Economic growth

A small gathering of people in Dudley on a Wednesday night was not where I expected to debate the big issue of how climate change relates to the global economy and capitalism. But that's what happened.

A Dudley minister (I assume he was a minister - he was wearing a dog collar) asked if it was possible to tackle climate change within a capitalist system, as capitalism needs constant economic growth. Big question.

Globally our emissions are rising because we are consuming more, whether ipods, flights or meat. Most of our consumption uses energy from fossil fuels.

I suggested there are three things the world needs to do to break this chain of increasing emissions. The first is to waste less, which would save money. Secondly is to get more energy from non-fossil fuel sources. The third is a greater challenge to our greedy world; we (the rich) need to consume less.

The minister wondered whether anyone will ever accept "lower standards of living" in order to tackle climate change? I think that's the wrong question. We can consume less whilst having higher standards of living - more money does not equal a better quality of life.

Another minister present said: "What I call sin, you call greed and he calls capitalism."

It's interesting that we see 'greed' as bad and 'economic growth' as good. The closer you look, the more they seem to resemble each other.

Golf

You miss a bit of marching and everything changes. We now have a few new marchers with us: Geoff and Kate from South Africa, and Dwijen from Bangladesh. It was good to start getting to know them on the suburban walk out of Birmingham to Halesowen on Wednesday 29 August.

As we entered Halesowen I was talking to Kate as we passed through a golf course, one of many on our travels. I commented about the number of golf courses and Kate said "Terrible aren't they."

Kate told me that there has been huge golf course development in South Africa in recent years, primarily for tourists. The golf courses often prevent local fishing communities from having access to the sea. Golf courses also take large amounts of irrigation, stealing valuable groundwater from local people.

Golf course developments are justified because they bring economic growth, but economic growth is not a measure of quality of life. Another example of the global economy acting in the interests of money, and against the rights and livelihoods of people.

Greenbelt

Whilst the other marchers were rallying with Lemar in Birmingham, I went with Chira to speak at the Greenbelt festival near Cheltenham. Greenbelt is an odd place; it claims to inspire activists and campaigning, yet is sponsored by a government ministry, the Department for International Development.

At the same time as our 'Meet the Cut the Carbon marchers' session, Douglas Alexander MP, Secretary of State for International Development, was speaking elsewhere on the site. Having done our usual climate change talk, we decided to arrange a little protest march of our own. Fourty people joined us as we marched past the Douglas Alexander talk and interrupted him with a rendition of "What shall we do with the carbon emissions?"

Douglas Alexander's previous job was at the Department for Transport where he was implementing the government's airport and road expansion policies. He needs every reminder he can get to cut the carbon.

Later in the day there was meant to be a panel debate on climate change. Unfortunately Douglas Alexander pulled-out of taking part, as did any other representative from the government.

The government is happy to sponsor festivals to push their propoganda, but it is unwilling to take part in real debates about government policies. Another nail in the coffin of our so-called democratic political system.

A conversation

Cassia, one of our marchers from Brazil, is from the Landless Workers' Movement - MST. A man walks up to Cassia as she relaxes in the sun.

Man: Where are you from?
Cassia: Brazil
Man: The problem with you lot is you are destroying the amazon
Cassia: !!?? It's your companies and consumption who are detroying the rainforest. The people of the amazon are struggling against it.

Distance covered so far: 547 miles
Marchers who have so far had birthdays on the march: 2

Do they all support us number 13

Another couple of Labour MPs took a break from their summer holidays to meet us as we marched through Derbyshire: Judy Mallaber and Mark Todd (both Labour).

Rachel, our marcher from 'Newastle', spoke to Judy. Apparently Judy is supportive of the need for 80 per cent cuts and is lobbying the government to change their position. Judy is another who won't vote against the government. Climate change must not be a serious enough issue for MPs to endanger their careers.

Mark Todd responded that he's not sure about the usefulness of long-term targets (that's why we also need the government to be accountable for cutting emissions every year Mark). He queried whether 60 per cent cuts are possible, never mind 80 per cent.

We can respond that its not a question of feasibility; the impacts of climate change are too great for us to have any other option than to cut our emissions. We can also respond that their are loads of ways to cut emissions, the government just aren't doing them. Instead, they decide to build more runways.

But the main question I was left with was, if Mark Todd doesn't support radical reductions in carbon emissions, why did he pose for a smiley photo with us?

Tim on YouTube

Do they all support us number 12

I went with Mohamed our Kenyan marcher and Lisa from the Christian Aid campaigns team to meet Patrick McLoughlin, MP for West Derbyshire and the first Conservative we have met.

