The relentless rise of atmospheric CO2

Easy to get diverted by all the Tory shenanigans, but this is what really matters:

"Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are now comparable to where they were during the mid-Pliocene epoch, around 4.3 million years ago. During that period, sea level was about 75 feet higher than today, the average temperature was 7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than in pre-industrial times, and studies indicate large forests occupied areas of the Arctic that are now tundra."

And the rate of carbon dioxide release is accelerating...

How high above sea level do you live?

PS: did I mention methane?

 

In the sh..

The usual question is 'how deep?'  Whilst that can be difficult to answer, especially on a tidal river like the Adur, 'for how long?', insofar as 'stormwater' overflows are concerned, is much easier now thanks to the Rivers Trust (for its graphics based data presentation).  The Environment Agency has also improved its public data interface, showing just what was in the river when sampled: even more detail is available from the EA, but this much info tells you a lot!

As can be seen at a recent HDC meeting (at 1h17m), the cabinet member for Planning and Development was sticking to the 'we can't control such discharges' line, although recent legal advice to Lewes District would suggest otherwise to some extent.  Can some suitable words be levered into HDC's revised local plan?

'Predict and Provide' or 'Vision and Validate'

For many decades, UK transport planning has been based on the Predict (the new motor traffic growth) and Provide (the calculated new and improved roads and junctions) principle.  Not for any valid reason, just 'that's the way it's always been done'.  Mercifully, this is beginning to change, and rather than cutting and pasting from better authors, can I suggest a read of this opinion piece.

This is all very relevant to Horsham District, as the long awaited Local Plan should appear this coming November (Water Neutrality permitting) and it would make sense, given all the challenges ahead, to ensure that any strategic (ie significantly large) new housing developments have the vision to prioritise sustainable transport modes, rather than buckling under yet more private motor vehicles.

The snag, from a district councillor's viewpoint, being that WSCC Highways are a statutory consultee and, so far, their attitude to such matters is distinctly 'institutionally motorist'.  However, in the beginning it's a developer's site, and with encouragement, which ought to be in the new local plan, then sustainable transport routes should be prioritised.  A local test will be the potential Glebe Farm site east of the Steyning by-pass (for up to 265 dwellings, DC/21/2233).  Well within a 20 minute walk / 5 minute cycle ride to Steyning shops, but will it be easy and comfortable or difficult and dangerous?

An unfortunate choice of exemplar?

As part of its drive to encourage businesses to become low carbon, WSCC has commissioned a suite of short videos showing what it regards as exemplar businesses.  So far so good, but Horsham District's contribution is a beef farm 😲

Now I'm not going to argue that the way this particular farm operates is not 'lower carbon' than other, more conventional, beef farms, but surely that misses the point that as a matter of policy we need to eat less meat, both to reduce carbon emissions and reduce environmental damage.  

There is also the small matter of climate resilience, which the current drought is set to illustrate, as UK farmers struggle to produce the 50% (by economic value) of food that we eat in challenging and rapidly changing weather conditions.  It would be naïve to imagine that we can just import more - climate change is affecting our international suppliers too and it's going to get worse.  Fortunately we still have a civil service capable of analysing where we are now and predicting where we are going.  The United Kingdom Food Security Report 2021 spells it out in detail: but is anyone taking any notice?    

Panel of Experts or Climate Assembly?

Horsham's cabinet member for Environment and Rural Affairs has pinned his flag to a proposal for a Panel of Experts to be established to 'build on the work that the Council is already doing and set a framework for engaging with partners and the wider community' (see agenda Item 11 of June's cabinet meeting).  Those cabinet papers also state that 'The Environment and Rural Affairs Policy Development Advisory Group received a presentation on the proposal in this report on 16th May. The Group had some initial reservations about the approach, as it wanted to ensure that there would be adequate resident and business engagement.'  This somewhat neglects to mention that both Green (Mike) and LibDem members of that PDAG expressed a strong preference for a Climate Assembly!  Subsequently several pointed questions were asked by LibDem members at the June cabinet meeting.

Clearly this has struck a chord with the Horsham and Crawley LibDem party, to the extent that they have created an online petition, which Mike's happy to support.  I suspect that next week's council meeting could be 'interesting'...

And just for the record, I seconded the original 2019 LibDem climate emergency motion, and think that, for the community in Horsham District to get on board with action needed to both minimise climate change and improve climate change resilience, the action plan needs to come from the community, not be directed from above!

Is water neutrality good enough?

Natural England's September 2021 position statement effectively stops any development that is likely to increase water abstraction from the Adur catchment, but is this good enough?  Consider the key indicator species Anisus vorticulus, which has been affected to the point of extinction in the Arun Valley Special Area of Conservation.  (See, for example, the Arun Valley and Water Neutrality - FAQs - Developers.) 

As this is the current status quo then, logically, it follows that current levels of abstraction may still be leading to species decline, and what's needed is a reduction in current consumption levels, not maintaining the current level!  We councillors have some interesting times ahead...

Green Day at Steyning Festival

Happy to have spent most of yesterday at Steyning Festival's Green Day - mainly organised by Greening Steyning.  Lots of activities and information for all ages: the highlight for me were the late afternoon presentations under the heading of 'We’re all in it for nature: Celebrating and protecting local biodiversity' with some stunning films showing what's at risk locally, and what inspired groups are doing about it.  

Of particular note was the Biodiversity Action Group's Local Nature Map.  'Think Global; act Local' in action!