All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group (APPCCG)

17 June, 12.30 – 2.30 pm. Committee Room 9, House of Commons
All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group Annual General Meeting
With a Special Presentation by Jonathon Porritt
Jonathon Porritt, Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission, spoke about the environmental challenges posed by unchecked population growth. The speech was followed by a lively discussion. The officers and chair of the APPCCG were also re-elected for the coming year.

3^rd June, 1 – 3.30 pm. Committee Room 10, House of Commons (followed by a reception in the Jubilee Room)
APPCCG Meeting on International Development and Climate Change
In conjunction with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development
At this final meeting of the Climate Change and International Development Speakers Series, a season of collaborative events held in conjunction with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development, Lord Adair Turner, Chair of the UK’s Committee on Climate Change, discussed the UK’s pivotal role in international development and climate change and its ongoing challenges. Elwyn Grainger Jones, Head of the Climate and Environment Group at the Department for International Development, and Alison Evans, Simon Maxwell and Dr. Natasha Grist of the Overseas Development Institute reviewed the topics covered during the Climate Change Speakers Series, and explored the changes in the wider political landscape since the series began.

The Climate Change and International Development Speakers Series has hosted a wide range of speakers, and has heard from prominent climate and development experts, UK government ministers, and international policymakers on an array of issues, ranging from renewable energy and rainforest preservation in the developing world to how to finance adaptation measures in poor countries and who should pay to fight climate change. More information about the Climate Change and International Development Speaker Series, including audio recordings and reports of past meetings, is available here: http://www.odi.org.uk/events/series-details.asp?id=65&title=climate-change-international-development

12^th May, 6 pm. Committee Room 18, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting with the Climate and Health Council
At this event the Climate and Health Council, an international organisation that mobilises health professionals around the world to take action on climate change, launched their campaign to ensure that the voice of the healthcare profession will be heard in the lead-up to the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen this December. Several thousand doctors and other health professionals have already signed up to the Climate and Health Council’s pledge, promising support for a global, binding commitment to cap and reduce carbon emissions, and for sustainable development to ensure that the world’s poorest countries receive the resources they need to combat poverty and the effects of climate change. Professor Hugh Montgomery of University College London and Professor Andy Haines, Dean of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, explored the devastating impact of climate change on human health, while Dr. Fiona Godlee, Editor of the British Medical Journal, and Professor Mike Gill of the Climate and Health Council spoke about the unique role medical professionals can and should play in raising pubic and government awareness about the dangers of climate change.

5^th May, 6.30 pm. Grand Committee Room, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting with Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon
In conjunction with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil
‘How Should We Respond to the Converging Crises of the 21^st Century?’
Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon, author of the award-winning The Ingenuity Gap and the bestselling The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilisation, explored the intersection of the five great crises of the twenty-first century – climate change, peak oil production, environmental degradation, economic meltdown, and explosive population – with a particular focus on climate change and peak oil. He argued that environmental systems, like economic systems, are non-linear, and that relatively small changes can have devastating effects. Professor Homer-Dixon discussed the bold and creative reforms of our economy and society necessary to move from the idea of managing risk to the idea of adapting to chaotic changes.

29^th April, 2 – 3.30 pm. Committee Room 11, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting with the Met Office: ‘Is It Worse Than We Thought? The Latest Science of Climate Change’
Dr. Vicky Pope, Head of Climate Change Advice at the Met Office, presented the latest scientific predictions on climate change and its consequences, concluding that climate change is not worse than we thought, but that any delay in addressing climate change will make the problem far more severe, as even drastic and immediate cuts in carbon emissions will still leave the world with a 50% chance of warming by more than 2ºC. Colin Challen MP reported on the developments at the Copenhagen conference in March 2009, which brought together scientists and policymakers from around the world, and concluded that climate change is a more intractable political problem than we thought.

22^nd April, 1 – 2.15 pm. Committee Room 14, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting on Renewable Energy and the Developing World
In conjunction with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development:
‘Can Developing Country Needs for Energy Be Met Without Causing Climate Change?’
Professor Sir David King of Cambridge University and Gordon MacKerron of the Sussex Energy Group at the University of Sussex explored renewable energy and energy efficiency strategies for meeting the growing energy needs of developing countries without exacerbating climate change.

