Record of Events

Haringey COP26 Climate Festival - Finsbury Park 31st Oct 2021 - click

credit to AILTV (Africans In London TV) for photos

Haringey people gathered on the first day of COP26 in Finsbury Park to talk about our wonderful planet and the lack of ambition from World Leaders at the COP.

It was opened by Ganja of the Enfield peoples Theatre with the rap below about exploitation and eco socialism.

David Lammy MP for Tottenham then spoke about the importance of COP26 and the messages he planned to take to Glasgow from Haringey.

The Mayor of Haringey Adam Jogee formally opened the event, talking about the importance of local action as well as Government action.

Cllr Mike Hakata, deputy leader and cabinet member for the Environment launched the Haringey Carbon Community Fund £90,000 will be available from April 2022 to local community groups for applications up till 7th Jan 2022. See here for full information and application forms. Cllr Hakata also spoke about Haringey’s forest programme.

The people at the festival were asked to post a message to COP on a board and to talk to other visitors about just one Country they cared about to learn more about reasons why pledges going into COP26 were insufficient. This built on the Haringey COP26 challenge.

Children had been asked to submit art work illustrating their love for the world and Cllr Mike Hakata presented the awards for the two joint winners.

Elena of the Enfield People’s Theatre gave a performance of ‘Emergency’ and Ganja rapped about climate change and cutting down trees before the close.

Messages to COP26 in Glasgow

The people at the festival sent messages on posters, post-its and by public discourse to COP26.

• BE RADICAL. SHOW THE DECISIVE ACTION WE NEED.
• UK. Lead by example. 1. No cheap home flights. No coal from Cumbria. No Cambo oil. 2. Green jobs, more training for retrofit and renewables installed.
• No more coal in Cumbria. No cheap domestic flights. Do the right thing.
• I want a message of hope and opportunity (we can do this together)
• Take care of the next generations
• Young people like myself would like a hethyer [sic] planet (aged 7)
YY aged 8
• Dear COP26 delegates. Listen to the science. Make change happen now before it is far more disruptive for everyone
• UK Government. Listen to the science on best way to handle waste. Stop new capacity whether private, public, approved on data from the mists of time
• BE BRAVE. ACT NOW. Capitalism isn’t worth it!

Emergency
I am sorry my friends
I didn’t want to startle you, when you were having such a fine time, but this is an emergency
Your house is all on fire, and if we do not rise up now all this will turn to ashes

Full words to Emergency

I am sorry my friends
I didn’t want to startle you, when you were having such a fine time, but this is an emergency
Your house is all on fire, and if we do not rise up now all this will turn to ashes

I am sorry my friends
I didn’t want to trouble you when you were having such a hard time, but this is an emergency
The waters are all climbing and so we have to rise up now or we will soon be drowning

I am sorry my friends
That we have all been arguing and now are nearly out of time.
But this is an emergency. They’ll be no food for eating and so we have to rise up now or this night will be for fighting

I’m sorry my children.
I didn’t want to frighten you, and this is no home ghost story. This is an emergency
Our leaders have all failed us, so we have to rise up now and join the rebellion

And so we have to rise up now and form the rebellion

https://soundcloud.com/blythehart/emergency (Blythe Pepino for Extinction Rebellion)

Drilling for oil, and digging for coal, and now they also fracking for shale/
Nationwide, in the countryside, they cut the whole forest down, yeah it’s ecocide!

Ganjas full words

Little Maia: Daddy, what is climate change?

Verse 1
In the cities and the towns they cut down the trees, in Enfield they cut down the trees!
In Euston, they cut down the trees! in Islington, they cut down the trees!

In Wandsworth, they cut down the trees, E’ywhere in London, they cut down the trees!
Black power fist salute to activists, who resist, and fight back the wickedness!

Drilling for oil, and digging for coal, and now they also fracking for shale/
Nationwide, in the countryside, they cut the whole forest down, yeah it’s ecocide!

For the badgers and the fox, ecocide! For the bats and newts, ecocide!
For the birds and the bees, ecocide! they’re at war with animals, yeah it’s ecocide!

In Africa, they massacre! Shell murder ogoni in Niger Delta!
In Africa, they massacre! they coming for Khoisan Okavango Delta!

Masai, Hadza, Pygmy, San. Khoikhoi, Doma, Ogoni, Dan.
Masai, Hadza, Pygmy, San. Khoikhoi, Doma, Ogoni, Dan.

How many people on earth indigenous? Less than 5%.
How much of the world’s biodiversity they protect? Nearly 80%

Frontline, defending the earth! Getting murdered for defending the earth!
Black power fist salute indigenous caretakers of the nature, stewards of the earth/

In Africa, they massacre! Shell murder ogoni in Niger Delta!
In Africa, they massacre! they coming for Khoisan Okavango Delta!

