Lecture series Building a Green Economy with former UNEP Director and Ambassador to Arendal, Norway

Mr. Svein Tveitdal, former Director at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Environmental Ambassador to the city of Arendal, Norway, was the guest speaker at a series of lectures organised by Declan Waugh of Partnership For Change (PFC) in association with Cork City Council and West Cork Development Partnership (WCDP).

A large audience attended a midday lecture hosted by PFC and WCDP in the Quality Hotel, Clonakilty on the 18^th May last. The lecture was titled "How to build a Green Economy" and was followed by a questions and answers session.

The audience was drawn from a wide sector of West Cork, representing small businesses, food producers, Sustainability Clonakilty, Transition town Kinsale, public representatives from both Town Councils and Cork County Council and members of the general public.

Mayor of Clonakilty Cllr. Michael O'Regan opened the proceeding followed by The Lord Mayor of Cork County Cllr Noel Harrington. Both Town and County Mayors welcomed Minister of State, Trevor Sargent T.D. and Mr. Svein Tveitdal to Clonakilty and noted the remarkable work and initiatives undertaken by the local community in Sustainabilty Clonakilty.

Minister of State, Trevor Sargent T.D., spoke of the importance and urgency of tackling climate change and of our over-reliance on fossil fuels.   He outlined how we must develop a low-carbon economy to ensure our economic security and to protect the environment for future generations.  He spoke of the community leadership shown by Sustainability Clonakilty and Partnership for Change (PFC) and thanked Declan Waugh for organising the series of lectures.

Mr. Ivan McCutcheon of West Cork Development Partnership (WSDP) discussed how climate change and developing a low-carbon economy is a necessity for Ireland  and noted in particular that policy changes will be required to invest in food security and to support the development of horticulture. Ivan said that these were issues of concern to WCDP and congratulated Declan Waugh for his commitment and leadership in raising awareness on climate change and support the development of a low carbon economy with his work with PFC.

The seminar began with a short presentation by Declan Waugh, Environmental Scientist and Chairman of Partnership for Change. Declan began by discussing the extreme weather events of August 2008, detailing the economic cost of the flash floods to the insurance industry and to agriculture. Declan presented recent scientific data on climate change from NASA and explained how climate change will impact on food production, biodiversity and population distribution in the 21st century. Declan said  “we need to think through climate change; rather than about climate change” He discussed the urgency for leadership, policy foresight, political commitment, investment in innovation, communities and energy security to ensure our economic and physical wellbeing for the current and future generations”.

Declan noted that over the past six months following on from the Partnership for Change Climate Change conference organized in Nov last, he had been working hard with colleagues on a very exciting proposal to facilitate the participation of Cork County and City in joining the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Climate Neutral Network (CNN). Mr. Svein Tveitdal was invited to come to Ireland to discuss this initiative and outline how other communities were benefiting from participation.

The CN NET initiative was established by UNEP last year to assist towns, cities, companies and nation states interested in developing a low-carbon economy. A number of governments around the world have now declared their aim to become climate neutral in the next decades through renewables, carbon taxes, energy efficiency, carbon offsetting and more. How this was achieved and undertaken was the focus of Mr. Svein Tveitdal’s presentation.

Mr. Tveitdal noted how Cities from Europe to Asia and North America are coming on board with strategies including clean transport, carbon neutral buildings and awareness raising campaigns.  He included examples of companies that are taking steps to reduce their energy consumption and become more sustainable, from banks to energy producers and construction firms. He provided invaluable insight into how other countries, cities, businesses and corporations are developing green economies and responding to the climate change challenge by embracing a low carbon future and joining the UNEP Climate Neutral Network.

Mr. Tveitdal explained how UNEP’s climate neutral network brings together this growing community. As participants join, it serves as a platform for networking and the sharing of best practice, catalyzing progress towards a low carbon society. As it grows, the network is acquiring ever greater interactivity, with the participation of intergovernmental bodies, community groups, NGOs, climate neutral events and even citizens and households. Mr. Tveitdal said it was heartening to see such a large crowd in attendance and this offered inspiration and hope to the community. “I am an optimist” he said, “I believe that we have the ability to limit the impact of climate change with innovation and technology. However it also requires strong political and business leadership and investment in renewable energy”.

Mr. Sveidtal expressed his hope that as a result of both the morning briefing in Cork City with Cork City Council, attended by the County Manager, leading academics at UCC, CIT and senior executives of small and large companies, and the community event in Clonakilty, progress would be made with Cork County and City joining the UNEP CNN programme.  He said he looked forward to working with us to achieve a low-carbon economy. In conclusion, he observed “that countries that act first will be the political and economic winners; acting with foresight developing low-carbon economies for the benefit of future generations and providing examples of sustainability for others.”

Both lectures were recorded for video by Cork Environmental Forum and will be available shortly on the Partnership For Change website (www.partnershipforchange.ie) for the public to view for free.