news story

Region's Young Climate Change Champion backs FSFC

On Friday 23rd March 2007 the South West’s young climate change champion gave her support to Fair Shares, Fair Choice, a project to help you make positive choices towards low carbon living, with Sustainability South West in Bristol’s most sustainable restaurant.

Young people in the region will be most affected by the impacts of climate change. Defra’s Youth Climate Change Champion for the South West is 14-year-old Lucy Stansfield, who is working to raise awareness among the region’s young people of the need to combat climate change. Lucy says “I have been involved in quite a few things both nationally and internationally, however this is my first regional event. I am very excited to be here to support this great project. It is really important that we all make the effort to reduce our impact on the environment“.

Lucy joined other guests to celebrate the launch of the climate change project by enjoying a ‘fair share’ piece of a specially baked Fair Shares, Fair Choice low-carbon cake made with locally sourced and fair-trade ingredients. Amy Robinson, Sustainability Manager at the Bordeaux Quay restaurant on Bristol’s waterfront, also supports the new project explaining, "Individuals and businesses need to start taking responsibility for the impact that they have on the environment. At Bordeaux Quay we are working hard towards a sustainable future. We are very pleased to support this initiative and hope that others will follow suit." [Read Bordeux Quay's workplace story]

A new 10 year carbon budget* shows that we all need to reduce our CO2 emissions by roughly 10% this year and by around 30% (on the current average) by 2017. Sustainability South West’s scheme, Fair Shares, Fair Choice, recognises the urgency for short-term action with annual targets to achieve climate safety and the need for a fair share approach in which everyone has an equal share of carbon to use or trade with should systems become available. Sustainability South West’s Director, Leslie Watson, explains “Experts advise that what we do during the next 10 years will matter most in the battle to halt runaway Climate Change, so we have no time to waste - it’s time for action! The Fair Shares, Fair Choice carbon budget won’t short change the less well-off - or the planet. The carbon budget is based on the principles of an internationally recognised model, 'Contraction & Convergence', [see the science] which predicts how the atmosphere will behave over time. It calculates carbon budgets which are applied in an equitable way, recognising the differences between developed and developing economies.”

The new Fair Shares, Fair Choice website offers individuals, businesses and organisations and schools and community groups the chance to sign up to the principle of a fair carbon share. Online resources also offer people their choice of virtual ‘carbon coaches’, characters who offer positive advice, tips and encouragement for living within a fair carbon budget at home, work and play [see act now].

The project has received Defra funding from the Government Office of the South West. Andrew Slade, GOSW's Director of Sustainability and Rural Affairs, who has himself signed up to the Fair Shares, Fair Choice challenge, says, "This is a great way for people to learn about the principles of carbon-budgeting, to work out the personal impact they are having on climate change, and to make their own contribution to tackling the problem.  Everyone can play a part."

*Report available on request, please contact us for your copy.