1^st April, 7 – 9 pm. Attlee Suite, Portcullis House
APPCCG Meeting with the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management
This event celebrated the continued success of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and its Journal of Flood Risk Management, which brings together scientists, environmentalists, policymakers, engineers, and practitioners to share ideas about all aspects of flood risk management, from cutting-edge scientific reports to practical advice for those on the front lines. Alastair Moseley, President of CIWEM, and David Balmforth, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Flood Risk Management, discussed the Journal’s past successes and future challenges.

4^th March, 4.30 – 6 pm. Committee Room 8, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting with the Carbon Disclosure Project
and Lord Hunt of King’s Heath OBE, Minister of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an independent NGO that maintains the world’s largest database of corporate climate change information, has recently launched its new Public Procurement Programme to help public authorities assess and reduce the carbon emissions produced by their supply chains. Lord Hunt of King’s Heath OBE, Minister of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change; Paul Hinsley, Sustainable Procurement Manager for Essex County Council; Michael Goodliffe of the OCS Group; and Tom Carnac and Paul Simpson of the CDP discussed the scope of the programme, the new insights it has provided into the role government procurement decisions play in delivering low carbon solutions, and potential next steps.

2^nd March, 1 - 2.15 pm. Committee Room 10, House of Commons
An APPCCG Event:
'Planning for the Future: Can Climate Change Be Brought Into Development Planning Through Scenarios?'
In conjunction with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development
As the Stern Report has made clear, adaptation will require extensive investment. Close cooperation between governments, businesses, NGOs, and multilateral organisations will also be crucial. Andrew Watkinson, Director of the Living with Environmental Change Programme at the Natural Environment Research Council, and Nick Turner, President of the Global Business Network, explored ways of accurately predicting, and of helping communities around the world adapt to face, the potentially devastating global effects of climate change.

This meeting was part of the Climate Change and International Development Speaker Series, a season of collaborative events between the All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development and the APPCCG. Find out more about the Climate Change and International Development Speaker Series here.

23^rd February, 6 – 8 pm. Attlee Suite, Portcullis House
APPCCG Renewable Energy Seminar:
'Concentrating Solar Power: Prospects for Sharing the World's Solar Resource'
In conjunction with the Associate Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group
Dr. Hans Mueller-Steinhagen, Director of the Institute of Technical Thermodynamics at the German Aerospace Centre; Gobieta Alonso, Technical Manager for International Business Development at Abengoa Solar SA; Dr. Gerry Wolfe, Coordinator of TREC-UK; and Nick Dunlop, Secretary-General and co-founder of e-parliament explored concentrated solar power (CSP) technology and its potentially vital role in creating a secure renewable energy supply for the EU. The speakers agreed that with political will and sufficient investment in a European and Mediterranean supergrid, CSP could prove key to addressing both climate change and power shortages as fossil fuel becomes more scarce and Europe's existing power infrastructure begins to break down.

10th February, 6 pm. Attlee Suite, Portcullis House
An APPCCG Event - Launch of Colin Challen’s Too Little, Too Late: The Politics of Climate Change
Too Little, Too Late: The Politics of Climate Change, the product of Colin Challen's extensive experience working for British and international action on climate change, calls for much tougher climate change policies, from personal carbon allowances to a massive investment in renewable energy, and explores the reasons why politicians of all parties have failed to act on this vital issue.

9th February, 12.30 – 1.45 pm. Overseas Development Institute
‘The Challenge of Growth’
In conjunction with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development
Simon Maxwell, Director of the Overseas Development Institute, explored how to create lasting economic growth while making the transition to a low-carbon economy with Jeremy Rifkind, President of the Foundation of Economic Trends, and Kevin Anderson, Director of the Tyndall Centre.

26th January, 1 - 2.15 pm. Committee Room 14, House of Commons
‘Brokering a Global Deal on Climate Change'
In conjunction with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development
Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and Joan Ruddock MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, spoke about the current status of international climate change negotiations and the critical challenges to be faced before a global deal is sought at the Copenhagen COP in December. The speakers focused on the implications of the negotiations for developing countries, and called for measures to ensure the world’s poorest people receive a just deal at Copenhagen.

