“Nature is a beautiful and glorious thing and it is our duty to take care of the world”.
One of the young people who addressed the conference at the beginning.
Wet and windy weather did nor deter 274 people from attending a MESS afternoon event at Marple Sixth Form College on September 29th 2019. MESS member Gordon McKay opened by telling the audience that for the past 10 years MESS had been helping to raise awareness of the impact on our environment of climate change and this has now become a ‘hot topic’ as we are all encouraged to reduce our carbon emissions. Gordon went on to say “We hope today inspires each one of us to do something positive to save our planet, we should all listen to the science and be educated today”.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER-
DR. CHRIS JONES from THE TYNDALL CENTRE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH in Manchester.
He spoke about the problems facing mankind, emphasising that this is a human driven problem. He said, “We live in a warming world and global warming is likely to increase to 1.5 degrees C between 2030 and 2052.
The consequences include – sea level rise, heatwaves, rainfall intensity, drought and rain deficit, loss of biodiversity and eco systems, loss of coral reef and fisheries including food chains, ocean acidification and increased human health and economic inputs”.
Dr Jones went on to say, “We need a massive change globally”.
With regard to Stockport Climate Change Target: “There needs to be a reduction in carbon emissions and we need to start now by co-ordinating action between councillors, businesses, government and groups at the grass roots level. It is only by coming together and changing policy that carbon emissions will reduce”.
LOCAL SPEAKERS During the second half of the afternoon we were treated to a series of short talks by various speakers – home improvements, including draught proofing our homes, insulating roof, windows and walls to preserve heat. The ‘Food and Diet’ presentation challenged each person, “To eat a bit less but pay a bit more”. “Shop locally with locally sourced seasonal food”.
The picture shows Chris Buckley Present Chair of MESS talking on saving energy in the home
The ‘Walk and Ride Group’ explained how transport is a difficult topic to tackle but if we use a bike we will have “double benefits”, reduce carbon emissions and keep fitter.
Stockport Hydro’ spoke about the creation of local green energy and the educational role it plays in sharing expertise. A talk by ‘Friends of the Earth’ made a plea for us all to consume less food, energy and transport and to reverse the habits of a lifetime. “Recycle, repair and reuse”.
A vote of thanks was given by the Chair of MESS, Maureen Matthews, who challenged everyone to make a pledge before they left, stating that small personal changes in lifestyle can have a big global inpact. All the written pledges were placed on a board and included items such as ‘eat less meat’ ‘walk more’ ‘use the car less’ etc….
- STALLS IN THE CANTEEN Members of the public then left the hall to look around the varied and interesting stalls i.e. Red Cross Recycling, Marple Walk and Ride, SVC Lighting, Kindling Trust, Repair Cafe, Sustainable Food Diet and many more.
One of the highlights of the day was admiring the art work produced by six local schools. Tracey McGuinness-Kelly from ‘Stop Studio’ at the Goyt Mill, Marple had the pleasure of judging the exhibits. Tracey said, “The art works to depict climate crisis were outstanding with further potential for future projects to bring this subject to everyone’s attention”.
The clear message, as everyone went home was – ‘We hold the solutions to global warming in our own hands’.
See PHOTOS page for more!