CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF CLIMATE CHANGE CONCERN

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the West Wales ECO Centre.

EVENTS SCHEDULE NOW PUBLISHED

A summary of projects and activities can be seen elsewhere on this website.

What is probably most significant about this anniversary is the fact that the main drivers behind the establishment of the 'Newport and Nevern Energy Group' - which went on to become the West Wales Energy Group - were considered very fringe by the bulk of the population and the political establishment around the world.

Fuel Poverty was one of the main reasons a group of volunteers got together to see if they could do anything to help vulnerable local people. The risk of fuel poverty had rapidly increased because of a rise in fuel prices during the 1970s.  This also highlighted a number of related issues; diminishing resources and the security of supply plus the impact of burning fossil fuels and increasing the carbon content of the atmosphere.

25 years ago, groups campaigning and lobbying to raise the profile of these issues were looked upon as very fringe and 'out there'. Eco warriors and greens. the stereotypical image of which is still used pejoratively.  Slowly but surely governments have started listening to their advisors and 25 years on all these issues are now mainstream. Are these poeple and groups still considered in the same way?

If you are still unconvinced about the reality of all this, take a look at Climate Wire - a news service concentrating on climate change news. Chilling stuff.

In the UK, it is accepted that energy efficiency is the most cost effective route to reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and that additionally significant efforts must be made to increase the proportion of our electricity and heat provided from renewable sources. Driving down demand combined with meeting that reduced demand, at least partially, from sustainable sources will make a massive contribution to the UK targets.

This is all good news if we can all take this on board - energy saving, renewable tariffs, low energy goods and appliances, low emission vehicles, lifestyle and behavioural changes.

But we have to accept that some lasting damage has been done. It will take about 100 years for the carbon dioxide currently in the atmosphere to diminish. Sea level rise is inevitable, global storming and increasingly violent weather conditions should be expected, changes in biodiversity can be witnessed.

Much of the debate today is about coping with the consequences of Climate Change and 250 years of industrialisation.  But there is still a role of organisations like the ECO Centre.

We are part of network of energy NGOs (ENGOs) working in Wales to actively encourage communities and householders to embrace the changes required, to understand what sustainable energy use is and go forward by installing measures and technologies into their homes and communities.  What we would like to see is a greater commitment and investment by the devolved government in Wales to link its policies and strategies - which can be read on the Assembly Government website - with implementation plans that include means of measuringtheir effectiveness and the actual impact of these plans.

25 more years with year on year improvements in our sustainability really would be worth celebrating.

If you want to stay in touch with the work we are doing, please join the mailing list.

Thanks  for your interest.

Jake Hollyfield
Director

Previous editorials can found on the archive page.