Monday, 19th January, 1 - 2.15 pm. Committee Room 10, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting with the Rt. Hon Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development
In conjunction with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development
The Rt. Hon Douglas Alexander explored the challenges climate change poses to international development, including adapting to climate change across all sectors in developing countries; attaining low-carbon growth whilst achieving the Millennium Development Goals; and mitigating climate change in the fastest-growing economies in the developing world. The Secretary of State emphasised the need to integrate development and the fight against climate change, and discussed the areas where policy makers and practitioners most need to concentrate their energies in the run up to the UNFCCC's Copenhagen COP in December 2009, including fairly distributing the responsibility for dealing with climate change, funding climate change adaptation, and expanding the carbon market to provide emissions reductions on a larger scale while also allowing the world's poorest people access to carbon financing. Simon Maxwell, Director of ODI, also called for development experts to use their experience to help climate change campaigners work towards solutions that take into account the voices and needs of the developing world.

Tuesday, 9^th December, 6.30 pm. Committee Room 11, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting: 'Biofuel from Algae: A Viable Alternative to Oil?'
In conjunction with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil
This meeting, held in conjunction with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil, explored current and future technologies for developing biofuels from algae. Dr. Saul Purton of the University of Cambridge Algal Bioenergy Consortium (and a Reader in Molecular Phycology at UCL) and Dr. Ben Graziano, Research and Development Manager of the Carbon Trust's Algae Biofuels Initiative, examined the case for algae biofuels as a low-impact alternative to traditional biofuels, and talked about the potential of algae to play a key role in the shift to renewable energy, particularly in the aviation sector.

Wednesday, 26^th November, 3 – 5 pm. Committee Room 11, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting on REDD and Forestry
His Excellency Laleshwar Singh, High Commissioner for Guyana in the UK; Andrew Mitchell, Director of the Global Canopy Programme; and Jan Fehse, Head of Forestry Services for EcoSecurities, spoke about Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) and forestry. The discussion covered the potential challenges of implementing a transparent and accountable system of REDD credit trading, and the speakers emphasised the need for the developed world to pay to protect all the ecological services rainforests provide.

Thursday, 13^th November, 2.15 – 3 pm. Committee Room 7, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting with Amory Lovins
Amory Lovins, FRSA, co-founder, chairman, and chief scientist of the independent, nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute, spoke to the APPCCG about the work of Rocky Mountain Institute in developing market-based solutions to radically increase energy efficiency and make the transition to widespread renewable energy. Dr. Lovins emphasised that climate security is ultimately cost-effective when energy efficiency and renewable energy are allowed to compete with fossil fuels on equal terms. Dr. Lovins’s work has received the “Alternative Nobel,” Volvo, Blue Planet, Onassis, Nissan, Shingo, and Mitchell Prizes, a MacArthur Fellowship, and the Benjamin Franklin and Happold Medals, among many other awards. He is also a Swedish engineering academician and an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects.

Thursday, 13^th November, 4 pm. Deutsche Bank London Branch
A German Embassy/City of London Event:
Think Global, Act Urban -- Building the Low Carbon Future
This unique Anglo-German conference brought together senior decision-makers and experts from politics, business and finance, architecture and academia, including Caio Koch-Weser, Vice Chairman of the Deutsche Bank Group; His Excellency Ambassador Georg Boomgarden of Germany; Professor Albert Speer; Professor Klaus Töpfer, Tongiy University, Shanghai, former German Environment Minister and UNEP Director; Bianca Jagger, Chair of the World Future Council; Professor John Beddington, Government Chief Scientific Advisor; Andreas Goss, CEO of Siemens UK; Peter Bennett, City Surveyor for the City of London; and Jeremy Legget, CEO of Solarcentury. The speakers discussed strategies to bring renewable energy to the sustainable cities of the future, as well as debating possible solutions to the problems caused by expanding "megacities" and their disproportionate use of resources, particularly water and arable land. The discussion also highlighted the need for UK support for the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Tuesday 21^st October, 3 - 4 pm. Committee Room 5, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting with Professor Sir Martin Sweeting
Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, chair of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, discussed the importance of UK government support for Kopernikus, the new European global monitoring system based on satellite data, which will play a vital role in studying climate change and its effects. Kopernikus is designed to inform policymaking and bolster climate security, and has recently launched its first services, including forest cover, land use, and sea level monitoring, and analyses of carbon in the atmosphere and soil.