Metal, mineral, copper, tin, iron,coltan, nickel, lumber, gold, diamond,
Drilling for oil, and digging for coal, is killing the world, and it’s killing us all!

Masai, Hadza, Pygmy, San. Khoikhoi, Doma, Ogoni, Dan.
In Africa, they massacre! they coming for Khoisan Okavango Delta!

For elephant and rhino, ecocide! Zebra, giraffe, ecocide!
Tigers and lions, ecocide! They’re at war with animals, yeah it’s ecocide!

Verse 2
In Bangladesh, water been rising! Been flooding! People been drowning!
Now all across the world, water rising! Water flooding, people drowning!

India drowning, China drowning! Afghanistan, Pakistan, Japan, drowning!
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan drowning! Nepal, Iran and Yemen, drowning!

In Bangladesh, water been rising! Been flooding! People been drowning!
Now all across the world, water rising! Water Flooding, people drowning!

Philippines drowning, Australia drowning, Niger, Turkey, e’ywhere drowning
Germany drowning, Belgium drowning, Just the other day London was drowning!

Ocean is crying! Ocean is dying! Coral reef bleached, ocean is dying!
Acidification deoxygenation! Industrial waste, the ocean is dying!

For the dolphins and whales, ecocide! Sharks and the fish, ecocide!
Octopus and squid, ecocide! The seafood industry is, ecocide!

Melting melting, the ice is melting! Ocean oil spilling and arctic oil drilling?
Polar caps bout to collapse! Ocean oil spilling and arctic oil drilling?

For the walrus and the seals, ecocide! For the Arctic fox, ecocide!
Polar bear and penguin, ecocide! They’re at war with animals, yeah it’s ecocide!

In Amazonia, it’s a massacre! Guarani, Yanomami, Kayapo masacre!
Tikuna, Awa, Akuntsu, massacre! Arawete, Maku, Kaxinawa massacre!

Frontline, defending the earth! Getting murdered for defending the earth!
Black power fist salute indigenous caretakers of the nature, stewards of the earth!

How many people on earth indigenous? Less than 5%.
How much of the world’s biodiversity they protect? Nearly 80%

Frontline, defending the earth! Getting murdered for defending the earth!
Black power fist salute indigenous caretakers of the nature, stewards of the earth!

Verse 3
Jaguar, panther, puma, sloth,, tamarin, capuchin, paca, blue frog,
Capybara, anaconda iguana, ocelot,, opossum, oncilla, macaw, marmosot.

In Amazonia so many animals, scientists don’t even know most the animals!
capitalism at war with the animals, intentionally killing home of the animals!

Metal, mineral, copper, tin, iron,, coltan, nickel, lumber, gold, diamond,
Drilling for oil, and digging for coal! They’ll burn the whole forest down just to grow beef cows!

Serious, they lit the Amazon on fire! While the rest of the world burn wildfire!
They’ll burn it down just to grow beef cows, while the rest of the world burn wildfire!

Burning, burning, the forests are burning! all around the world, the forests are burning!
Canada is burning, USA burning! Argentinia and Russia are burning!

South Africa and India burning! Algeria, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece burning!
Italy burning, everywhere burning! Ain’t nowhere safe, yeah the fire is coming!

These capitalist, imperialist, colonialist alliance of tyrants,
Are murderous murderers who are murdering mother earth,

These capitalist, conservative, fascist ecocide alliance of tyrants,
Are murderous murderers who are murdering mother earth,

They criminalise environmentalists! They criminalise, the indigenous!
They criminalise, the global south! They criminalise, the working class!

Capitalists, are the villains! Colonialists, are the villains!
Imperialists, are the villains! … WE are the resistance!

Black power fist salute to activists, who resist! Fight back the wickedness!!!

Ganja can be contacted via twitter @aka_Ganja

Words to Ganjas second performance

Conservativism [spit in disgust],
Never been about nature conservation,
Always been about nature exploitation,
Always be about people exploitation.

Liberalism,
Greenwash capitalism,
Is environmental destruction
Disguised as environmentalism.

Moderates and centrists,
Sitting on fences,
Being neutral in situations of injustice,
Is just taking side of the oppressors!
So, if you’re not explicitly leftist…
You’re actually rightwing in practice.

The future that’s coming is climate armageddon,
Nightmare dystopia, war, disaster, famine.
Climate migration WILL push the rightwing to fascism,
And the only solution, ecosocialism!

Die In performance in Muswell Hill 30th Oct - click

Stop the Burn campaign against replacing the Edmonton incinerator - 25th Sept 2021

“The age of incineration is over“

North London groups concerned about the plans to build a bigger incinerator at the site of the existing Edmonton incinerator marched to the site on 25th Sept from Edmonton Green station.

