Transition Lewisham      

Welcome to Transition Lewisham

Background

In a nutshell, the Transition Movement is about communities deciding they can't hang around for governments to act on climate change and peak oil, but they need to start building up local resilience to prepare for an era of ever-rising fuel prices, fuel shortages and the impacts of climate change. The activities they get involved in are varied, but might range from insulating homes, setting up community allotments, establishing a local renewable energy company to establishing their own local currency to encourage people to shop locally.

Transition Lewisham, part of the Transition Town network, is a group of volunteers aiming to start a wide community response to the challenges of climate change and peak oil. We will endevour to encourage sustainable communities within the borough and provides advice on how to achieve them.

The Transition Towns movement is growing rapidly. Having started out in Kinsale, Ireland and Totnes, just a few years ago, there are now more than 100 initiatives around the globe, with many more in the process of setting themselves up.

This website will feature a number of links to these groups. GET INVOLVED

Sustainable Communities Act

Local folk in Lewisham are aiming to create a more sustainable community by reducing carbon emissions and developing the growing of food within the area in order to meet the challenge of global warming and the imminent end of cheap oil (to get in touch subscribe to the Transition Brockley group at http://transitionbrockley.blogspot.co.uk/). We want to take the opportunity offered under the Sustainable Communities Act (SCA) to put forward proposals to facilitate this process.

The SCA was enacted in October 2007 following a campaign by Local Works (www.localworks.org and www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk), a coalition of some 90 national organisations (including charities, environmental groups, businesses and trade unions, amongst many others). It provides for a system of governance where local communities and their councils can drive central government policy and action on reversing community decline and promoting local sustainability. The proposal must need central government action, such as a change in the law or the transfer of responsibility from one public body to another. Under the SCA, the government has a duty to "reach agreement" regarding the proposals rather than carry out a meaningless consultation exercise. The Act clearly provides that the local authority should give consideration to the issues of food and greenhouse gas emissions referred to above.

What is CO₂?

CO₂ is the chemical symbol for carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases are the gases present in the Earth's atmosphere that stop heat escaping into space, keeping the planet warm enough for life. CO₂ is probably the most significant of the greenhouse gases as it accounts for the largest proportion of the 'trace gases' in the atmosphere. It is thought that it's been in the atmosphere for over 4 billion of the Earth's 4.6 billion year geological history.

How is it created?
Atmospheric CO₂ comes from a number of natural sources, mainly the decay of plants, volcanic eruptions and as a waste product of animal respiration. It is removed from the atmosphere by dissolving in water (especially the surface of oceans) and through photosynthesis in plants. This is when plants use light energy, CO₂, and H₂O to make sugar. The amount of CO₂ taken out of the atmosphere is almost perfectly balanced with the amount put back into the atmosphere by respiration and decay. Small changes as a result of human activities can have a large impact on this delicate balance.

Why have CO₂ levels increased over the last two hundred years?
Nobody knows for certain, but it is generally believed that an increase in the use of fossil fuels is responsible. Since the Industrial Revolution we have burnt fossil fuels to provide our light, heat and to run our cars. The trouble is that when we burn fossil fuels, we release CO₂ into the atmosphere. This has resulted in the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere increasing by more than 30%. The best case scenario for the increase in CO₂ emissions predicts that the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere will reach double the level of before the Industrial Revolution, in 2100. The worst case scenario brings this forward to 2045.

What happens if there is too much carbon in the atmosphere?
If there is too much CO₂ in the atmosphere it increases the "greenhouse effect", trapping heat that would normally escape into the atmosphere. This causes the planet to heat up, which is believed to be the cause of climate change. Climate change is widely predicted to have a devastating impact upon the planet and people around the world.

What is your carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases we produce. It is measured in units of CO₂. The average person's carbon footprint in the UK is 9,400 kg, that's nearly nine and half tonnes!

Take a look at our Energy Saving Tips section to find out how YOU could reduce your carbon footprint and save money.