Wednesday, 15^th October, 3 – 4 pm. Committee Room 16, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting with the Stamp Out Poverty Network
In conjunction with APPG Debt, Aid and Trade
David Hillman, Coordinator of Stamp Out Poverty; Toby Quantrill, Head of International Governance at the WWF; and Catherine Pettengell of Oxfam discussed the role of innovative finance mechanisms in funding climate change mitigation and adaptation in the developing world. It was agreed that the effects of climate change will hit the world’s poorest people the hardest, and that the developed world has an ethical responsibility to help developing countries prepare for those effects. The speakers analysed the scale of the problem; proposed strategies to ensure that the countries most responsible for climate change, and most able to pay, cover the majority of the cost of climate change mitigation and adaptation to the developing world; and explored ways to deliver desperately needed aid to communities on the front lines of climate change.

Wednesday, 8^th October, 10 – 11.30 am. Committee Room 8, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting on the Future of the Yasuni
The Yasuni comprises nearly a million hectares of virtually untouched rainforest in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and is one of the most bio-diverse places on earth, as well as the home of a variety of indigenous peoples. The government of Ecuador has put forward a proposal asking for international financial support to preserve the Yasuni against oil drilling. This meeting explored the work of the Yasuni Green Gold Campaign, which is successfully raising global awareness about the importance of the Yasuni and which aims to reform and strengthen the government’s proposal so that it is able to provide robust protection for the rainforest, safeguard the rights of the indigenous residents, and create a new model for environmental protection around the world. Speakers Anita Rivas, mayor of the rainforest province Francisco de Orellana, and Georgina Donati, co-director of the Yasuni Green Gold Campaign and co-author of Yasuni Green Gold: The Amazon Fight To Keep Oil Underground, emphasised that the Ecuadorian proposal desperately needs international support if it is to become both viable and accountable.

Monday 21^st July, 4 – 6 pm. Wilson Room, Portcullis House
APPCCG Meeting and Screening of ‘The Age of Stupid’
A new film from the director of ‘McLibel’ and the Oscar-winning producer of ‘One Day in September’, ‘The Age of Stupid’ vividly illustrates the devastating consequences of failing to stop climate change while we can. Oscar-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man alone in a post-apocalyptic future created by climate change. The film was followed by a detailed discussion and a question and answer session with star Pete Postlethwaite, director Franny Armstrong, and Mark Lynas, author of Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet.

Wednesday 16^th July, 6.30 – 8.30 pm. Attlee Suite, Portcullis House
APPCCG Meeting with the All Party Urban Development Group (APUDG)
This event launched the APUDG’s innovative new report, Greening UK Cities’ Buildings, which draws together the views and experiences of local and central government officials, NGOs, and key private sector stakeholders to create a set of policy initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of Britain’s existing commercial and retail buildings. Francis Salway, President-designate of BPF and Chief Executive of Land Securities, and Professor Sir David King, the Government’s former Chief Scientific Advisor and current Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, spoke about the importance of transforming existing buildings both to lower greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the effects of climate change. Greening UK Cities' Buildings is available on the APUDG website here.

Wednesday 2^nd July, 11 am – 1 pm. Committee Room 15, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting with Lord Adair Turner, Chair of the Committee on Climate Change
Lord Turner spoke about the economic aspects of addressing climate change and about the work of the new Committee on Climate Change. A lively discussion session followed, covering the challenges the Committee on Climate Change will face and practical solutions for cutting emissions from sources such as international aviation and shipping.

