibly says that there is no evidence the wind turbines will have an adverse effect on wildlife and that “in wider terms, energy from windpower is clean and renewable, and if there is one overwhelming threat to wildlife and conservation, it is global warming.” I couldn’t agree more that the conservation movement should stop cutting off its nose to spite its face when it comes to renewable energy developments. However, local residents seem disappointed that their nimbyism can’t freeride on the back of concerns about wildlife.

"The root causes of economic and social injustice and climatic degradation are identical: an economic..."

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:12:08 +0000

“The root causes of economic and social injustice and climatic degradation are identical: an economic system for which people and planet are no more than raw materials in a machine driven by short-term gain for a few.”

- Peter Coville in The Occupied Times. I concur.

From the article: “3 Reasons Why The 99% Must Now Take the Lead on Climate Change”.

Occupied Times: "A Diplomatic Occupation: Reclaiming the Debate at the UN Climate Talks"

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:44:28 +0000

The Occupied Times is the newspaper of and for Occupy London, an incredible, independent publication that perfectly demonstrates the creative and collaborative energy behind the Occupy movement. For their latest issue (see #10, PDF), I wrote an article about my experiences at the UN Climate Talks in Durban, South Africa and how we used the principles and methods of the Occupy movement to push for change in a diplomatic setting.

The following is the opening of the full article which you can read here.

On 9 December 2011 we came, we saw, and although we didn’t conquer the United Nations, for two hours it felt as if we had.

Towards the end of last year I travelled to the United Nations climate talks in South Africa. I had received funding from people in my local community and went to push the negotiations forward, not to obstruct them. I am 18, and I joined hundreds of young people of a similar age at these negotiations, all of us looking for a political solution to climate change to match the technical and social ones that already exist.

Young people attending the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) climate talks ran an open, inclusive, consensus-based process, meeting every morning and working to actively facilitate new participation. Teams of experienced activists spent hours one-on-one with those entering, unprepared into the perplexing world of international climate politics, building in them the confidence and skills needed to enable full participation.

…

Keep reading here for the exciting stuff!

"I think our roads are statistically safer largely because soft targets, particularly child cyclists,..."

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:18:50 +0000

“I think our roads are statistically safer largely because soft targets, particularly child cyclists, have almost entirely retreated from them. But the roads are not really safer. It’s just that people have learned to avoid them unless they themselves go out in armour, and have narrowed their lives as a result.”

- Peter Hitchens in the Mail on Sunday. Yes, the Mail on Sunday.

Sometimes not even a terrible cameraphone can get in the way of...

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:21:00 +0000

Sometimes not even a terrible cameraphone can get in the way of a good photo. Fog over Bathampton this morning.

"It’s not a great big boast because we’ve never had a green government. We are the..."

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:10:00 +0000

“It’s not a great big boast because we’ve never had a green government. We are the greenest government ever but that’s not enough, we need to be a hell of a lot greener that we are.”

- Tory MP and former editor of The Ecologist, Zac Goldsmith on the BBC’s ‘HARDtalk’.

I think I concur. Not going to give the government much praise but, as he rightly says, it’s not hard to be the greenest government ever.

In November I did a ‘TED’ talk at a TEDxYouth event...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:38:00 +0000

In November I did a ‘TED’ talk at a TEDxYouth event in Bath. This is it! It was a little scrappy, but hope it’s of interest.

Communicating the Challenge is the Challenge: Looking Back on the UN climate talks in Durban

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:13:28 +0000

Three weeks ago, I made this video. I was exhausted, husky and, if I’m honest, disheartened. I’d just spent two weeks at the United Nations climate talks in Durban, South Africa. They were the best weeks of my life, but that it’s taken me until now to write something about it says it all.

I applied to be on the UK Youth Climate Coalition’s delegation to the UN (pictured, right) in April. When I heard the news of my selection, that in seven months time I would be at the UN, attempting to make change on a truly daunting scale, I was staying with an exchange family in rural Spain. My immediate challenge was explaining what this meant in my second language to people with little knowledge or interest in climate change. Although they were sympathetic, I’m not sure my host family really understood what I meant - but they did let me use their computer for my first delegation Skype calls.

