News Feeds | ecology.iww.org (2024)

Note: This episode was recorded before the results of the U.S election were published.

How do we define the success of a city? Or a country? Or human civilisation all together? The last 60 years we've been tied to GDP, growth, trade surpluses, amounts of debt, the strength of currency. Economic strength has been the barometer for the majority of the world to look to when we want to know how we're doing. If stock and shares are high surely there can't be any problems? When an economy bifurcates massively between the haves and the have nots, and to become a haver you need to extract from the environment considerably, measures of economic superiority really start to miss the point. So what's the alternative?

Joining us on the podcast this week is Professor Julia Steinberger ( @JKSteinberger). Julia is a Professor in social ecology and ecological economics at l'Université de Lausanne in Switzerland and is currently working on the next IPCC report on climate change . We discuss the links between consumption and capitalist affluence, how epicurean philosophy has informed economics of the past 50 years and the balancing act of extraction for a greener future.

Shout outs

Councillor Jon Burke
@jonburkeUK

Marcus Rashford
@MarcusRashford

Swiss campaign for corporate accountability

**LINKS**
Scientists warning on affluence (co-authored by Julia)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16941-y

The Flawed science of deep adaptation

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/faulty-science-doomism-and-flawed-conclusions-deep-adaptation/

As a blanket statement, Left politics is about establishing and maintaining mass movements, thousands hopefully millions of people into a cohesive group to fight back against concentration of power in the world. At the same time left wing politics is classically factious with splinter groups and offshoots starting regularly. Looking into a different sphere in 2011, 59 million people saw them selves as Christians in the UK. So what is religion getting so right that maybe we're getting wrong? What do Christians in the U.K think about climate change? And what do they want to do about it?

This week we are joined by Reverend Grace Thomas (@GraceREThomas) from Moss side to discuss, building communities, the christian approach to climate change and was Jesus really a socialist?

Shout outs
Inspired by grace blakeley's new podcast A World to Win, where she recently interviewed Cornell West on Christian Socialism. https://tribunemag.co.uk/a-world-to-win

Cornel West
@CornelWest

Grace Blakeley
@graceblakeley

Greater Manchester Savers network
@GMSavers

Moss Side Eco Squad
@moss_side_eco

Upping it
@UppingIt

Hannah Malcom - researching climate greif
@hannahmmalcolm

Christian Climate Action
@CClimateAction

Prestwich Environmental Forum
@PrestwichForum

Incredible edible
@IEPrestwich

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After a technical hitch (some say Andrew tried to turn his whole house carbon zero with just a mirror and a kettle), we are back delivering high quality low carbon local environmental news!

This week we are joined by members from the campaign to save Ryebank Fields, an area of re-wilded land in south Manchester. Julie and Tara talk us through the work that themselves and there comrades have been doing to stop Manchester Metropolitan University from developing the land and destroying the green field site. We discuss the rare biodiversity in the area, the history of the land and if the arguments for housing stack up against saving city ecology.

https://www.saveryebankfields.org/

"Shout outs"

Dave Bishop- chair of Friends of Chorlton Meadows
Youth Strike for Climate Manchester
@Youthstrikemcr

research on rewilding to sequester CO2 by Rio de Janeiro University
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2784-9

Cambridge zero carbon campaign
@ZeroCarbonSoc

Marion Smith and Pooja Kishinani of Climate Emergency Manchester have developed a students guide to the climate crisis

https://climateemergencymanchester.net/student-climate-handbook/

@poojakishinani

@GoGoSuperMarion

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City councils don't often get the same attention as the national political movers. Important decisions are still being made though when it comes to our environment and the impact we have on it. In hopefully the first of 96 interviews with Greater Manchester City Councillors we will delve into the heart of local politics and see what those who sit in power think about the climate emergency, the repercussions of our actions on the climate and what our elected representatives at a local level think the city can do to save us from environmental collapse. This is an exercise in good faith and activists listening to the problems our representatives face.

Joining us this week is Sam Wheeler, Labour Councillor for Piccadilly ward. Focusing on his patch, the city centre, we discuss the history of Manchester council, how to allocate carbon produced across the region and does Manchester need a 7th climate scrutiny committee?

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Get involved with the Retrofit Get-in Project
https://vimeo.com/459003183

The Green New Deal has been around for just over a decade, with it's origins beginning in the U.K. It made it's first big splash in the US with the likes of AOC and Bernie Sanders calling for the fundamental decarbonising of the US economy and economic justice for all citizens. The support for the GND and these candidates doesn't come from wall street but a ever growing grass roots campaign that wants life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to be for all Americans.