Tuesday 24^th June, 2.30 – 4.30 pm. Jubilee Room, House of Commons
Annual General Meeting of the APPCCG
The APPCCG reviewed a successful year of initiatives and events and discussed goals for the next year. The officers of the APPCCG were officially re-elected.

Wednesday 18^th June, 2 – 3 pm. Committee Room 8, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting with Matthias Machnig, State Secretary for the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
In conjunction with the German Embassy in the UK
Mr. Machnig launched the Climate Change Partnership between the APPCCG and the German Embassy in the UK by speaking about German innovations in ecological industrial policy and ways in which the British and German governments can work together to address climate change issues, particularly within the new International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). A lively discussion session followed, focusing on the lessons policymakers in the UK can learn from German renewable energy legislation.

Monday 19^th May, 2 – 5pm. Attlee Suite, Portcullis House, House of Commons
APPCCG Event with the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management:
Launch of the Journal of Flood Risk Management
Sir David Rooke, the President of CIWEM and the Environment Agency’s Head of Flood Risk Management, and Professor David Balmforth, Editor-in-Chief of the new Journal of Flood Risk Management, spoke at the launch of this new peer-reviewed publication that provides an international platform for cross-disciplinary discussion and debate on flood risk. Both speakers emphasised the need for a comprehensive system of flood risk management, backed by full political support, in order to minimise flood risk over the long term, especially as climate change makes flooding more frequent and severe. The Journal of Flood Risk Management is freely available online at this address: www.floodriskmanagement.org

Tuesday 13^th May, 6.30pm. Committee Room 10, House of Commons
Becoming a Low-Carbon Society: Practical Responses to Climate Change and Peak Oil
In conjunction with the APPG on Peak Oil
Prominent experts – including Rob Hopkins, founder of Transition Towns; Shaun Chamberlain, Development Director for Tradable Energy Quotas (TEQs) at the Lean Economy Connection; and Simon Snowden of the Oil Depletion Impact Group of Liverpool University’s School of Management – spoke to the APPCCG about practical solutions to the interlocked problems of peak oil and climate change. The speakers emphasised the need for active local leadership in creating small-scale projects to help businesses and communities transition to a low-carbon economy, as well as the need for a national framework to help reduce the need for oil.

Friday 9^th May, 12 - 5pm. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), Regent's Wharf
Minority Rights Group International Expert-Level Seminar - Refining the Climate Change Debate: Taking a Human Rights Approach with Special Focus on Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
A wide range of speakers – including Andrew Pendleton, Head of Climate Change Policy at Christian Aid; Charlie Kronick, Head of Greenpeace UK's Climate and Energy Campaign; Professor Françoise Hampson of the University of Essex; Olav Mathis Eira, Vice President of Norway's Sami Council; and Ishbel Matheson, Head of Policy and Communications at Minority Rights Group International – discussed how a human rights-based approach to the climate change debate can help the world’s most vulnerable communities, who are the hardest hit by the effects of climate change. The panelists debated how climate change and development experts could work together, drawing both on long-established civil and political rights to argue that minority communities have the right to a voice on international environmental issues that will affect their lives, and on the rights already won by indigenous communities to argue that minority and indigenous societies have the right to protect not only their individual physical safety, but also their collective culture and heritage, against the devastating effects of climate change.

Tuesday 29th April, 2 - 4pm. Committee Room 14, House of Commons.
APPCCG Meeting with the Aldersgate Group
Prominent members of the Aldersgate Group – including Sir John Harman of the Environment Agency, Paul Dickenson of the Carbon Disclosure Project, Abyd Karmali of Merrill Lynch, and Dr Chris Tuppen of BT – spoke to the APPCCG on the importance of credible and comparable carbon accounting and reporting practices for UK businesses to give them a competitive edge in the new carbon-constrained market. The speakers drew practical lessons from their own experiences of carbon reporting and stressed the importance of establishing a single global standard for carbon accounting.

Monday 28th April, 2 - 3pm. Committee Room 8, House of Commons.
APPCCG Meeting with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP
In conjunction with the APPG for Debt, Aid and Trade
The APPCCG held a meeting, in conjunction with the APPG for Debt, Aid and Trade, with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP. The Secretary of State discussed the interaction between climate change and development issues, and emphasised the need to include developing countries fully in the fight against climate change.

