Letters: COP26 summit and climate emergency in Islington

R Walford, Islington, full address supplied, writes:

Do you have a valued family heirloom that you look after? Are you lucky enough to have a beautiful home that you carefully maintain, at some cost? As a child I was taught to be careful and not damage things. As an adult I look after my possessions and like to see them have a long life. I’ve gradually come to see that none of us actually own anything – we are just caretakers, looking after things for the next generation.

So why are we so careless with our most valuable possession – the life-support system that is our planet? We treat it like a storeroom that we can raid at will, and a dumping ground into which we can throw our rubbish. As caretakers of the planet the human species has proved unworthy.

For example, we use up resources manufacturing and fuelling massive SUV cars, pollute the air by driving them short journeys, and quickly discard them for newer models. We are rapidly destroying this planet which has been given to us to look after.

With COP26 currently in progress we all need to wake up to our responsibilities. We must change our ways and treat our planet as the precious home that it is, for us and future generations. And many people are doing just that: people are eating less meat and dairy; people are changing to green energy suppliers; and people who might otherwise make those short journeys in SUVs are walking or cycling instead. And they can do that because the Council are introducing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods which make the roads safe. Look after the planet - support these LTNs - lowtrafficislington.org. Talk to your family, friends and neighbours – they are probably also concerned and want to help.

10 years

Cllr Caroline Russell, London-wide Assembly Member, Green Party, writes:

If the next 10 years are crucial to saving the planet from catastrophic climate change, as Sir David Attenborough and so many others maintain, then action needs to start immediately, not wait till the 10 years are nearly up. The COP26 climate conference, currently gathering in Glasgow, is widely seen as our last chance to put adequate plans in place in time to achieve this, and our government, as host and chair of the conference, is uniquely placed to influence its outcome.

Climate activists hold giant illuminated letters at COP26 (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Last week’s budget, however, encouraged people to fly more within the UK, by halving the tax on domestic flights, and made driving more affordable, by freezing fuel duty for the 12th year in a row.

Our government is currently also considering giving permission to open a huge new oil field west of the Shetland Islands and a new coal mine off the Cumbrian coast.

Such irresponsible measures and mixed messages fly in the face of the UK’s legally binding target to reach “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050, send hugely contradictory signals to the world’s leaders and negotiators, and risk seriously undermining our influence at the COP. This is weakened further by our prime minister’s reliance on Muppets, Wombles and fatuous slogans, like “coal, cars, cash, trees” to communicate on the subject, rather than presenting a clear and consistent vision of the path to net zero.

Within the country, it is clear that Boris Johnson’s administration would rather promote simplistic technological solutions than encourage people to do the right thing. The air source heat pumps and electric cars it’s talking about so much may be valuable parts of the equation but we actually need people to drive less and insulate their flats and houses more, not just buy electric cars and install heat pumps, or there simply won’t be enough ‘clean’ electricity available to power all of those vehicles or heat all of our homes. The government claims that in our mature UK democracy it would rather rely on individuals making informed choices than tell us what we should do but that feels alarmingly like them just thinking the behavioural changes the emergencies call for are significant, will affect all our lives, and so might be unpopular and risk losing them votes.

Millions of us, across the country and the world, want to do our bit but the information we need to inform ourselves about the choices is unfamiliar and often quite technical, so it feels reckless in the extreme to just hope everyone will make the right decisions. In a time of unparalleled global climate emergency, is it really too optimistic to look to our government to explain what needs doing and why? To put the necessary financial support in place so that we can all afford to do it? To promote those explanations and measures, clearly and strongly? To look for actual leadership from our leaders? And to hope they can step up to the mark, so that COP26 achieves what we all need it to achieve.

If Gazette readers want their voices to be heard, they can join a rally for the COP26 Global Day of Action this Saturday, November 6. Tens of thousands are expected to gather at noon, outside the Bank of England, before marching to Trafalgar Square for a rally at 3pm.

Angry

K Fallon, Islington, full address supplied, writes:

Angry motorists. National and local politicians know all about them. Reallocate public space away from motor cars and suddenly normally quiet mailboxes and meetings are quiet no longer. Apoplectic drivers are on the warpath.

Yet what follows this driver rage is a curious paradox. Again and again the same politicians responsible for making roads quieter and greener are re-elected. And not only re-elected but often with increased majorities.

Presumptions that these improvements must be political poison have been shown again and again to be false, in both opinion polls and elections. Healthy streets and liveable towns and cities are both good policies and good politics.

Waltham Forest councillors revolutionised their borough streets with low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), resulting in measurably cleaner air, healthier residents, and even increased life expectancy. Lo and behold, in subsequent elections those councillors responsible both retained their seats and even won increased majorities.

Sadiq Khan was re-elected in May after both reallocating road space from motors and pledging a massive increase in the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ). Tory opponent Shaun Bailey vehemently opposed both restricting motors and thereby making walking and cycling safer yet Khan won 55 per cent of the runoff vote. In Milan, Paris, Barcelona and Oslo, where ambitious healthy streets have been created, we have seen a similar picture.

In our social media age, any controversy drives clicks and “engagement” which is why we see healthy streets unendingly described as a “war on the motorist” rather than as simply the most healthy and efficient way to move people while fighting the climate emergency.

After a decade of confected media outrage, could we hope that the argument is settled, and walking and cycling are simply seen as a sensible way of getting around our city?

Two anomalies

Eilidh Murray, Islington, full address supplied, writes:

Children joined medics, environmentalists, campaigners and academics to show their support for Islington Council's People Friendly Streets scheme (Image: David Harrison)

While I commend the council team of officers under the leadership of Cllr Rowena Champion for the successful start of their roll-out of People Friendly Streets (PFS) schemes, there are still two anomalies which need fixing.

The first is the current roamer scheme which allows Islington permit holders the freedom to park in resident bays within any controlled parking zone between 11am and 3pm daily. It was introduced 10 years ago against fierce opposition and defended equally fiercely in 2019 by the ex-environment lead Claudia Webbe. The roamer scheme actively encourages short car trips and should be scrapped; let’s hope that this can be achieved before May 2022.

The whole business case for PFS is to reduce the number of cars on our roads resulting in a cleaner, safer and quieter borough for residents. About 68 per cent of journeys in London are under five miles, a distance easily cycled, scooted or made on public transport, leaving the roads clearer for those with no choice but to use them. The climate emergency demands that we fall out of love with cars and start to use other sustainable modes of transport to get around.

The second anomaly is EVs which benefit from free parking in Islington - that’s totally free, not reduced or subsidised - which is indefensible. We need fewer cars, not newer cars. The recent BBC quiz on how we can cut our carbon emissions, question 3, bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58996348 got it wrong. Public transport is by far the better choice over EVs which have embedded carbon and create pollution from gear and brake particulates. For more information on why Evs are not the silver bullet they are claimed to be, please see barnsburystmarys2020.ghost.io/vehicular-pollution/

For the 26pc of residents who own a car in Islington, try leaving your car, whether petrol, diesel or EV, at home for short trips and see how you get on – you might come to enjoy walking, cycling or scooting around our quiet PFS areas!