This week we are joined by Guido Girgenti from the Sunrise Movement & the Justice Democrats (@guidogir) to discuss how the GND plays in in US politics, How do you organise in such a large nation, how to appeal to young voters and people Bernies age and what work progressives have to do if Joe Biden wins the presidential election.

links
Sunrise Movement
https://www.sunrisemovement.org/

We shine Bright- New book by the Sunrise Movement
https://bookshop.org/books/winning-the-green-new-deal-why-we-must-how-we-can/9781982142438

Gabriel Wienant Chronopolitics
https://nplusonemag.com/issue-37/politics/coronavirus-and-chronopolitics-2/

Swarm wise by Rick Falkvinge
https://falkvinge.net/files/2013/04/Swarmwise-2013-by-Rick-Falkvinge-v1.1-2013Sep01.pdf

Shout out
Jamall Bowman running for New York 16th district
@JamaalBowmanNY

Louie Beckett running the Moston miners community center

Progressive International and Pawel Wargan
@ProgIntl

Manchester Green Summit
@GMGreenCity

Apologies for some of a the audio quality, will be back on form next week.

Over August bank holiday and early September Extinction Rebellion lead protests and direct actions in major cities in the U.K with the most news grabbing being the obstruction of printing presses outside Liverpool and London. How has this round of protests influenced the fight against climate breakdown and where is the movement going?

This week we are joined again by XR Manchester member Lizzy and Joel to debrief on the actions. We discuss how are police tactics changing towards XR? How has COVID disrupted their acts of disruption, the realities and impacts of direct action on ourselves and what the movement needs to do in the future.

Links

Reset Paper https://reset-uk.org/

Shout outs
Dianne Abbot
@HackneyAbbott

Greater Manchester Savers
@GMSavers

Palestine action
@Pal_action

US firefighters tackling the climate wildfires of the west coast
@CAL_FIRE

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**Links**
North West Rare Planet Initiative
http://nwrpi.weebly.com/

plants before Pandas- the guardian documentary on Josh
https://youtu.be/qW_XnT-MjtU

Nick Moles episode on pesticides
https://www.buzzsprout.com/919177/4360112

**Shout Outs**
Chester Zoo
@chesterzoo

Lancashire Wildlife trust
@Lancswildlife

City of Trees
@CityofTreesMcr

Cladiators
@McrCladiators

Labour for a green new deal Legend Jill Axford
@JillAxford

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We are back, after a holiday break and with a new theme tune!

climate breakdown unlike other political and socio-economic crises has a tight deadline. If we don't tackle it within the next 10-25 years we're going to be heading to the Mad Max hellscape without the steam punk aesthetic. With a problem that is going to effect every generation and the ones yet to come it's no surprise people of all ages are stepping up to demand leadership on the climate.

This week on the show we are joined by Fridays for Futures' Emma Greenwood to discuss why the young are picking up this gauntlet, how education in the UK needs to be updated to deal with our climate realities and what's in store for the political future of youth movements.

Links
Fridays for Futures
https://fridaysforfuture.org/
Servern Cullis Suzuki's speech at the U.N in 1992
https://youtu.be/JGdS8ts63Ck

shout outs
Youth strike MCR
@Youthstrikemcr
Red Co-op retrofitters
@RedCooperative
If you want to get involved in retrofit jobs, fill out this form
https://forms.gle/xqykPojVCLwA4mqV7

Extinction Rebellion Manchester
@XR_MCR
Global Law Action Network who have taken the youth activists case the EU
@GLAN_LAW

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Last summer Extinction Rebellion made headlines around the world for their civil disobedience actions. Occupying areas of major world cities and demanding that we change course now from this ecologically destructive and economically extractive system to a regenerative and egalitarian model all based on a democratic citizens assembly. From that we've seen climate emergencies declared all around the global but the substantial work is still to be done.

This week we are joined by Lizzy Haughton and Joel Stone from Extinction Rebellion Mcr to discuss XR's development from last summer, where the movement has fallen down and how it can evolve to really attain its goals.

