by Claire Lamont
2. September 2009 11:30
Yesterday afternoon saw the launch of a new initiative from the team behind documentary The Age of Stupid, aimed at allowing all of us, from individuals to multi-national corporations, to have a real and positive impact in the fight against climate change.
The basic pledge of 10:10 is pretty self-explanatory: by signing up, individuals and organisations are agreeing to try to cut their emissions by 10% during 2010. Broadly trumpeted in yesterday’s Guardian newspaper, a few ‘Scanners went to the official launch at the Tate Modern after work to see what it is all about. Although we were only at the event for the final hour, we were able to take part in the group photo where individuals hold up their pledges showing how they’re going to lower their carbon count (our pledge to ‘eat less cheese’ will be a particular challenge, I feel) and I think we got a sense of the large-scale movement behind this initiative. We listened to talks from Alan Rusbridger of the Guardian and Simon Hughes from the Liberal Democrats about how their organisations plan to take part (and I see that the entire shadow cabinet has signed up today, although noticeably not the Conservative party itself) and a couple of our party signed up before we all moved to the pub and reflected on how we can go about lowering that 10%.
The 10:10 website provides some guidance as to how to go about lowering your carbon footprint, although I suspect that most of it (drive less, eat locally-sourced food, don’t leave appliances on standby...) will seem pretty familiar to a lot of people, particularly those who already committed in some way to reducing their carbon footprint. However, the effect that the pledge has had on me already has been quite striking; in forcing me to face up to a 10% reduction rather than a more vague plan to live in a more sustainable way, I am already re-considering my holiday plans for the next year and thinking about whether I really need those flights, or could better use my time and money on a more environmentally-friendly holiday. And I haven’t even officially signed up yet...
I’m sure this won’t be the last we hear of 10:10 on the blog over the next year or so, and I look forward to seeing the effect of this important and ambitious campaign as the year goes by.
www.1010uk.org