Tuesday, 22nd April, 3 - 4 pm. Committee Room 6, House of Commons.
APPCCG Meeting with Dr. Hermann Scheer
In conjunction with PRASEG and the German Embassy in the UK
The APPCCG held a meeting with Dr. Hermann Scheer, who spoke about his experiences spearheading groundbreaking renewable energy policies in Germany and internationally, and discussed the true, undervalued potential of renewable energy. Dr. Scheer is the founder of the non-profit European Renewable Energy Association (EUROSOLAR) and the World Council for Renewable Energy and a Member of the German Bundestag, as well as the recipient of an Alternative Nobel Prize.

Visit to BASF Low Energy House
18th March and 9th April, University of Nottingham
APPCCG members were invited to visit the BASF Low Energy House, at the University of Nottingham. The Low Energy House is part of the Creative Energy Homes Project at Nottingham University’s School of the Built Environment, which focuses on designing and building energy efficient and affordable homes.

Wednesday 5th March, 3-5pm. Committee Room 10, House of Commons.
APPCCG Meeting with Professor Lester Brown.
Professor Lester Brown, Founder and President of the Earth Policy Institute, spoke to the APPCCG on the themes of his latest work: ‘Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.’ Plan B 3.0 focuses on solutions for stabilizing the climate, stabilizing the population, eradicating poverty and restoring the world’s damaged ecosystems. Professor Brown has been named as one of the worlds’ most influential thinkers.

Wednesday 27th February, 3-5pm. Committee Room 11
APPCCG Meeting on the Use of Innovative Media Techniques to Raise Awareness about Climate Change
The APPCCG held a meeting on the use of innovative media techniques. This event focussed on the challenges faced by the media, regarding the depiction of climate change issues, what innovative techniques are being implemented to raise greater awareness about climate change and what methods should be put into practice, in future. Speakers included: James Alexander and Naresh Ramchandani, Green Thing. Paul Gilham, Act on CO2, Defra campaign. Simon Retallack, ippr.

Tuesday 19th November, 3-5pm, Committee Room 6
APPCCG Meeting on REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), in conjunction with ODI (Overseas Development Institute) and (GCP) Global Canopy Programme.
The APPCCG held a meeting on REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), in conjunction with ODI and GCP. This event focussed on the progress made on REDD at the recent Bali COP, key questions in the development of REDD over the next 2 years and how challenges relating to the implementation of REDD projects and policies can be resolved. Speakers will include Kevin Conrad, Papua New Guinea, John Lanchberry, RSPB and Jim Penman, Defra.

‘Winter Season: Communicating Climate Change’ Events
January-March 2008
The Environment Council and COIN
212 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7BF
APPCCG Parliamentary and Associate members have been invited to attend the ‘Winter Season: Communicating Climate Change’ events, being organized by The Environment Council and COIN (Climate Outreach and Information Network). These events are focused on dynamic discussion and training for building confidence in communicating climate change issues, both professionally and to family and friends. For further information and to register, please visit http://www.the-environment-council.org.uk/winter-season-communicating-climate-change.html

Thursday 24th January 2008, The Institution of Civil Engineers, One Great George Street, London
Westminster Carbon Counting Conference
Associate and Parliamentary members of the APPCCG were invited to the inaugural Westminster Carbon Counting Conference. The Westminster Carbon Counting Conference was supported by the APPCCG, the Open University and RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors). This innovative event focused on the methodologies behind carbon counting. Speakers included Dr David Vincent from The Carbon Trust, Phil Woolas MP, Minister for the Environment and Ted King DCLG. The Westminster Carbon Counting Conference will become an annual event, with colloquia held through out the year, for more information please visit http://www.carboncounting.org.uk/

5th December. 7-8.30pm. Grand Committee Room, House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting, in conjunction with the APPGOPO
‘Peak Oil and Climate Change: Twin Crises?’
This meeting was organised by the APPCCG and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and Gas (APPGOPO). This meeting focussed on the interaction between oil depletion issues and climate change issues and whether a combined solution can be developed. Speakers included: Martyn Williams from Friends of the Earth. Jeremy Leggett, author of ‘Half Gone’ and CEO of Solar Century and Chris Vernon, from the Oil Drum, Europe.