It was part of the Stop the Burn campaign promoted by XR Zero Waste. They called on the national government to introduce a moratorium on the construction of incinerators for burning non-hazardous waste, as was passed was passed in Wales in March.

They also demanded that existing plants publicly report on all the toxins they emit, including ultrafine particulate matter, NOx, dioxins, furans, and heavy metals.

The North London part of the protest focussed on the replacement of the existing Edmonton incinerator with a much bigger incinerator in 2027.

The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) is responsible for the waste in 7 London Boroughs and decided back in 2015 how to maximise incineration in North London from 2027 for fifty years. Although there have been many changes since then, they are proceeding with the old plan, managed by the North London Heat and Power Programme

Work on the Resource and Recycling Centre is underway and the contract to build a new incinerator is due to be decided soon.

Representatives from Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest Councils make the decisions for the NLWA, which is owned publicly by the 7 Boroughs. For their details click here

Politicians are being lobbied to speak out against the outdated, costly and damaging concept for the Edmonton site. They have been send briefs on Cost and Ownership Over Capacity and Emissions (Carbon and Pollutants) listing the issues and the changes since the original plans were designed.

Although some politicians are sympathetic it is not clear whether the NLWA board members from the Boroughs will ask for a reassessment to focus the plans on maximum recycling and minimum emissions, or whether they continue to make the assumptions that are baked into their plans.

Reports in local papers included the Ham and High, the Islington Gazette, the Enfield Dispatch and the Enfield Independent.

: Details of the North London march

: Current technology could be used instead of incineration

: The plans choose to burn everything from black bags instead of retrieving valuable recycling material

: The green claims ignore the emissions from burning biogenic feedstock

: Acciona is the only company left in the tender for the incinerator

Tackling Emissions from Haringey Homes - 14th Sept 2021

The meeting, on zoom, was chaired by Quentin Given, convenor of the Haringey Climate Forum. And the recording is here Passcode: 5dQyE^aN

The event covered:

1. What is Haringey Council doing:

– Gill Cox (Haringey Council – Fuel Poverty Officer) – The Council Energy Strategy of retrofitting our social housing estate. Slides are here.

– Rana Rehman (Homes for Haringey – Project Officer) – to talk about Haringey work using Energiesprong with views from the tenants on energy efficiency etc. For slides request from info@haringeyclimateforum.org

– Suzanne Kimman (Haringey Council – Climate Change Officer) The emerging planning policies to aid retrofitting.

There were also updates on:

– Green Homes Grants in Haringey / Happy Energy offer – Introduction and access to this funding.

– Solar Together for London – Update on the figures for Haringey.

2. Private sector homes

• Josie Evetts from Ecofurb. Slides are here

• Nadia Smith from Future Fit Homes – (Future Fit Homes are now offering their retrofit advice service to Haringey residents). Slides are here.

Highgate Eco Pop-up 19th June to 26th June 2021 - click to open
Highgate Eco Pop-up and Mini TED Talks

Click here for the interview with Emily Reader, the Eco Pop-up host

A Highgate Eco Pop-up popped up in the foyer of Lauderdale House and sometimes on the Lawn – except when rain stopped play on the Monday. There were posters and flyers on a full range of Eco themes – Electricity, Buildings & Heat, Biodiversity, Transport, Politics, Communities & Councils etc as shown below. Highgate straddles both Camden and Haringey, so material for both was displayed.

The event was sponsored by the Transition Networks Bounce Forward Programme with the National Lottery and by Transition Highgate – looking for new members. Click for Transition Highgate wanting more members

Highgate’s MiniTED talks

On the summer evening of the 23rd it held a ‘miniTED talks picnic’ with these speakers:
- Flo Cullen – The Future for Young People
- Sian Berry London Assembly Member – The Story of Solar
- Maggy Mead King – Walking and Cycling around Highgate
- Georgia Elliott-Smith – Anti incinerator campaign
- Giovanna Iozzi – Biodiversity and the Parkland Walk
- Sydney Charles with Tanuja Pandit Community Solar in North London
- Jane Leggett – Rebel against Extinction
By the end of the week visitors had voted for the top actions for Highgate to address the climate and ecological emergencies and how they could make a difference.

: Electricity

: Buildings and Heat

: Global Context

: Growing and Biodiversity

: Communities and Councils

: Politics, Economis and Ethics

: Transport and Health

: What you can do

Biodiversity Plan 17th May 2021

Haringey Biodoversity Plan meeting – 17 May 2021

The coronavirus lockdown has shown how important our parks and open spaces are, especially for people with no garden of their own – and that’s a lot of people living in Haringey, especially in the east of the borough.

It is important to relax amongst trees and wildflowers and hear birdsong and buzzing bees; so it’s good news that Haringey Council is working on a new plan for local nature. The Biodiversity Action Plan will come out for consultation in a few months. It will give high priority to accessing nature, involving people in learning about, and looking after, our local wildlife.