Links to the local and UK rebellions this bank holiday weekend
https://xrmcr.org/

Find your local XR group here
https://xrnorth.org/our-region/

Shout outs
Campaign against HS2
@stophs2

Acorn Tenants Union- for there resisting eviction traininng
@AcornManchester

Ground work GM
@GroundworkGM

Kirkstall Valley Farm
@KV_Farm

Climate Emergency Manchester
@ClimateEmergMcr

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When people think of a Green New Deal their head immediately runs towards industrial policy; building solar powered cities, dumping fossil fuels, having sustainable public transport and good Green manual jobs. That's what we need to save the world from itself and we all need to get involved to do so. If that's the case then why are the majority of those industries dominated by Men? When the traditional "breadwinner" heads out to build the Solar farm who's looking after his family? His children, his elderly parents? Are these roles not vital too? Women make up the majority of the work force in care, education, health, unpaid domestic work, where is their GND? Why are men not seen as being the child rearers and carers of the frail? Why are we only fixating on one part of the economy if we are attempting to save the planet?

Joining us this week to discuss The Feminist Green New Deal is Maeve Cohen. Maeve is the co-author of "Towards a Feminist GND for the UK". Maeve is currently a researcher at TheSustainable Consumption Instituteand former director of Rethink Economics. We unpick what a real social justice orientated GND would look like, what is intersectionality and why we should shape the post Covid economy around care.

Links
Feminist GND Paper
https://wbg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Feminist-Green-New-Deal.pdf

Women's environmental Network
https://www.wen.org.uk/

Womens budget group
https://wbg.org.uk/

Maeve's piece in Open Democracy about a feminist GND
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/its-time-to-talk-about-a-feminist-green-new-deal/

Siliva Federici- Caliban and the Witch
https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781570270598?gC=5a105e8b&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvb75BRD1ARIsAP6LcqtoXf9WTXeqWMtIkLDW2AcZv1VmkV9l33Hoy9HE2TqBuG389YrAkvcaArzAEALw_wcB

Adrienne Roberts
@DrAdrienneRob
Towards a Feminist Global Trade Politics
https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/towards-a-feminist-global-trade-politics(1ef21053-eb60-4df5-9d5f-9359447907b8).html

Shout outs
Judith Emanuel of Steady State Manchester

Harrie Larrington -Spencer
@harrielspencer

Rest in Power
Sheila Abdullah

Public transport is a complex beast in the UK. local transport can be run by a myriad of private firms, public private partnerships, municipally owned businesses, charities, publicly controlled private firms and other quangos. No doubt that public transport is a key pillar when it comes to tackling the climate crisis but which organisation is the most effective at tackling it and how should British democracy interact with it? With smaller vital, yet seemingly unprofitable routes being cut across Manchester we ask; is there a better way?

This week we are joined by Pascale Robinson (@PascaleRobinson) from Better Buses Greater Manchester (@BetterBusesGM) to discuss what publicly controlled transport is, how it differs from publicly owned transport and how our local democracies should interact with transport providers.

get in contact with the better buses campaign at
pascale@betterbusesgm.org.uk

Shout Outs

Friends of the earth Manchester
@foemcr

Acorn tenants union
@ACORN_tweets

Guy Standing and his book "plunder of the commons"
https://www.guystanding.com/books

Save Ryebank Fields
@ryebankfields

Leo murrays "away with all the cars'
https://www.common-wealth.co.uk/reports/away-with-all-cars-redux

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Ironically, there has been a lot of hot air when it comes to institutions and leaders taking on climate change. Promises of carbon neutrality in far off distant dates just kick the can down the road. How can we hold people and places of power to greater account? Are local governments able to take on the climate emergency they themselves declared? Or has the Covid pandemic turning governments back to "business as usual"?

This week on the podcast we are joined By Marion Smith and Calum Mcfarlane from Manchester Climate Monthly (@ClimateEmergMcr) to discuss their recent reports on progress from GMCA since the Climate Emergency declaration, what is getting in the way of substantive change in the city and there vision for a greener Greater Manchester.

CEM J10 report
https://climateemergencymanchester.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/J10-Report.pdf

CEMs' petition for a climate scrutiny committee
https://democracy.manchester.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=36&RPID=1929741&HPID=1929741

Core cities report
https://climateemergencymanchester.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Core-Cities-JULY-2020-v1.0.pdf

Shout outs
Mary Heglar Climate justice activist
@MaryHeglar

Jason Hickel
@jasonhickel

Greater manchester housing action.
@gmhousingaction

Circular city Manchester
@circularcitymcr

U.K student climate network
@UKSCN1

Peter Kalmus
@climatehuman

Professor Julia Steinberger
@JKSteinberger

is deep adaption flawed science?
https://theecologist.org/2020/jul/15/deep-adaptation-flawed-science

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Much has been said about the centralisation of wealth and power in major cities. London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff. these behemoths sucking up the economic activity of their regions as the cities expand and draw in more people and more business in from the now dubbed "Satalite Towns". Is having all the business and production of Greater Manchester concentrated in the city centre the right economic plan for a region? Are we leaving communities to crumble as we build shiny new tower blocks in Spinningfields and Deansgate? Is there another way?

