What about China?

One of the key issues at the recent G8 summit was the global increase in the cost of food. As discussed previously, the rising price of staple foods has been linked to the increased cost of oil, which has caused land previously used for food crops to be turned over to crops for bio-fuels.

At the summit in Japan, the World Bank President Robert Zoellick highlighted the growing food shortage and urged the US and ‘rich countries’ in the EU to reform their bio-fuels policies and concentrate on food production. All well and good but it’s hard to believe all this talk is going do much to curb the rate at which your weekly shopping bill is creeping up, especially considering the frequency of missed G8 targets.

But we’re not as helpless as we imagine, the average consumer might not be able to dictate how farmers use their land but we can make sensible choices when it comes to dinner time. You’d think, with the increased prices, that people would be making an effort to make each meal count, but a recent survey estimates the average UK household throws away £8 of leftovers a week and each year in the UK as a whole wastes 4 million tonnes of food. People are spending about 9% of their income on food, with poorer households forking out up to 15% of theirs on staple foods such as milk, eggs and bread – foods that have been hit hardest by price increases in recent months.

This week Gordon Brown urged Britons to stop wasting food and to avoid making unnecessary purchases. But it’s not just the consumers who need to change their habits, the government might be more successful in reducing waste if they tackled supermarkets directly. The Liberal Democrats environment spokesman Steve Webb, blamed the governments “cosy” relationship with supermarkets for their failure to change policies which make it harder for householders to avoid food waste: “They refuse to stock small portions, which are essential for the growing number of one-person households, and offer too many buy-one-get-one-free deals on perishable goods.” Supermarkets also account for a large percentage of waste and throw away large quantities of edible food through poor stock management.

So, what can you do? Try planning your evening meals for the week and using up tins you’ve shoved to the back of the cupboard. Making extra in the evening means you take care of lunch the next day too – and this saves on energy, as you won’t be turning the cooker on again. Cooking for more people always works out more economically so offer to cook for your flatmates or friends and get them to return the favour another night. You can also try avoiding supermarkets; they might seem cheaper at first but in the long term it means smaller shops can’t survive or have to put their prices up further. If you do have to go to the supermarket write a list and stick to it – don’t be tempted by offers which will leave you with a fridge full of out of date food.

Bethan

Qu: To what extent will reductions in carbon emissions in the UK as a result of greener cleaner technologies be compromised by predicted world population growth of (according to a study by the U.N) a further 2.5 billion souls by the 2050?

Good question, and one that seems to be ignored in the general media hype surrounding climate change. Everywhere you look media channels and big business alike are out to persuade individuals to ‘do their bit’ by reducing their personal CO2 emissions. All well and good and as an empowering strategy to positively impact climate change but one that starts to look more like a convenient marketing strategy when you consider predicted population growth. The sad fact is that unless we do something drastic out-of-control population growth will wipe out the gains by even the most ambitious conservation and recycling schemes.

As John Feeney, writing for The Guardian, points out: “To avert catastrophe, we need to reduce both factors in the equation: our numbers and per person consumption.”

Yet the population issue is routinely overlooked. Feeney goes on to highlight the work of the Global Footprint Network (GFN), which tells us that, given the current population, each person has an allowance of just under 1.8 gha (global hectares of biologically productive land and sea) to maintain a sustainable global footprint. Given our current average of 2.2 gha per person we are exceeding the earth’s limits by 25%.

The GFN calculate that a drop in consumption to 1.8gha per person in the UK would involve a reduction in consumption to match level of Uzbekistan. Globally this would mean radically raising or reducing the living standards of some countries not a very realistic prospect.

?And these stats don’t take into consideration the UN’s projected increase in population of 40% by the middle of next Century. Compensating for the rise would mean shrinking the global footprint to under 1.3 gha, roughly the level of Guatemala or Nigeria. Again – not a vision of the future I’d put my money on being realized.

Although it is important to do your best to minimize personal contribution to global consumption it’s equally useful to be aware of the issues involved. In the face of the UN’s predictions population is a very real factor in the climate change debate and should be treated as such by governments and the media.

Bethan

Further reading & useful sites:

The Optimum Population Trust
Sustainable Population blog

Qu: If turning off appliances, recycling etc. are just a drop in the ocean; is there any point doing them at all?

With all the media hype, the threat of peak oil and messages of impending catastrophe for the planet, I don’t blame you for feeling over faced. Ultimately global change will happen quickest if instigated by global leaders. Once out of the ground fossil fuels will be used and harmful pollutants emitted. Politicians must devise and implement policies that reduce the amount of coal, gas and oil extracted within, or imported into a country. The sad truth is that if leaders don’t control the amount of fossil fuels at source all our attempts to reduce emissions in a hundred little ways make a very small impact on the overall situation.

However, that doesn’t mean your efforts are useless. Every little does help, so keep up your recycling, turn of those appliance and encourage others to do the same. You can also use your vote to influence the way the government prioritises. Politicians won’t change unless the public puts pressure on them. If you don’t then it’s left to corporate lobbyists, who can twist legislation to ensure that corporate interests are served. As James Bruges writes in What About China? A new wave of thinking suggests that the solution must involve individuals.The atmosphere does not belong to corporations – not even to governments or countries. We all, as individuals, have an equal right to its life-maintaining properties.

Instead of getting demoralized find out who your local MP is and urge then to put a cap on the use of fossil fuels. Get inspired about what you can do by learning more about the transition town movement, where communities are successfully working together to find a post-carbon way of living.

Bethan