31 January 2007
Tony Blair has given his backing to a new campaign aimed at saving the planet from environmental catastrophe.
Read the transcript
Presenter:
Hi. I am Lucio … and I was asked to do the 10 Downing Street podcast at the Global Cool reception which they are holding at the moment, nothing to do with Cool Britannia even though there are a few pop stars down here, like Perry Farrell and K T Tunstall, there are actors in the form of Josh Hartnett, leaders of business and industry. So what are they all concerned about and what is Global Cool about?
Prime Minister:
Good Evening everyone. It is wonderful to have you here in Downing Street and can I say a big thank you to all the organisers of Global Cool, and to say I think this is just a wonderful initiative that I hope will inspire people the world over. It is a big ask, mind you, to get a billion - it is a billion, isn’t it? - to sign up to making a change in their own lives. And the reason I think this is so important, it is not just obviously the importance of the issue itself and all the recent evidence is that climate change is happening, it is happening very fast, it is having a serious impact already and it will have a far more serious impact in the years to come if we don’t take action to reverse its impact, and I am afraid simply keeping the emissions level stable is not going to be enough, we are going to have to reduce them significantly over time.
That is going to require very radical action, it is going to require radical action obviously by governments. We have a process under way that we began at our G8 summit in Scotland in 2005 which is called the G8 Plus 5 dialogue and that basically brings together not just the main European countries and America, North America and Japan, but it also involves Brazil, and India, and China - very important, and Mexico and South Africa. And the purpose of that, because that accounts for around about 70% of the emissions, is to try and make sure that in advance of the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012 we have a framework of agreement to move us forward. And I hope this year under the German Presidency of the G8 and in the G8 Plus 5 we will get an agreement internationally to the principle of a stabilisation goal, to the principle of a cap on (phon) trade system and to major technology transfer which is going to be vital for the poorer countries to be able to grow themselves properly but grow in a sustainable way. So it is a huge programme we have got internationally.
Here in this country we will meet our Kyoto targets, we have got a whole set of measures that we are going to be publishing soon in the Climate Change Bill which David Miliband, he is the Minister at the back there, is taking forward.
And the final part of the jigsaw, because you have got to do things at an international level and in the end you know we all know without an international agreement this thing won’t be done, we need to do things at a national level, but as I always say to people actually if we shut down the whole of Britain, which we don’t want to do, but if we did the increase in China’s emissions over the two year period would actually make up the difference. So that is why we need the international agreement.
We need however to show leadership at a national level, and incidentally I think there are some interesting things happening in the US at the moment. I think there are a lot of states in the US who are now taking this issue seriously. Britain signed an agreement with California, the state of California, just a short time ago. I think what is interesting is a lot of the Mayors in various American cities are actually getting a good radical agenda on this and finding that, you know because people always worry, you know well everyone says OK we like it in principle but in practice it is going to stop us growing or affect our living standards. Actually people are finding when they are taking radical action as political leaders then they are getting a good response from people.
But the final bit of it is the mobilisation of individuals. You know I learnt something through the Make Poverty History campaign, which I know some of you probably were involved in as well, which was a massive civic society effort worldwide to get behind the idea of radical action on Africa. Now in the end it has to be a set of political decisions that are taken, but the one thing for sure is that we would not have taken any of those decisions, we have still got to implement them all, but we would not have taken them had it not been for the fact that there was that great movement of people behind it. And therefore you know Global Cool is really about making sure that we get the same type of individual people, movement as the ballast and the infrastructure if you like, underneath those people who are going to have to take the decisions, but saying yes we want you to take radical action here, in fact we are demanding that you do, and actually if you do that you know it is kind of good for you politically as well, which occasionally politicians think about.