This week we are joined by Jonty Leibowitz (@JontyLeibowitz) from the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (@CLESthinkdo). Jonty talks us through Community Wealth Building, how local governments can use the powers they already have to keep wealth in there localities and how democracy in the workplace interlinks with climate change.

Links
Jontys' new report with CLES
https://cles.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Green-Recovery-FINAL2.pdf

Shout outs
UCU campaign to save University workers
https://twitter.com/manmetucu/status/1284049513653719045?s=20

Trees not Cars
@TreesNotCars

Diversifying and Decolonising Economics
@DivDecEcon

Common Wealth
@Cmmonwealth

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A year ago last week the Manchester Council and the surround councils declared a climate emergency. This was seen by many as the first step forward in Manchester becoming the green city it needs to be to tackle climate breakdown. Little did many of us know how deeply intrenched the city is with industries that are hurtling the planet towards a Mad Max future (sans the cool bikes). The Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) is the largest fund in the local government pension scheme and the 11th biggest benefit pension fund in the U.K. at a staggering 23.8 Billion pounds. Is all of that capital supporting the climate emergency?

On this weeks show we are joined by Maggie Walker & Ali Abbas from Fossil Free Greater Manchester (@FossilFreeGM) to discuss the ongoing campaign to make the GMPF divest from fossil fuels.

Links
Fossil Free Greater Manchester
http://fossilfreegm.org.uk/

Green Investments providing 178% returns- Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2020/05/28/just-how-good-an-investment-is-renewable-energy-new-study-reveals-all/#3aeff104d278

Latest Greater Manchester Pension Fund report
https://www.gmpf.org.uk/getmedia/b3f609a9-b078-4808-a3e5-5cc61d74e669/Annual_report_and_accounts_2019.pdf

Shout Outs
University of Manchester Fossil Fuel Divestment campaign
@PeopleUom

Better Buses GM
@BetterBusesGM

Top fan Lucas Clay!
@LTMClay

Climate Breakdown transcends borders. The carbon output of Galicia while have an affect on the environment of Gateshead, Nairobi and Singapore. It's a global crisis that requires a global cooperative solution. Plans to protect the earth must link between the local, national, continental and international.

This week we are joined by Pawel Wargan (@pawelwargan) from Diem25 to explore "The Green New Deal for Europe". We discuss why democracy must be at the heart of any plan to save the planet, how the European Union institutions hold back a truly cooperative union and how the E.U can be saved from itself for the sake of the planet.

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"Links"
The Green New Deal for Europe
https://www.gndforeurope.com/

The EU "Green Deal"
https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en

Diem25
https://diem25.org/#

Diem25MCR
@Diem25MCR

"Shout Outs"
Mathare Social Justice Centre
https://www.matharesocialjustice.org/

Whalley ranger environmental group
@WhalleyRanger1

Prague DSC1
https://www.facebook.com/Diem25Praha

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There are many schisms embedded into the modern world. A foggy distance between our actions and the fallout from those actions. The carbon output of your job, the manufacture of the clothes you wear and the final destination of the waste we create. The separation between what we eat and how it is grown is one of the largest chasms we face. To feed 9 billion people do we have to turn a blind eye to poisoning the land and destroying biodiversity? Is there a better way?

To discuss the lay of the land when it comes to pesticides, agriculture and industrial farming we joined this week by Nick Mole policy officer for Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK). Nick sheds light on what current farming practice constitutes, how Brexit will affect British farmers and where we are changing for the better.

Links
https://www.pan-uk.org/

Toxic trade
https://www.pan-uk.org/toxic-trade/

Shout outs
Levenshulme Bee network
@LevyBeelines

Nick presscott Meteor
@nickjwprescott

Pesticide free Stirling
@PFreeStirling

Daniel Jerrome- green Councillor Trafford
@DJerrome

Safe to say that he Economy as we formally know it has taken a nose dive. Britain has lost 20% of GDP over the course of lockdown as businesses closed up and demand slumped to save the population from Covid-19. But what is the British economy actually made of? Is GDP representative of the actual production of everyday people in the UK? Has chasing these golden numbers skewed the british economy into a place where traditional working class jobs are less important that they used to be? If there is to be a recovery and a green recovery at that, what does it look like under a Conservative government?

