Julia Hailes MBE - News-2006

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS 2006

Organic Power is a small company but it may be able to contribute to a big reduction in greenhouse gas. The company has developed a process for using organic waste to produce methane as a clean energy source for fuel. Chris Maltin, the eco-entrepreneur behind the company says the potential is huge. He’s hoping to make this more available in the UK although to date he’s been focusing his attention overseas. www.organic-power.co.uk

In December 2006 I was appointed to The Food Ethics Council. The organisation was founded in response to widespread public concern about developments in the food sector, particularly in Britain. Serious difficulties facing farming communities, stark inequalities in diet and health, and a succession of high-profile controversies – over BSE, Foot and Mouth Disease, cattle growth hormones and genetically modified crops – have exposed much of the food system as unsustainable, unhealthy and deeply unjust. Our task is to ensure that underlying problems are identified, taken seriously and addressed.

No-one will be surprised to hear that Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is not a supermarket fan. In my interview for The New Green Consumer Guide, he explains why. He also talks about his support for organics, local food and wild food, as well as his forthcoming book on fish - The River Cottage Fish Book. Hugh is passionate about what he does - promoting a better understanding of food and nature. Find out more on the River Cottage website - you might like to join one of their workshops.

Researching The New Green Consumer Guide I became enthused with the potential of biogas as a fuel for electricity heating and transport. I thought it might be worth exploring the potential for Somerset to pioneer the technology. With that in mind I approached Keith Wheaton-Green at South Somerset District Council. We thought a good start would be to organise a conference on the subject in the Council Chambers in Yeovil. I chaired the event in December 2006 - it was full to capacity with lots of people exchanging ideas and planning biogas initiatives. We're thinking about staging a similar event in London in 2007, amongst other things.

Biogas, produced from rotting waste and sewage can be used as a fuel for electricity, heating and transport. To date much of what's produced simply escapes into the atmosphere contributing to climate change - methane is up to 24 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.

From crops grown on one hectare of land you can run a car 3-4 times further on biomethane than you can on biodiesel or bioethanol.

The land needed to grow wheat for a tankful of bioethanol in a 4X4 car is enough to feed a
family of four for a year.

The first Green Awards was held at the Guildhall on November 29th, 2006. Awards were given to recognise brands and organisations that have demonstrated a commitment to sustainable development and ethical best practice. I was on the panel of judges. There were a wide range of media categories from Best Packaging to Best TV advertisement.

ESOMAR's Annual congress is the world's largest annual meeting for professionals in research, marketing and advertising. It's 59th Annual Congress was held between 17th and 20th September 2006 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre with around 1200 people from over 60 different countries. Sustainability was one of the hot topics debated at the Congress. I was on a panel of keynote interviewees, alongside Rita Clifton, Chair of Interbrand UK and David Bickerton, General Manager of Brand and Group Communications at BP. The session focused on how brands can be built with a view to sustainability and environmental responsibility - it was Chaired by Hugh Aldersey-Williams, a leading design journalist and science writer. Click here to see blog on the session. I was interviewed in a post conference podcast - click here for link.

Held at the May Fair Hotel in London, Luxury Briefing magazine arranged this conference to spur the luxury industry to speed up their response to issues like climate change. My theme of my speech was 'Changing the World'. I pointed out that luxury brands are ideally placed for leading the way in terms of reducing the environmental impacts of their activities.

Anyone who isn't yet convinced about climate change or who just wants to know more should go and watch this film. Excellent graphics and a charismatic presentation from Al Gore makes it very watchable. I went to see it in a London cinema and was impressed that the chap selling me tickets said he had seen it once but planned to go again! I'm going to take my children.

Who says wind farms are a blight on the landscape? I don't agree. These three photos were taken on my Cornish camping holiday near Bodmin.

An inspiring speech by Al Gore at the Hay on Wye Book Festival received a standing ovation. His message was clear - "most respected scientists believe we have less than 10 years before the point of no return." But it he did not believe it was too late. He said that we have everything we need to resolve this planetary crisis, apart from political will. I was pleased to note his whole hearted support of green consumerism as he urged people to change their own lives - "I call on people to become carbon neutral".

After public nomination, five finalists were selected for ITV Eco-Heroes competition. My fellow judges were Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop and Jeremy Legget, ex-Greenpeace and Director of the UK's largest solar company - Solar Century. We met a Kew Gardens to consider the eco merits of the nominees. Alistair Sawday, from Alistair Sawday publishing won the prize of an electric scooter. The judging was screened on ITV News on 30th May, 2006.

Between 2001 and 2006 I was a Non-Executive Director of Jupiter Global Green Investment Trust. In 2006 this was rolled into a new investment trust, Jupiter Green, and they appointed a new board of directors. The new fund focuses on investment opportunities in six key areas: water management, clean energy, green transport, waste management, sustainable living and environmental services. I won't be sitting on the board of the new trust. The fund manager is Charlie Thomas, whilst Emma Howard Boyd runs the Environmental Research Unit at Jupiter.