29th November.11-12pm. Room 6. House of Commons.
APPCCG Meeting on the Bali COP. (Conference of the Parties).
Phil Woolas MP, Minister for the Environment, spoke to the APPCCG about the UK Government aims for the forthcoming Bali COP and the UK Government’s vision for the post Kyoto Protocol landscape. The Minister gave a very interesting and insightful speech on the mechanics of the international process and emphasized the need for positive and pragmatic attitudes regarding the Bali COP. The audience responded with constructive questions, which included queries on the role of offsetting, carbon capture and storage and establishing reduction techniques, in future international frameworks.

27th November. 2-3pm. Room 6. House of Commons.
APPCCG Meeting on Real-Time Electricity Monitors
The APPCCG hosted a meeting on real-time electricity monitors. Speakers included Keith Berry, Managing Director, OWL and Dave Hampton, the world’s first Carbon Coach. This meeting demonstrated that real-time energy display monitors can enact behavioural changes immediately, because they demonstrate in “real-time” the amount of energy and money,that is so carelessly wasted. This meeting was followed by a lively question and answer session, with competing ‘real-time’ providers, in the audience, instigating a lively debate.

(From right to left: Colin Challen, MP, with Joan Ruddock MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State: Climate Change, Biodiversity and Waste, Gareth Llewellyn, National Grid and Keith Allot, WWF)

13th November. 4-6pm. Room 6. House of Commons
APPCCG Meeting, in conjunction with WWF, on the Climate Change Bill.
The APPCCG held a meeting on the forthcoming Climate Change Bill, in conjunction with the WWF. This meeting was an excellent opportunity to reflect on the ramifications of the forthcoming Climate Change Bill. Speakers focused on a variety issues, including how the UK will achieve the targets embedded within the Climate Change Bill, whether the 60 percent carbon reduction by 2050 is insufficient and whether international aviation and shipping emissions should be included. The APPCCG was delighted to welcome Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defra, Joan Ruddock MP, Dr Keith Allott, Head of Climate Change, at WWF and Gareth Llewellyn, Group Corporate Responsibility Director at National Grid. The presentations were followed by a lively question and answer session.

24th October. 4-7pm. The Gherkin
‘Sharing the Vision: Europe’s Climate Change Strategy: Facilitating the Next Wave of Green Technology’ Conference.
APPCCG members were invited to the ‘Sharing the Vision: Europe’s Climate Change Strategy: Facilitating the Next Wave of Green Technology’ conference, organized by the German Embassy and the Corporation of the City of London. The key note speaker was Prof. Friede Meyer-Krahmer, State Secretary for the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, in Germany . A panel of highly respected business leaders led a vibrant discussion, tackling the thorny issue of ‘How can we support a high-tech revolution in order to achieve Europe’s goals of combating climate change?’. The conclusions focused on bilateral cooperation and education strategies. The panel engaged in an interesting question and answer with a distinguished audience. The event was followed by a networking session.

16th October. 1-3pm. House of Commons. Committee Room 11.
APPCCG Meeting on Carbon Trading Policies.
The APPCCG meeting on Carbon Trading Policies was an excellent start to the autumn session. Tim Yeo MP, Chairman of the EAC (Environmental Audit Committee) focussed on the EU ETS (European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme), offsets and the introduction of a tradable personal carbon allowance, as the most robust method of reducing per capita emissions. Gareth Phillips, Chief Climate Change Officer at Sindicatum Carbon Capital Limited, Member of EIC’s (Environmental Industries Commission) Carbon Trading Working Group, concentrated on carbon offsetting mechanisms and gave useful clarification on the CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) process. The excellent presentations provoked an interesting and thought provoking question and answer session.

