Here’s my take on why it makes utterly no sense not to be involved in politics – because we can all have an effect, especially locally. Meeting Ferguson yesterday – and listening to the Mayor of Ghent last Friday reminded me of the simple fact that it’s NOT just about the Big Guys (and isn’t it just a sea of male grey suits!) who matter. It’s ordinary people – we have proven that to enough with the Climate Vision report: thousands of cities around the world are taking the lead, thousands of groups and organisations and businesses are picking up the dropped climate change challenge baton, knowing that it makes perfect business, employment, financial, social and moral sense.
So today, a bit of a ‘rest’ day, I cycled down to l’Hotel de Ville by Notre Dame, where the City of Paris has an outdoor public exhibition demonstrating all the city is doing to encourage and support the growth of functioning sustainability in its remit. Excellent stuff – and entirely logical, not just for George to take back to his own city of Bristol, which is one place which is ripe and ready for just the sort of things Paris (and so many other cities) are yearning to embrace – but also for smaller communities.
[Can’t upload photo – will try later]
Solar on every municipal building; all municipal transport electric/hydrogen; embrace all forms of renewables, including ground-source heat pumps; insulate all homes; healthy food in schools and residential homes, hospitals etc; powerful liaison with local firms and landlords to improve private practice (it goes on). We have to invest in our future and that includes investing in the communal infrastructure, such that our communities can live and thrive sustainably. I reckon the knowledge, the incentive, the potential is all there, lurking in some brilliant minds. Where is the leadership? Well, there’s a whole lot more in our cities than there seems to be in Westminster.
[another photo for later]