At a well-attended meeting in May 2021 convened by Haringey Climate Forum, we heard from the council about how their new plan will put big emphasis on getting benefits for nature from new developments, whether that be mini-parks, tree planting or green roofs (or all three).

We were told that protecting designated sites of nature importance in Haringey, from big sites like Queens Wood and Tottenham Marshes and cemetery to the smaller sites like Harringay Stadium Slopes, will be a high priority, and that there will also be focus on creating wildlife corridors between existing green spaces. This could mean working with residents to create passages for hedgehogs between gardens, nest boxes and wildlife ponds in areas that sit between parks and other open spaces. This should also mean support for things like the Cloud Garden project in Bruce Grove.

Trees and woodlands will have their own plan to protect the existing stock of trees on streets and parks, involving local people in looking after them, especially if we have more long, hot dry spells in summer.

The council acknowledged that ten years of austerity have left Haringey like many other boroughs under-resourced to meet our expectations; as a result, community efforts are needed too.

At the meeting Sally Haywill of Lordship Rec spoke about the great work they have done, involving a wide range of people in planting trees, and creating rich grassland meadows. Ferry Lane Estate was also highlighted for its tree-planting and watering, wildflower meadows and hedges.

We face both a climate emergency and an ecological emergency, with wildlife disappearing across the world, and this is reflected locally with a number of bird species no longer breeding in the borough, hedgehogs hugely declined, and moth populations collapsing. That is why Haringey Climate Forum is inviting people who would like to become part of a borough-wide nature network to get in touch.

E-mail info@haringeyclimateforum.org.uk and ask to be added to the list.

Haringey Clean Air Webinar 6th Feb 2021

Haringey Clean Air Webinar – 6 February 2021

This was one of a series of regular events to raise awareness of the effects of pollution on all.

Speakers

Dr Gary Fuller – Breathe London – Monitoring London’s Polluted Air, Sources and Solutions

Senior Lecturer in Air Quality Measurement, Imperial College, Public Health

Zak Bond – The Health Impacts of Air Pollution

Policy & Public Affairs Officer, Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation

Andrea Lee – Why do we need tougher air quality targets and legislation to protect people’s health?

Campaigns and Policy Manager, Clean Air, Client Earth

Contact haringeycleanair@gmail.com with any queries.

Meeting with Haringey Planning Team - 25th Jan 2021
The zoom meeting was well attended. See here for the notes.

The Agenda was:
1. Carbon reduction in planning decisions
2. Viability in planning decisions
3. Training and development – Planning Sub-Committee
and other topics that were raised included the use of Feed In Tariff income for residents benefits, the new Local Plan, the carbon implications of demolition, biodiversity, the Edmonton Incinerator and the walking and Cycling plan.

Retrofit and the Green Homes Grant - 12th Oct 2020

The zoom meeting was very well attended. A quick summary of the opportunity to claim 2/3 of up to £5,000 (100% of £10,000 for those on benefits) for energy saving work to your own or rented home is available to download here: Takeaway sheet v1

The slides and further information are available at https://highgatesociety.com/place/sustainable-living/retrofit-your-highgate-home/.

Haringey Clean Air Peoples Assembly - 3rd Oct 2020

The full report is Haringey Clean Air Group People’s Assembly Report.

Key suggestions from participants were:

– support should be given first to those areas in most social need
– Haringey Council should be a driver and exemplar of change through
– raising public awareness eg through schools and social media to create a shared vision
– further People’s Assemblies and neighbourhood meetings on eg the Edmonton Incinerator
– support for a transition away from fossil fuels and reduced car use
– an electric transition for private, public and commercial vehicles
– incentives for local businesses to go green
– enforcement of anti-pollution laws
– monitoring of air quality and live data alerts to residents and workers
-TfL and Mayor of London have major roles in planning and coordinating for the whole area eg cycle routes, low traffic neighbourhoods, expansion of the ULEZ, subsided public transport.

Accordion Title

Messages to COP26 in Glasgow

EmergencyI am sorry my friendsI didn’t want to startle you, when you were having such a fine time, but this is an emergencyYour house is all on fire, and if we do not rise up now all this will turn to ashes

Drilling for oil, and digging for coal, and now they also fracking for shale/Nationwide, in the countryside, they cut the whole forest down, yeah it’s ecocide!

Emergency
I am sorry my friends
I didn’t want to startle you, when you were having such a fine time, but this is an emergency
Your house is all on fire, and if we do not rise up now all this will turn to ashes

Drilling for oil, and digging for coal, and now they also fracking for shale/
Nationwide, in the countryside, they cut the whole forest down, yeah it’s ecocide!