Climate festival warm-up panel discuss how to make a difference

Reading Climate Festival, launched last year after COP26 in Glasgow was cancelled (now taking place this November), returns this year for its second edition.

Whilst last year’s event took place virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year ‘s festival will be a mix of in-person and online discussions, taking place from September 20-26 as part of the UK’s Great Big Green Week.

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Ahead of the festival, organisers held a warm-up event online – Eco-Friendly Fire Side Chat – on Tuesday, September 14 with representatives from Ethical Reading, the Reading Climate Change Partnership (RCCP), and two banks which are trying to become more sustainable.

Panellists were first asked whether they thought Reading residents could solve the Climate Emergency.

Tracey Rawling Church, co-chair of the RCCP, said: “Not on our own. Climate change is a challenge that needs to be addressed by every sector of our society.”

Gurprit Singh, co-founder of Ethical Reading, added; “This is a community effort. We cannot always rely on policy makers and politicians to do the right thing.

“We believe in putting ethics into action, starting with the individual. We can make more sustainable choices such as eating less red meat.

“Businesses can reduce the amount of travel, for example. What everyone can do is plant more trees, which makes a big difference, particularly in urban areas.”

Michael Shaw, chief legal officer at NatWest said there is a danger that people can “fall into the trap of thinking this is someone else’s job”.

The firm has already committed to at least halve the climate impact of its financing activity by 2030 and make its own operations climate positive by 2025, having already achieved its ambition to make them net carbon zero by the end of 2020.

The chief legal officer added: “We are only going to solve the crisis if we all dip in. We are all going to have to think about what we do in our own lives to reduce emissions and we have to do it now.”

Focus moved on to what businesses, small and large, can do.

While Peter Flavel, CEO of Coutts Bank – which recently obtained B Corp status – said business “has got a huge role to play”.

He added: “Thinking that Governments can solve this is insufficient, largely because of the election cycle.

“Leaders of businesses are now really starting to get their heads around it and set targets.”

To gain B Corp accreditation businesses must give as much consideration to their social and environmental impact as they do to their financial returns.

Ms Rawling Church said small businesses can access funding to help them decarbonise their building, while she said tiny businesses could also access information used by B Corps without having to pay to join the scheme.

Explaining the role banks have to play, Mr Flavel said: “Finance pumps the heart of the system. We need all companies doing the same things.”

Mr Shaw said: “All banks have a pivotal role. We have an enviable position.”

Giving an example of the work Natwest has done recently, he said the bank set a three-year target at the beginning of 2020 to fund £20 billion of sustainable activity, and exceeded it in 18 months.

The panel then discussed COP26, including Reading West MP Alok Sharma’s role as president and whether the international climate change summit would have a real impact.

PICTURED: Alok Sharma, Reading West MP and COP26 President

Mr Shaw (Natwest is the banking sponsor of the COP26 climate summit) said the summit needs to re-affirm Paris Agreements commitments made in 2016 which every one of the world’s leading economies has failed to meet.

While Mr Singh said: “We are hoping for tangible actions. I hope we can show leadership here. We have to make some major changes just to stay within the projected increases in global warming.”

But he said there are some conflicting messages from the UK government.

The Ethical Reading co-founder said: “On the one hand we are encouraging countries like India and China to reduce fossil fuels. On the other hand, we are giving a licence to a colliery up in the north.”

But Ms Rawling Church said she is “fairly confident” COP26 will bring tangible actions and said the Covid-19 pandemic had shown that the public will accept extreme measures if they understand the reasons why.

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Finally, panellists had the opportunity to give a call to action.

Mr Singh said: “I would assign someone into the organisation responsible for think about and developing a plan. Develop a plan and start acting.”

Ms Rawling Church added: “Make sure you access the funding that is available.”

The bank representatives had the last few words, with Mr Shaw calling for people to use the Reading Climate Action Network and COP26 as a basis and to “do it now” and Mr Flavel saying people should “get involved and get educated”.