To discuss the effects of finance on the environment and the working class we are joined by economist and writer Grace Blakeley (@graceblakeley). Grace is the author of Stolen: how to save the world from Finacialisation.

**links**
Stolen: How to save the world from Financialisation
https://repeaterbooks.com/product/stolen-how-to-save-the-world-from-financialisation/

Still The Enemy Within
https://the-enemy-within.org.uk/

The New politics of Class: The Politics Exclusion of the Working Class
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-new-politics-of-class/geoffrey-evans/james-tilley/9780198755753
Graces article on state monopolism
https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/06/the-era-of-state-monopoly-capitalism

**Shout outs**
Harriet L-S
@harrielspencer

Dianne Abbot MP
@HackneyAbbott

Simukai Chigudu
@SimuChigudu
And his article on the Rhodes must fall campaign from a few weeks ago.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/12/oxford-black-professors-cecil-rhodes-british-empire

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Local councils. Not your usual starting point when it comes to dealing with world wide crises like climate breakdown. Normally you'd associate them with the mundanity of bin collections and road works, tax bands and planning permission. Local councils however are our first interaction with democracy and thus our first opportunity to change the direction that our carbon cramming country is heading in. Joining us this week to discuss how local councils can be at the for-front of decarbonisation and greening the economy is Councillor Jon Burke from Hackney (@jonburkeUK). Speaking truth to power about how labour councils are locked together with the aviation industry and how environmentalism intersects with all parts of local government.

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*Links*
Gresham College lecture on Aneurin Bevan
https://youtu.be/3vgye4SvAzQ

The making of the the working class- E.P Thompson
https://uncomradelybehaviour.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/thompson-ep-the-making-of-the-english-working-class.pdf

*Shout outs*
Practical ways to support the Black Lives Matter movement
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1x65xLdIUDWMUl4_nkuD-EeP98UuJ2nuknUDsqUm7R9s/htmlview

Clyde Loakes @Labourstone Waltham Forest
Claire Holland @Clairekholland Lambeth
Sophoe McGeevor @SophieMcGeevor Lewisham
Adam Harrison @AdamDKharrison CamdenUpping it Mosside environmental community group
@UppingIt

Here is a list of resources to support the BLM movement https://bit.ly/2MCdcKa

Covid-19 has resulted in a 17% drop in global emissions over the length of the crisis. How do we hold on to this silver lining after the economy starts back up and we return to "The new normal"? With transport being a whopping 3rd of emissions we have to look to other means of getting about that are better for the environment and better for us. This week on the pod we talk to Nick Hubble, otherwise known as the Prestwich Pootler (@pootlers), about cycling in Greater Manchester. We discuss how you don't have to reinvent the wheel (sorry not sorry) to make cycling accessible to all and what we can learn from our comrades on the continent.

If you like the show tell your comrades!

Shout Outs
Brian Deegan - Advisor to Manchester cycling and walking commissioner
@bricycle

Nandini Mitra
@_nmtr

Wheels for all- making cycling accessible for all.
https://cycling.org.uk/wheels-for-all

Manchester Bike Hire
https://manchesterbikehire.co.uk/

**Links**
Manchester Critical Mass Cycling group
https://www.manchesterfoe.org.uk/events/event/critical-mass/

Walk Ride GM
https://walkridegm.org.uk/

From humble seeds do oak trees grow, from twitter frustration can a movement emerge. Labour for a Green New Deal had only been around for 6 months when it engaged in the longest composite meeting of the Labour Party conferences history. With now over 50 local groups across the country, demanding the Labour Party do better we sat down with co-founder of Lab4GND Chris Saltmarsh (@Chris_Saltmarsh). To discuss the movements beginnings, it's strategy and where we go next.

Our previous episode with Angela Brown on the 2019 Labour conference.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/919177/2944135

Chris' article on Extinction Rebellion
https://novaramedia.com/2018/11/18/5-reasons-im-not-joining-the-extinction-rebellion/

**Shout Outs**
Angela Brown @Angel4Brown598
If you would like to get involved in Angelas' work in North Manchester follow the link below
https://www.facebook.com/groups/211148843589816

Acorn Housing union
https://acorntheunion.org.uk/

Mersey Labour GND
@MerseyLGND

Rutger Bregman new book HumanKind
@rcbregman
https://www.waterstones.com/book/humankind/rutger-bregman/9781408898932