Returning from Durban, I’ve found myself clasping helplessly at words out of my reach when asked the question “how was South Africa?” to the extent I did when trying to explain my excitement in Spanish back in April. If I’m honest, I’ve found it hard to reconnect with my friends back home. It’s not about the people, it’s about the purpose. I’d spent two weeks with a clear aim, working with groups of peers with a shared goal and more than enough enthusiasm to make up for our lack of agency or resources. I planned my days at 8:30am and often didn’t finish work until 2:00am. It was ridiculous, but it was glorious.

I think the bizarre experiences are what convey the wonder of it best. I met the Bolivian Minister for the Environment at 3:00am, me wearing no socks and shoes, and chatted to him in Spanish. I played a rather fun game called ‘Ninja’ with a very senior British diplomat. I attempted to get on the 10 o’clock news by offering a man tinsel. I shouted the loudest I’ve ever shouted (video, rally inside conference centre pictured, left - can you spot me?) - and was echoed by hundreds of others - inside the conference centre.

But after all that, the conference did not deliver a solution. In the video I recorded three weeks ago today, I was downtrodden. That was justified. The way the decisions were made was fast, closed and undemocratic. Documents were released and agreed faster than we could get to the Documents Counter to collect them, let alone read them. This was not the open, consensus process the UNFCCC (the part of the UN that deals with climate change) likes to claim it is. This was old-fashioned, closed-door diplomacy. If that was an effective way of delivering a solution, I’d be happy, but it isn’t. It left decisions till the eleventh (if only it was that early….) hour and gave poorer nations no input whatsoever. Let’s be frank, what we have on the table now is shit. But it could be worse, we could have nothing. One day, some flowers could use this shit to grow.

I’ll take most not from the conference, but from the people I’ve met. I’ve met people of character far beyond the leaders attending the talks. Young people have spent months preparing off their own back, and most, like me, have funded themselves, running events and raffles and seeking support from their families, friends and communities. No politician did that to attend this conference. No politician can speak with the conviction of any of the young people that went to COP17.

So where am I now? I have emerged from what I can only define as a great struggle for me, and I’ve emerged stronger. It is now 2012. As I start a new year, it is not about finding a new challenge, but about finding away to continue the old one, and use the skills, connections and experience I have built. For me, this year is about action at home, using knowledge from outside in the context I know best. It’s about using that to inspire others to do the same in their communities.

So what do I think you should take from this? I don’t know. Open yourself up to all challenges. Discover what you’re passionate about and pursue it further than anyone ever imagined it could be pursued. Ultimately, don’t let me patronise you. This is my story, for now. I look forward to reading yours.

I went to Durban with the UK Youth Climate Change Coalition (UKYCC) - see our delegation’s blog here. I was kindly supported by many friends, family members, local businesses and by my local community - you can see a full list here. To see photos of the trip, visit my own Flickr page or the UKYCC flickr page.

Bruce Munro’s Field of Light, currently at the Holburne...

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:16:01 +0000

Bruce Munro’s Field of Light, currently at the Holburne Museum in Bath.

So I’ve just spent three weeks in Durban, South Africa to...

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:25:00 +0000

United Kingdom placard in plenary hall

The UKYCC delegation

The emergency youth press briefing

So I’ve just spent three weeks in Durban, South Africa to attend the United Nations climate change negotiations. It was the hardest experience of my life, but also the best experience of my life. Although making change in a place with so little agency was demoralising, to attempt it with hundreds of fellow young people of incredible enthusiasm and intelligence from around the world was wonderful. I’ve made friends I’ll never lose, from the UK Youth Climate Coalition delegation with which I went to Durban and from all over the globe..

Stay tuned for a longer reflection.

"I’ve been away for a while (to Durban, South Africa to be precise). I’ll tell you all..."

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:10:41 +0000

“I’ve been away for a while (to Durban, South Africa to be precise). I’ll tell you all about it soon.”

Unstrange Minds: Enviro-psychology: can the children of today save the world of tomorrow?

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:15:43 +0000

Unstrange Minds: Enviro-psychology: can the children of today save the world of tomorrow?:

To think I inspired such an awesome blog post! Make sure you check it out in full.

psychologeek:

My friend is heading to the UN in Durban later this week for climate change negotiations there, and it got me thinking about climate change and the psychology of such a world-changing issue. Conveniently, a recent edition of the BPS research digest had the perfect report!