So it is a very, very important thing indeed. And really the interesting thing as well is, when we publish some of our proposals in the next few weeks, one of the things that we will be looking at is how we allow people to see what a carbon footprint they have got, and also see that the measures that you are asked to take sometimes are not quite as drastic as people think. You know energy efficient light bulbs, as indeed we have in Downing Street, I hasten to say, can make a big difference. If actually every household in the UK I think has 3 energy efficient light bulbs - is that right David? - 3, then you would be able to make up for all the street lighting in the whole of the UK. So you know there are sort of simple things that we can do and the whole purpose of Global Cool is to mobilise that passion that people have for doing the responsible thing for the environment with a sense you can actually make an impact, you yourself, and you don’t just have to wait for others to act, you can act as well and I think it is a great part of creating a global community today.
So I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in this and to say how delighted I am to see everyone here in Downing Street, and please, this is a social occasion as well, so have a good look round and see whatever, they have got the silver out actually, but preferably leave that. And you know from me, through you, to all the people who are organising this, thank you very much indeed. It is a wonderful, wonderful sign that with all the problems and challenges we have in the world there does actually exist the collective will to deal with them.
Thank you.
Lucio:
So Perry, tell us about your new project and song and what people can do if they want to get involved in Global Cool?
Perry Farrell:
Well they can definitely get on the internet and easily find Global Cool on the internet once they are there. These guys, I am inspired by them. I will give you an example of what they do that inspires me. When a private citizen goes on to Global Cool they have operators standing by. You just let them know how you expend your energy and your bills and they will try to re-adjust and reconfigure the way that you expend your energy. They will save you money, you will be going green, you will be saving the planet from global warming and saving yourself money. That is just one of the little things.
Presenter:
So you have had from the Prime Minister Tony Blair and Perry Farrell on this podcast so far. Coming up we are going to speak to K T Tunstall and also find out what Hollywood A-lister Josh Hartnett is doing at Downing Street.
K T Tunstall, people have basically got to go to the Global Cool website, they are hoping to get a billion people to sign up to this.
K T Tunstall:
Yes.
Presenter:
That is going to be quite a lot of work.
K T Tunstall:
It is a lot of work, but you know how many people log on to Myspace, how many people log on to websites and how global gigs, and podcasts, and websites are now and it is not unusual for one website to have millions and millions, if not hundreds of millions of members. So it is possible, it is possible. But basically the idea is that as an average westerner from an industrialised culture, we pump out 15 tons of carbon each per year, the idea is to get a billion people to reduce that by 1 ton and thus over the next 10 years reduce output by 10 tons. At the moment we are putting out 26.5 billion tons a year, so it is a massive problem, but literally changing your light bulbs to energy efficient light bulbs you will cover a ton. That is all you need to do, there is more that you could do but that would do it.
Lucio:
The Prime Minister said that you know if Britain was to switch off in two years time, China would have replaced all our carbon dioxide. It is not really that fair though for us in the west to kind of look down on countries like India and China that want to give their citizens the same standard of living that we get and tell them maybe they shouldn’t do it, in the way that we do.
K T Tunstall:
Well I think you have said it, you have hit the nail on the head. We cannot be condescending, we cannot be patronising and we have to understand that if they have the option to industrialise with fossil fuel and it is cheaper and quicker, why wouldn’t they? So that is why it is so important to inform people about that and make sure that there is a more inviting opportunity for them to invest in renewable energy. I am about to say something very interesting which is I am going to green my crib, Global Cool are going to come round to my house, I am about to totally renovate my little flat up in north west London and I am going to get solar panels, and I am going to get green efficient appliances and use non-toxic things. You can now like use sheep’s wool as insulation, the stuff that the knitters don’t use, you can put in the wall. So it is really exciting the amount of stuff, and the other thing is keeping it fun, it is a massive and very you know ultimately quite depressing issue, but you know if you go to a festival, the feeling you get of having a communicative you know inspiring experience, at Glastonbury for example, 120,000 other people, it is such a buzz, and if we could actually do something with this many people I think we would all find the new drug really.
Lucio:
Josh, welcome to Downing Street.
Josh Hartnett:
Thank you.
Lucio:
Now tell us about Global Cool and tell us about your involvement with it.
