The February meeting of Enfield Climate Action Forum (EnCAF) focussed on the links between injustice in the global trade system and continuing failure to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases. There were presentations from four people involved in the launch of a bid to make Enfield an official Fairtrade Community.
Environmental campaigners have issued a challenge to the seven borough councils that are funding the North London Heat and Power Project - the construction of a new and larger incinerator to replace the existing facility in Edmonton: 'The question before north London's councils is: Will the decision to reverse course be taken now, responsibly, before costs skyrocket, opportunities for a green recovery are lost, and the equivalent of 250,000 diesel cars are added to our roads? Or will the decision be pushed off to the near future? That's the real call being made.'
The annual Fairtrade Fortnight runs from 22nd February to 7th March. This year there are three special events in Enfield (on Zoom, of course) which investigate how unfair trade terms are hampering international efforts to tackle global climate change.
How do Enfield Council's ideas for protecting and enhancing the borough's 'green and blue assets' measure up against the challenges of providing a healthy and pleasant environment, good jobs and, above all, halting climate change and mitigating its effects? In its consultation response, Enfield Climate Action Forum praises the draft strategy's ambition, its 'laudable goals and intentions' and 'real strengths', but concludes that it neglects some important opportunities and that overall it lacks a 'long-term all-embracing strategy to fulfil the admirable ambitions'.
A campaigning group set up to defend the borough's green belt and open spaces has published its submission to the council's consultation on a new 'blue and green strategy' for Enfield. While calling it 'ambitious with some worthy goals', Enfield RoadWatch is concerned about omissions from the draft - in particular with regard to agriculture and horticulture - and remains anxious about the possibility of development on Green Belt land. It is encouraging individual residents to register these concerns when responding to the consultation, which runs until 11th January.
Enfield North MP Feryal Clark was recently interviewed by three members of Enfield Climate Action Forum's youth section. All questions put by Navaeh West Lawson. Kim Ly and Dhaneesha Cattaree related to the plan to replace the existing incinerator on the North Circular Road in Edmonton with a much larger facility
Biodiversity is declining globally but one option for helping to reverse this issue is to improve natural spaces in cities for wildlife. This research project is exploring ways in which people perceive nature-based solutions to urban planning problems so that we can better enhance cities for people and nature.
Under the new government Green Homes Grant scheme homeowners and landlords can get up to £5,000 to pay for energy saving improvements. According to the government, more than 600,000 people could benefit from the new proposals which aim to cut carbon in our homes as well as providing green jobs.
An alliance of eight sustainable transport charities has issued a press release appealing to families to support their children to walk, cycle or use public transport as much as possible as they return to school in order both to protect their children's health and wellbeing and to support the effort to reduce carbon emissions to net zero in order to avoid climate catastrophe.
