Memorandum submitted by Ms Katy Colman
(CRED 9)
I do not wish to speak before the committee
in January but I do wish to provide a written note of my points,
and hope that this is acceptable and that I am not too late.
1. What is the real scope for individual
and local community action to contribute to tackling climate change?
Some areas for possible consideration include:
— Increasing energy efficiency,
in particular the delivery of the Energy Efficiency Commitment
(EEC);As a member of the public I am unaware of what this is,
and I feel in my city I am able to increase energy efficiency
via recycling, though it angers me that the facilities vary enormously
from place to place, even just in my city. Whenever I move to
another town, I am unable to continue recycling in the same way.
And I truly believe that recycling methods must be standardised
so that people can become used to them wherever they are.
— Reducing energy consumption—not
only electricity, but also energy used in heating and transportation;
I have switched to NPower's "juice programme", which
buys back a clean unit of electricity for any that I use. However,
I feel unable to use much less with clean methods. I would love
to get hold of solar panelling and I have heard of funding but
I would have no idea of how to find out about it, or how to go
about getting any solar panelling.
— The provision of desirable low
carbon alternatives, such as energy saving light bulbs or using
public transport; Energy saving light bulbs are one of those things
which I keep meaning to buy but forget to do. I need more reminders.
I turn off my TV and wish that the government would force electrical
companies to make their products without a standby button, and
to have an on-off button instead so that I don't have to feel
guilty every time I forget to physically unplug my stereo from
the wall because it won't turn off otherwise. I heard suggestion
of this being implemented and hope that it will be? On an individual
level I find I am able to use public transport as I live in a
major city, but find that going across the city is very difficult
via bus and so I often have to get taxis because I am unable to
go on long journeys unaided. I know that a lot of people are put
off cycling because there is no provision, there are so many stories
of people being knocked off the road by lorries or cars, and it
is extremely intimidating biking down the main city centre roads.
There needs to be more awareness of cyclists, but also more means
to be able to do it, and more encouragement from local councils
to get people out of their cars and onto their bikes. This would
also obviously help with our growing obesity problems.
— The potential for, and barriers
to, microgeneration.
— The potential for "smart
metering"; I am unaware of what this is. I would love to
find out more.
— Awareness of climate change
and availability of information about the role of the individual
in tackling the problem. I can only say that from my personal
experience, learning about climate change is extremely difficult
unless you have an active interest and actively search for the
ways forward, which are often varied and contradictory.
2. What are the barriers to uptake of climate
change mitigation strategies at the level of the individual, and
how can they be overcome? Are current incentives such as the energy
efficiency commitment or graduated vehicle excise duty sufficiently
strong to affect behaviour?
Personally, I am unsure of what the energy efficiency
commitment is, which probably means I don't have enough awareness
of what is being done and what I can tap into to make a displayable
difference. I am a civil servant and don't feel that government
departments are setting a good enough example, by any means. I
know that there are certain projects going on which I am involved
in within my building, but I feel that we could do so much more
and should be doing as if the government isn't run in an environmentally
friendly way then how on earth will other people believe they
should be doing something themselves. In terms of excise duty
on vehicles, I don't believe that it can be enough simply because
so many people in the cities who drive not so far to go to work
have 4 by 4's. It doesn't appear to be enough to know they are
more polusive, I believe a lot of it is about image. Also the
fact that some people have misinformation about what is actually
correct in terms of how much pollution they give.
A main barrier to people doing something about
climate change on an individual level is the belief that nobody
else is, that climate change isn't really happening, that it would
be good for England to be warmer because it would be nicer, (totally
missing the point about climate change and focusing instead on
global warming terminology), or, that America and other huge countries
aren't doing anything so even if everyone in the UK did, it won't
achieve anything till the US moves. I truly believe that most
of this has to be solved via the government, with harsh legislation,
(but it is necessary and people need to be educated about the
necessary changes to lifestyle with financial incentives for doing
it), and influencing the US. As an individual, I feel so powerless
to affect the government of the UK and wish that they would do
more for me to affect change on the global and national scale
which I cannot do. I have my own website which I hope people read.
I tell everyone I see about climate change. I try to live as best
I can in a society which at the moment makes it hard to be efficient
and environmentally conscious, because of packaging on products
which I truly believe the government must do something about and
get supermarkets to make their packaging recyclable.
3. How can Government and other agencies—at
national, regional and local levels—encourage the uptake
of domestic emission reduction measures? What is the role of community
projects in schools and other public institutions?
The government can use financial incentives
to get supermarkets to ensure their products are packaged using
recyclable materials. This will solve the landfill problem and
help the environment
Providing more adverts containing tips rather
than directing to the climate challenge website would also help.
And providing much more information rather than just key facts
so that people understand why it is so important. Standardising
recycling methods (including what can go in what coloured bins
etc) for the whole country would also help. Taking on methods
of other countries such as Germany where Coca-Cola makes all of
its bottles in a reusable material so that when taken back to
the shops, consumers get some money back on the drinks they have
bought.
Ensuring that people understand how air travel
affects the environment so much more than trains etc, and helping
the railways to decrease their prices so that travelling from
London to Manchester by plane is not less expensive than doing
it by rail. Also ensuring people know to offset their emissions,
though this is not an ideal solution. I truly believe that making
tax on internal flights more expensive would begin to make people
realise the consequences of travelling by plane.
4. What is the role of NGOs in delivering
the "citizen's agenda" on climate change?
5. Are Domestic Tradable
Quotas (also known as personal carbon allowances) a viable option?
What other economic and other incentives for behavioural change
might also be considered?
I believe that giving each person a quota of
carbon emissions each year would be a hugely effective thing.
If people were fined for going over emissions then they would
make 10 times more effort to ensure they did do energy saving
tips. At the moment laziness, apathy and no incentives or visible
effects for not doing anything ensure that people can ignore the
problem. Making energy more expensive for overuse or fining people
when they go over carbon emissions would ensure that they had
choice in what they did or didn't do, and adapted their lifestyles
according to what worked best for them.
6. To what extent is "green taxation"
an effective driver of behavioural change?
I believe green taxation would be a good behavioural
change in the long-term, once people understood the alternative
ways in which they could pay less tax and thus be greener.
Ms Katy Colman
January 2007
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