OUR SUSTAINABLE PLANET 2019
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Hastings Museum and Art Gallery kindly hosted this green event.
“OUR SUSTAINABLE PLANET”
UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION BEXHILL & HASTINGS
CLIMATE CHANGE, the reality we face:
Global warming, Arctic and Antarctic ice melting, Glaciers melting, rising sea levels,
Ocean
acidification, coral bleaching, Climate Refugees and mass Migrations,
eroding soils and land Desertification, food security, poorer communities and
water shortages,
extreme
weather, flooding and droughts. At this event we will address these issues. We will also address Marine
pollution during the evening.
[LEFT] Mike Burns: CTEC Energy presentation "Recycling plastics into Green Energy." The audience were shown an informative set of slides on a PowerPoint presentation that gave us hope that much municipal waste could be joined with other wastes such as plastic and turned into energy as part of the transition to a circular economy. [RIGHT] The Mayor of Hastings Councillor Nigel Sinden opened the proceedings with an introduction to climate change and how we should all be doing our bit. Cllr Sinden is a stanch supporter of solar power.
PANELISTS: Kate Meakin (Energise Sussex), Eveline Tijs (Extinction Rebellion) and Oliver Sterno (Plastic Free Eastbourne. Eveline explained why it was so important for protestors to make a stand against the anthropogenic rise in temperature of planet earth to make politicians act rather than talk. We could not agree more. Extinction Rebellion is a non-violent direct action movement demanding urgent action in the face of an unprecedented global emergency.
[LEFT] Kate Meakin took to the floor to tell us about the renewable energy projects that were sweeping the town and how Energise Sussex was making a difference to the region. The audience were wowed by the statistics that told how solar and wind energy was creeping up on fossil fuels in terms of percentage supply against the villains of the plot: coal fired and even nuclear energy generation, where radioactive waste remains an unresolved pollution issue. Kate has worked for various NGOs for the past 13 years on campaigns focusing on fair trade, climate change and poverty. Alongside this Kate has been active in grassroots campaigning for the green movement. Nice one Kate. [RIGHT] Gonzalo Alvarez took notes and asked questions to clarify any points that were raised. Gonzalo is a marine biologist and event organizer working with the Bexhill branch of the United Nations Association.
TRANSITION TOWN HASTINGS - Sarah Macbeth is a graphic designer and has worked in the non profit sector for over 20 years. She is Chair of Transition Town Hastings and a divestment campaigner.
[LEFT] Andrew Dinsdale showed us some revealing photographs of plastic that Stranliners had picked from the beaches. What was important was how his group had managed to identify the culprits - where some of the plastic recovered had identifying marks on them. In 2019 Strandliners visited the Peacehaven Wastewater Treatment Works managed by Southern Water and serving all of Brighton and Hove. The purpose of the visit was to understand what pollution escapes into the environment. Of interest to Strandliners was biobeads – small plastic pellets used in the waste treatment process – and what measures are in place to prevent their escape, since many have been found on south coast beaches. Plastic fibres from clothing is also included in a sludge that is sold for agriculture as part of the water treatment process. Strandliners‘ Executive Director, Andy Dinsdale has been leading riverbank- and beach-cleans since 2004 and regularly represents the company at national and international marine conservation conferences. Strandliners receives financial support from: Sea-Changers, Rother District Council, Jempson’s, Rye Town Council and individual donors.
[RIGHT] Andrew Durling spoke about climate change as a Friends of the Earth advocate. He also enlightened the audience on Passive Haus and how affordable housing that was also sustainable was not being provided locally where house builders are more interested in profits from building conventional houses that are not so climate friendly.
GENESIS 215 - The Genesis project promotes the reduction of single use plastic in the cycling and triathlon industries. The project is supported by the Sky Ocean Rescue Programme, working alongside the UK United Nations Association. Jamie Bedwell is a local athlete working for the East Sussex Healthcare Team, providing Podiatry care across the county - a branch of medicine devoted to the study, diagnosis, and medical and surgical treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle and lower extremity.
EFFECTIVE - The event was a magnificent success, thanks to the efforts of Gonzalo Alvarez (left) and all of those volunteering to come and speak about what they are doing to combat global warming, with a special mention for Oliver Sterno (right) who runs Plastic Free Eastbourne, and who is an effective local campaigner, only too willing to share his experiences with others.
The event began with a packed house, introduced by Gonzalo Alvarez and Oliver Sterno. Several short UN films were played to the audience back to back, after which a panel of speakers fielded a number of questions from the public gallery as to how to get involved and make a personal contribution.
As per the agenda, there were short presentations from Regional and Local projects, some of which included projector slide presentations of important Projects and Campaigns addressing these very issues and how all of us can get involved and keep generating Climate Action.
The questions came in thick and fast to the panel, and during and after each speaker. It was obvious from the number of projects and the general interest level that Hastings is a town that cares about climate change and plastic pollution, both subjects of huge concern as to rising sea levels and forest fires. The message that was coming out was to keep up the level of campaigning, especially from Extinction Rebellion, with mention of Greta Thunberg and her efforts.
Running in tandem with Sustainable Planet, 'Sustainability on Sea' (SOS) is a nine day festival featuring over 60 events from Winchelsea to Bexhill. All events explore different aspects of sustainability. Festival highlights include Car Free Day on 22 Sept and the Big Green Fair on 29 Sept.