….

The interesting bit is this - when asked to justify their decisions about the environmental problems, 74% of answers were ”biocentric” - e.g ‘the tree is alive and they have hurt it’, with 26% being ”anthropocentric” - e.g ‘without trees we’d have no oxygen’.

So the first line of this article was ‘children in NE USA see harms to the environment as worse morally than bad manners’, but psychologeek’s conclusion is this - why is harming the environment seen as actively more ok than harming another human being? And then contrastingly, why is harming the environment viewed only by a minority as a wrongdoing to humanity?

I know my friend heading out to the UN views climate change as a very human issue. And I think I’ve got to agree. The likelihood is the earth will survive whatever we throw at it. It will warm, and cool, and carry on turning. We won’t. Humans won’t survive flash flooding, tsunamis, hurricanes and drought. So while it’s great that children acknowledge harming the environment as a bad thing, it doesn’t seem to have gone far enough. Harming the environment is synonymous with harming another human, in fact worse - it’s harming humanity as a whole.

Tom at the UN: Update #1 (Preparations!)

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:23:00 +0000

Hello!

I’m heading out to Durban, South Africa for the UN climate change negotiations in just four days time! Here’s some stories and videos about the hopes and expectations from different quarters. I’ll be sending out four or so updates like these over the course of the conference: contact me if you’d like to be added to my mailing list.

In this update:

Our reflections after our final training weekend
Introduction to the UN climate change process
How to follow the negotiations
New study shows links between climate change and extreme weather
Durban Dares
How to follow the UKYCC delegation

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UK Youth Delegation - final training weekend and hopes and expectations

On 12 and 13 November we held our final training weekend down in London. Check out this video of our final thoughts about the coming weeks.

Still confused or want to follow the negotiations for yourself?

If you’re still a little confused by what the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is all about, then earlier in the year Kristina from the delegation did an excellent blog for those unacquainted with the weird and wonderful world of the UN climate talks.

Click ‘read more’ to see this update in full…

If you’re keen to follow the progress of the negotiations, and particularly the involvement of young people, then keep your eyes on three places:

un.ukycc.org - our website where we’ll be posting blogs, photos and videos.
The Adopt a Negotiator Project - An excellent blogging platform which tracks the progress of the negotiations from day to day
Youth Climate - where you can follow the activities of young people from across the globe at the negotiations

New study shows links between climate change and extreme weather

This week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (which provides the scientific evidence for the international climate negotiations) published a new report that shows increasing scientific evidence behind climate change and increasing likelihood of extreme weather events.

The Guardian’s story offers a good summary of the report.

Durban Dares

Also, watch out for our Durban Dares - a series of challenges that you can take part in to help tackle climate change and support us.

And if you want to get in touch with us and let us know what you want us to be saying to negotiators about a clean, safe future, or with any other thoughts, drop us an email to: delegation-enquiries@ukycc.org

How you can help us: if you can repost links to our blogs to your personal facebook or twitter acccounts, that would be amazing!

Find us @ukyccdelegation or our blogs at un.ukycc.org

And we’ll be in touch again soon with our next newsletter and blogs all the way from South Africa!

"You’re fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day."

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:32:45 +0000

“You’re fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day.”

- Barack Obama talking about Binyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, after President Sarkozy of France remarked about Netanyahu: “I can’t stand him. He’s a liar.”

bradofarrell: #OccupyHoenn

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 00:36:19 +0000

bradofarrell:

#OccupyHoenn

"If the downward trend continues — and if anything it seems to be accelerating — we’re just a few..."

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 23:48:47 +0000

“If the downward trend continues — and if anything it seems to be accelerating — we’re just a few years from the point at which electricity from solar panels becomes cheaper than electricity generated by burning coal.”

- Paul Krugman, Economist, Nobel Prize winner. (via the Climate Reality Project)

How is the fund-raising for the UN trip going?

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:23:02 +0000

It’s going well, thank you! I’ve raised about £1200 - so only £200 left to go. I’ve got about £50 - £100 already lined up but I’m not sure where I’m going to get the last bit from.

My ‘thank you’ page for supporters is here, if you’re interested: youngman.me.uk/un