11th October.12-3pm. Attlee Suite. Portcullis House.
The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Reception for the second 100 Days of Carbon Clear Up campaign, in conjunction with the APPCCG.
The reception for the second CIBSE 100 days of Carbon Clear Up campaign celebrated the achievements of the first campaign and initiated the second campaign. The 100 Days of Carbon Clear Up campaigns prove that the reduction of carbon emissions from buildings is extremely feasible, simple to implement and cost effective. The thought provoking presentations, by John Armstrong, President of CIBSE, Colin Challen MP, Brian Spires of HLM Architects, Trevor Floyd, a low carbon consultant, and Karen Germain, Networks Manager from The Carbon Trust, were followed by a vibrant networking lunch.

18th July, 1-3pm, Jubilee Room, House of Commons
Presentation of zerocarbonbritain by the Centre for Alternative Technology, in conjunction with the APPCCG.
The Centre for Alternative Technology gave a fascinating presentation on the mechanics of the zerocarbonbritain policy, which was launched at the AGM of the APPCCG. zerocarbonbritain is a radical yet achievable strategy, which provides a blueprint for achieving a zero carbon Britain within two decades. zerocarbonbritain proves it is scientifically and technically possible, the focus must now turn to generating political will. The presentation was followed by a dynamic networking lunch.

17th July, 3-5 pm, Grand Committee Room, House of Commons
Joint Presentation to the APPCCG by the Met Office and the Environment Agency on Flooding.
Dr Dave Griggs, Director of Government Business at the Met Office and Baroness Young, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, gave interesting and insightful presentations, to the APPCCG, on the current and longer term issues surrounding flooding. Dr Griggs focused on future predictions for average and extreme weather conditions and the causes of these weather patterns. Baroness Young discussed current protection levels and future strategies for flood prevention and mitigation. The presentations were followed by a thought provoking question and answer session.

10th July, 12-3pm, Attlee Suite, Portcullis House
Annual General Meeting
The APPCCG met for their second AGM . Formalities including the reelection of officers and the reelection of the Secretariat were concluded. The Centre for Alternative Technology launched their new policy zerocarbonbritain, which lays out radical yet achievable new strategies to attain carbon neutrality in the UK, within two decades. The presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session and a networking lunch.

7th June, 10.30-12.00pm, Committee Room 15, House of Commons
HBF & NHBC: ‘Zero Carbon Homes – how can we meet housing needs and protect the environment?’
Chairman of the Home Builders Federation, Stewart Basely, and Chairman of the National House Building Council, Imtiaz Farookhi, led a meeting on how the house-building industry is going to meet the 2016 zero-carbon homes target; the challenges they face; and the changes that need to take place to allow them to meet the target. They were keen to stress that if the target is to be successfully met then there will need to be constant process of consultation between government, the industry and the consumer.

6th June, 2-4pm, Committee Room 18, House of Commons
APPCCG Climate Science Session; 'Feedback Dynamics and the Acceleration of Climate Change'
Building on the foundation of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the meetings the APPCCG held with the Hadley Centre earlier in the year, this session took a more in-depth look at some of the science underlying the global warming process. The presenatation revealed new advances in the scientific analysis of climate dynamics which imply that the need for action is even more urgent that previously thought.

15th May, 4.30-6.00pm, Committee Room 14, House of Commons
Aldersgate Group’s Launch of ‘Carbon Costs: Corporate Carbon Accounting and Reporting’
The Aldersgate Group will launch it’s report on corporate carbon accounting and reporting. Speaking at the event will be Sir John Harman, Chairman of the Environment Agency; Nick Robins, Head of Socially Responsible Investment at Henderson Global Investors; and Simon Thomas, Chief Executive of Trucost.

8th May, 5-6.30pm, Committee Room 12, House of Commons
Carbon Trust Briefing Session: ‘Low Carbon Supply Chains: Perspectives from the Carbon Trust and Industry’
A briefing from the Carbon Trust on their research into greening supply chains, including their pioneering work on carbon labelling. Speakers at the event will include: Tom Delay, Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust, Andrew Jenkins, Sustainable Development Manager at Alliance Boots Group Plc and Barney Burgess, Development Director at Tesco (TBC).

All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group Activities

All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group Inquiry

"Is a cross party consensus on climate change possible - or desirable?"

Inquiry Findings