THE EVENT IS NOW ENDED
18:30 hrs Opening Words - The Mayor of Hastings,
Councillor Nigel Sinden
Transition Town Hastings and St Leonard's - Climate Change and local Action (Sherry Clark and Sarah Macbeth)
Energise Sussex Coast -
Renewable Energy
(Kate Meakin)
SPEAKERS CORNERED
CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGER - This is a solar and wind powered boat waiting to be built as part of an experiment to demonstrate that cargo and cruise liners might be zero carbon to meet with the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) targets for 2030, 2050 an 2100 by which time they hope to see 100% zero carbon shipping in action. The Cleaner Ocean Foundation also have a zero carbon Ferry project on the drawing board for cross Channel hops. These concepts differ from the current rash of hydrogen fuel cell ZEV projects such as that in San Francisco Bay and Norway, in the renewable energy is harvested directly for propulsion, rather than for use to electrolyze water and liquefy the hydrogen for storage in cryogenic tanks. Hence, is a far more sustainable solution in the quest for a circular economy.
TRANSFERABLE TECHNOLOGY - The design of the Climate Change Challenger might be adapted to Cargo, Container, Cruise and Ferry designs, without needing to radically alter port facilities. The designs above are not representative of adaptations of the concept, but serve to illustrate the thinking of other design houses.
DURBAR HALL - Two of the wooden paneled halls with parquet flooring and exquisite relief's.
CONTACTS
Hastings Museum & Art Gallery
Tel: 01424 451052
Gonzalo J. Alvarez – Marine Biologist - United Nations Association
HOW TO GET THERE
Driving: We are just off of Bohemia Road via the A21. The museum entrance is opposite the turning onto Falaise Road.
ANTI-PLASTIC -Jamie Bedwell is seen here on the SeaVax stand. With his work on reducing plastic packaging, combined with beach cleaning in Sussex, the collective is helping to change attitudes. It is estimated that one hundred SeaVax machines could stem the 8 million ton tide from the 10 worst polluting rivers in the world. Would you believe that just 10 rivers contribute over 90% of the problem. This is a problem that is known to the United Nations and G20, but they will not fund ocean cleaning, or even take responsibility for waste from the rivers on their own geographical regions.
The SeaVax team continue to develop the energy harvesting system for use for zero carbon ocean transport. Where plastic recovery is not an IMO priority, there are EU (Horizon 2020) and DOT (MaRI) calls for proposals for more efficient marine operations. Ironically, SeaVax came from a patent filed in 2013 as to autonomous shipping, that was finally granted in June 2019, now passed to the Foundation by the innovator on a free basis.
WALKING THE TALK - Jamie Bedwell is a local athlete working in Podiatry, alongside his cycling career, so he knows a bit about pedals and feet. He is also concerned about the volume of single use plastic packaging in the sport related industries. The Genesis project is supported by the Sky Ocean Rescue Programme, working alongside the UK United Nations Association.
CLIMATE CHANGE - There has been a Climate Conference every year since the founding assembly at which many important Agreements as to targets and issues were raised and resolved for a better world. A better world is a place that is sustainable for future generations.
1995 COP
1,
BERLIN, GERMANY
GRETA THUNBERG - is a Swedish climate activist. At the COP24 climate talks in Poland, December 2018, Miss Thunberg addressed the Secretary-General of the United Nations. She received a standing ovation for one of her talks. She is behind the global school strike created to call attention to climate change. She is a rebel with a cause. Miss Thunberg was 15 when she said: "I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is." She is one of the most powerful voices on the world stage demanding the world address global warming. Go Greta!
DESERTIFICATION COP HISTORY
BIODIVERSITY COP HISTORY
LINKS & REFERENCE
https://xrhsl.org/ https://strandliners.org/ http://www.energisesussexcoast.co.uk/ http://sarahmacbeth.com/ https://www.ryenews.org.uk/living/news-about-beach-clean-surveys https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/our-sustainable-planet-tickets-65871991901 http://www.hmag.org.uk/ https://twitter.com/JbTriathlete https://uk.linkedin.com/in/andrew-durling-9408853a https://www.brightondolphinproject.org/ https://twitter.com/strandliner https://www.sas.org.uk/rep/colin-darbyshire/ http://www.sustainabilityonsea.org.uk/ http://www.un.org/climatechange/
SEAVAX - Was born in 2015, tank tested in 2016, with ongoing development of the ocean plastic filtration system through 2017-19. After extensive lobbying and negative responses from the G20, UN and EU, the project will now push to develop the intellectual property to advance the state of knowledge of mankind, ready for when our politicians decide to take action to stop toxic plastic poisoning our fish stocks. In the two centre pictures you can see the SeaVax proof of concept model extracting plastic from simulated seawater in a water test tank. The boat successfully collected floating plastic via the subsurface collector head, storing it in a chamber, while returning clean (filtered) water back into the tank. Chris Close was at the Sustainable Planet event in Hastings, speaking to the public and exchanging information with the speakers before and after the event, explaining that this is zero carbon technology, hence sustainable.
OCEAN DUSTCART -SeaVax is a selective filtration machine that will be configured to target solid plastics and particles. The machine could also be used in oil spill emergencies, or as a selective fishing vessel for harvesting of alternative marine produce. The platform could thus be useful in many ways, leaving traditional fishermen to catch their quotas in a move to more efficient use of our ocean resources. The vessel is solar and wind powered using a near identical energy harvesting system (only smaller) to the zero carbon Climate Change Challenger and Coastal Ferry projects that are the subject of bids for funding through 2020-21. SeaVax was on display at the Hastings Museum on the 26th September 2019.
This website is provided on a free basis as a public information service. copyright © Cleaner Oceans Foundation Ltd (COFL) (Company No: 4674774) 2019. Solar Studios, BN271RF, United Kingdom. COFL is a charity without share capital. The names AmphiMax™, RiverVax™ and SeaVax™ are trade names used under license by COF in connection with their 'Feed The World' ocean cleaning sustainability campaign.
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