At a packed theatre in the small market town of Ilminster, Rosie Boycott and Mayer Hillman spoke about the perils of climate change. Organised by the South Somerset Climate Action Group, it provoked a healthy debate. Mayer Hillman managed to shock the audience with his commitment to carbon rationing - he and his wife have vowed never to fly again. This means they will not be able to attend their son's wedding overseas. Mayer urged the audience to make drastic cuts to their carbon footprint and was convinced that the government would be introducing rationing. Rosie was also passionate but a little more cynical about how much the government would do without a lot more public awareness and support.

I met Kevin in the kitchen of his Somerset farmhouse. He kindly agreed to be one of my interviewees for The New Green Consumer Guide. Kevin is extremely enterprising. As the presenter of Channel 4’s Grand Designs he’s in an excellent position to identify and follow up on ideas that excite him. He judges and supports numerous campaigns and awards. He has helped set up an ethical furniture company and when I spoke to him he had boldly decided to become a developer on a pioneering community housing project, in Somerset.

On 7th March I attended a meeting at the Minster Rooms in Ilminster, organised by the newly formed South Somerset Climate Action Group. The presentation by Keith Wheaton-Green, from the South Somerset District Council illustrated how it might be possible to source all the energy needed in South Somerset from renewable sources. There was enthusiastic support and interest from the audience. One brave member admitted that he was anti wind farms because he saw them as industrialisation of the landscape. The response from one of the founders of the Action Group was to remind everyone of the perils of the melting ice caps and potential flooding of vast areas. He was convincing in his motion that the aesthetics of wind power were trivial compared to these very real threats. The next meeting is on 4th April, 2006 entitled 'Local action: What will I do? How can I support others? And on 27th April the journalist and TV pundit, Rosie Boycott, will be speaking at the Warehouse Theatre in Ilminster on 'Climate Change is the greatest moral issue of our age". I will be there. For more information on these events see here.

In my article in the Times - see below - I mentioned that you can get radiator panels and energy efficient light bulbs from Energy Saving World. A couple of weeks later they rang me to say that hits to their website had increased 8-fold since my article. And as a thank you they are sending me some sheep's wool mattress toppers. I am delighted. Have asked questions about how the wool is treated and sheep dipping, so will come back with more information about what I think, at a later date.

On Saturday 18th February 2006, The Times published a supplement entitled 'How to be Green - Practical Tips for Saving the Planet'. This included a double page spread written by me - Green green class of home. The article is about eco-renovating Coker Hill house where I now live, giving tips and information on how to make green improvements even when working to a tight budget and with limited time. It also points out that there is lots more to do!

The New Green Consumer Guide will feature a number of high profile interviews with well known people. Pen Hadow is the first. Described by Geographical magazine as one of the most accomplished polar adventurers of the day, he talks about how he is using his experience to influence the response of policy makers and the public to climate change. Pen became the first person to trek solo - without re-supply - on one of the toughest routes to the North Geographic Pole. Increasingly he is becoming a spokesman on climate change, particularly in relation to its impact on the high Arctic. He says "US scientists are now predicting that the Arctic Ocean could face its first summer, without so much as an ice cube in just 15 years from now". http://www.penhadow.co.uk.

Simon & Schuster UK have signed up to publish The New Green Consumer Guide. Written by me as sole-author, it will be published in the Spring of 2007. Easy to read, fun to use, it will be packed full of interesting and surprising facts on how to be a green consumer. Whether you want to find out what's the greenest car, the greenest paint or the greenest heating system, this book will provide the answers. Are 'green' detergents really better for the environment? With the explosion of mobile phones, TVs & computers, how can we reduce our electronic waste? Which airlines are doing most to reduce their environmental impact. Expert advice and opinion will be given on these questions and many more.

On 26th January at the Guildhall in London, I attended the Great Britons Awards Dinner. Presented by TV Presenter Clive Anderson and hosted by Morgan Stanley and the Daily Telegraph, it was a spectacular event. I was a first-round judge for Campaigning category, which was won by Jamie Oliver for his out-standing and effective campaign on school food. The other award winners were: Arts - Alan Bennett; Business - Charles Dunstone of Carphone Warehouse; Creative Industries - Nick Park, creator or Wallace & Gromit; Public Life - Lord Sebastian Coe, for successfully leading Britain's Olympic bid; Science & Innovation - Professor Frederick Sanger, for developing a method of DNA sequencing; and Dame Ellen MacArthur, for her solo, non-stop, record-breaking, round-the-world voyage.

Charles Middleton, Managing Director of Triodos Bank agrees to become the new Chair of the Haller Foundation. We are delighted to have him join us and use his skills to get us to the next stage of development. Money from the Haller Foundation is currently being used to build a new Education Centre on the edge of a township, North of Mombasa in Kenya. The Centre includes a reference library, teaching resources, outdoor auditorium and film facilities.