Newcastle upon Tyne has been chosen as one of two pilots in England to develop a new 'green map' of action by local communities to tackle climate change. The map will be an online internet resource that will help anyone interested find out what is going on in their area and how they can get involved.
The project has been funded by the Green Alliance and is being led by Mapping for Change (www.mappingforchane.org.uk) in partnership with Newcastle Council for Voluntary Services
The map will also help show national organisations just how m,uch is going on at the local level in areas such as North Dorset, and the aim is this will help make more funding and support available.
1. Newcastle upon Tyne Climate Change Action Map Presented by: Louise Francis & Chris Church
2. Who Are Mapping for Change? Mapping for Change is a social enterprise promoting and supporting community-based initiatives towards building a more sustainable country through the use of maps. MfC comprises a partnership between UCL & London 21 Sustainability network Seven years ago we pioneered the first online “GreenMap” www.londongreenmap.org .uk
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5. Why Focus on Climate Change? Why does it matter? What can we do?
6. Why worry about climate change ? The Lancet (British medical journal) states that: “ Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century”
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9. So how certain is the science? There are 2400 scientists on the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change. The key scientific academies across the world support them including The Royal Society (UK), 1400 The Australian Academy of Sciences, 400 Brazilian Academy of Sciences, 536 Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 364 Royal Society of Canada, 900 National Academy Sciences (US) 2041 Caribbean Academy of Sciences, 200 Chinese Academy of Sciences 710 Académie des Sciences (France) 450 German Academy of Natural Scientists 1400 Indian National Science Academy, 125 Royal Irish Academy 404 Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Italy) 540 Royal Society of New Zealand, 1200 Science Council of Japan 2210 TOTAL 10,841
10. Hardly a few isolated eccentrics… They made this call in June 2005: “We call on world leaders to acknowledge that the threat of climate change is clear and increasing and to take prompt action to reduce the causes of climate change.”
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12. The consequences are likely to be severe… 1 °C 2 °C 5 °C 4 °C 3 °C Sea level rise threatens major cities Falling crop yields in many areas, particularly developing regions Food Water Ecosystems Risk of Abrupt and Major Irreversible Changes Consequences of global temperature change 0 °C Falling yields in many developed regions Rising number of species face extinction Increasing risk of dangerous feedbacks and abrupt, large-scale shifts in the climate system Significant fall in water availability e.g. Mediterranean and Southern Africa Small mountain glaciers disappear – melt-water supplies threatened in several areas Extensive Damage to Coral Reefs Extreme Weather Events Rising intensity of storms , forest fires , droughts , flooding, heat waves Possible rising yields in some high latitude regions
Mapping useful as it allows overlay of information, and EI is essentially about multiple exposures and the intersection of social and environmental dynamics.
Green Alliance are dedicated to making climate change a priority for mainstream political leaders Third sector uniquely placed to increase understanding and action at an individual and community level and to increase support for action at both local and national levels Green Alliance want to identify the barriers, across the third sector, and the links between climate change and their issues, and new approaches to accelerate commitment and action by the third sector and government. Deepening public support by enabling people to act together, through the networks and communities that they know and trust, is vital to securing the political action we need. Key to achieving this is the enormous range of voluntary, community and other groups that make up the third sector.
Chart shows the projected impacts of climate change the darkening shade shows the increasing risk and intensity of impacts as temperatures rise. Lots of uncertainty – in particular for things like precipitation BAU gives serious risks of exceeding 5degC. Note very much a development issue - Rising water stress - Falling farms incomes –economies are more dependent on agriculture ALSO - Malnutrition and disease - Pressure for migration and conflict Developed countries are not immune: - Water stress in southern Europe and California - Costs of extreme weather events (hurricanes, floods & heatwaves) - higher costs of insurance - big planetary risks Even if 550 - 3 degrees I’ll read you some of the impacts : Food : up to 60% more people at risk from hunger, with half the increase in Africa and W. Asia (assuming weak carbon fertilisation). Water: more than 1 billion people suffer water shortages, many in Africa (year:2080s). Ecosystems: 20 – 50% of species face extinction (!!!) Still risk abrupt and Major events: onset of irreversible melting of the Greenland ice sheet. Disaggregated impacts = key story, but can we model these magnitudes at an aggregate level? Can we pin large scale aggregate numbers on all these changes?
Maps are often created with a political agenda or in order to highlight physical attributes. The reality is that the official information represented in maps doesn’t always tell the whole story. What we do is to work with communities through the use of maps to find out facts about an area from the local perspective. People who live and work in a community know what it is happening at the local level. They also know what it is they like and dislike about an area, and are best placed to communicate the work that is being done around specific issues. These maps can bring new issues and information to the table and identify specific elements for action planning. These can be disseminated across the community and they can be used by various stakeholders to address some of the sensitivities required in delivering a sustainable communities. The question we ask is what do you as a community want to map.
Main objective is to use internet based maps to show people the different organisations, projects and initiatives around the issue of sustainability and climate change within north Dorset. The same maps can also show the areas that people are concerned about, show what’s being done by local communities and the things they want to celebrate, as well as share knowledge and best practice. The precise content of the maps will be decided by you and local people who we will supported to develop it.