Josh Hartnett:
I have been looking for some environmental agency that could actually effect real change that I thought had a shot at actually making a big difference, and these guys, their policy, the way that they are working is I think astronomical, they are working in all different areas of raising funds, and creating awareness, and working with politicians, working with actors, working with whoever they can to get the word out. And I just think it is a real shot that these guys could make a major difference in the way you know in our current environment and the way that we live in the next few years.
Lucio:
We always hear a lot about America and American politicians not really pulling their weight, especially in Europe, we like kind of look down on you guys with regard to the environment.
Josh Hartnett:
Well I am not an American politician.
Lucio:
Are political attitudes in the States changing do you think towards the environment, towards carbon emissions, do you think your fellow country people are taking it more seriously now?
Josh Hartnett:
Well I don’t think it was ever the people of the country that had a problem with making a change, I think it was always a political issue on the highest level. And you can see now that states like California, and states like Minnesota, are making change in their policy and without having to rely on the federal government to do anything, because we had to kind of by-pass the federal government. Right now we have got an administration that doesn’t believe that there is a problem, or if they do they are not changing policy. So state by state we are changing, you know the people are making the change, and that is what Global Cool is about, it is about people making the change.
Lucio:
And what changes have you made or are you planning to make?
Josh Hartnett:
Personally?
Lucio:
Yes.
Josh Hartnett:
Well I drive a hybrid car when I am home, otherwise I walk because I live in New York. I unplug everything these days now that I am working with these guys, because I didn’t realise that so many of the products that we use have a standby and are constantly sucking energy out of the walls. I didn’t realise that, I thought if it was off, it was off, and that is something that I just learned. I grew up in a very environmentally conscious family so the changes that I have made have been minimal but I think have been effective because I have always been on that … anyway.
Lucio:
David Miliband, what do you make of Global Cool, do you think that really the beautiful planet is dependent on individuals, politicians and business working together, is it achievable?
David Miliband:
Well the short answer to that is yes, the future does depend on government, business and individuals, and yes it is achievable. But I am personally encouraged by the way in which people are following the science, the science says this is an urgent problem and I see people in government, in business and movements like this among the population at large saying we have really got to get to grips with the problem.
Lucio:
A lot that we hear about at the moment is about China and India and other countries that are developing and their carbon output. We can’t really stop these countries wanting to achieve the standard of living that we in the west have, can we?
David Miliband:
I think that is absolutely right. For a country like India, where I was last week, 350 million people living on less than a dollar a day, we can’t say to them you have got a choice, either you develop or you help protect the environment. Development is a non-negotiable. What we can say to them though is you can either have a high carbon path to development, which is threatening to you and to us, or a low carbon path to development which can help all of us battle this global problem of climate change, and that low carbon path to development, that choice of hydro-electric power, of solar power, of wind power, of wave power is feasible if we in the industrialised world are willing to help finance it, and that is what we have got to do.
Lucio:
Do you think that industry will accept being taxed on carbon, or will accept the real cost of carbons?
David Miliband:
Well I think that it is self-defeating to pollute in the way that we have for the last 150 years and believe it has no economic or environmental cost. It clearly has that cost and I think that putting a price on carbon is absolutely essential to making sure that we don’t cheat ourselves of our future. And that is why I think the businesses that succeed in the future will be those that do anticipate this revolution and get ahead of it, and I think there are great British opportunities in this to make sure that we are ahead of the game, not behind it.
Lucio:
Prime Minister, what do you think Global Cool can achieve and why did you invite them to Downing Street?
Prime Minister:
I think what Global Cool can achieve is to say to people you can make a contribution too, you know governments have got to act, countries have got to act, the international community has got to come together and find an agreement and in the end that is the only solution that works. But individuals can help by doing something themselves, but also by being part of a movement like Global Cool which will kind of mobilise people in the same way that Make Poverty History mobilised people. So that is what I think the big benefit of it is.
Lucio:
I am Lucio … that is pretty much it from our podcast at the Global Cool reception here at Downing Street. If you want to sign up for the campaign you can get it at: www.global-cool.com. They are after a billion people to sign up and individually make a difference to change the planet.
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