We pressed him on our demands for changes to the climate bill, but he refused to commit to anything. As a member of the shadow cabinet he will "wait till we have discussed it and decide our collective decision". Whilst I was pressing him just to include aviation in the climate bill he said that "aviation needs to share in the emission reductions we make". That sounds good - first step is to include aviation in the bill then.

Distance covered so far: 513 miles
Distance to go: 487 miles - bring it on

Car nation

Sunday's march from Buxton to Bakewell was our most scenic so far, passing through the peak district and various dales. Towards the end of the day we walked along a railway line removed by Dr Beeching in the 1960s.

The afternoon seemed to symbolise how this country has let public transport to decline over the century, whilst massively promoting the use of the car. Our worship of the car has not been more apparent than when walking through northern cities which are clearly designed with cars as the focus. Try a 14-mile walk through Greater Manchester and you'll see what I mean.

Once a week we have a rest day, this week in Bakewell, so we've had a chance to look around. The station may be gone, but on the east-side of the river exists a packed car park larger than the town centre. You might not be able to get here by train, but there's plenty of room for the motorist.

Distance covered so far: 497 miles

Little Britain

In Marple on Friday night I watched TV for the first time since beginning this march. With Neil, our marcher from Northern Ireland, we settled down to a reality TV show about a woman learning to climb up rockfaces across the UK.

At the end she said: "This journey has shown me a remarkable country. We can go to amazing places without travelling far."

That's certainly been my experience of our protest walk. Having had many a holiday in the UK I consider my knowledge of Britain quite good. But there have been so many fantastic places I have never been to before: sailing past the Isle of Arran; walking the Clyde-Forth Canal and seeing Falkirk wheel; amazing beeches on the north-east coast; Newcastle-Gateshead riverside, Durham Cathedral; and Albert Square in Manchester. Tonight I'm writing this from the Spa town of Buxton. Unfortunately we pass through places so quickly we do not get the chance to fully appreciate them.

Our journey is showing me so many parts of the country I want to go back to. And this is despite missing out the best bits: Scottish Highlands, Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, North Wales and Cornwall.

There's enough in the UK to visit for many a holiday to come. Call me a little Britainer, but I reckon not flying on holiday is a pleasure rather than a sacrifice.

Distance covered so far: 482 miles

Do they all support us number 11

August is meant to be the holiday season for MPs but we haven't seen much evidence of it yet. Friday's walk out of Manchester to Marple featured to MPs along the way: Gerald Kaufman (Labour) and Andrew Stunnell (Lib Dem).

Gerald was almost as loyalist as Caly Mountford in Colne Valley. He said he may consider voting against the government "if we attacked Iran". So that's OK then. Definitely another MP to put in the attack against democracy column.

Distance covered so far: 465 miles

Do they all support us number 10

Half-way through our journey down from Saddleworth to Manchester we were met by Oldham East and Saddleworth MP, Phil Woolas (Labour). Phil is the Minister in the Department for Environment responsible for climate change. Unsurprisingly we couldn't get him to publicly disagree with the government's current position on the climate bill; he's the one responsible for it.

We did however have a lively debate, during which Phil said two interesting things.

Firstly, it was reassuring that Phil acknowleged that the UK and UK government are "still at basecamp and tying our shoelaces" in the battle against climate change. When I challenged him on the need for the government to implement policies such as regulations on builders and landlords, subsidising renewable energy and halting the expansion of airports, he agreed that such policies are necessary.

However Phil also used an argument we have heard from a lot of Labour politicians on this march: "we must take the people with us", the implication being 'the people' are actively opposed to government policies to reduce carbon emissions.

I don't know of any mass campaigns to keep the incandescent lightbulb, but we still have them. Neither are people hammering on the door for poor quality housing lacking insulation. I haven't yet met a protestor outside a coal power station with a placard saying "We want more". And the last time I looked, protestors at Heathrow are calling for the third runway NOT to be built.

I don't think it is the public who are stopping the government acting to reduce our emissions. I reckon the true opposition are companies dependent on our continued use of fossil fuels, and a government who finds talking about climate change a lot easier than acting.

Distance covered so far: 453 miles
Number of showers during our walk into Manchester: 103
Number of UK marchers surprised by number of showers in Manchester: 0

Democracy

One of my regrets on being on this march is missing out on the climate camp at Heathrow. But campaigning is collective, and there are other campaigners from the World Development Movement who are taking part. You can see their blogs at:
http://climatechangecamp.blogspot.com/

On Wednesday 15 August we marched from Huddersfield to Saddleworth, through the constituency of Colne Valley, where we were joined by Labour MP, Kali Mountford, and prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservatives, Jason McCartney. Jason has the honour of being the first representative of the Conservative party who has visited us on the march.

In speaking to Kali she was supportive of some of our demands, particularly that the climate bill should not allow the UK to buy carbon credits from developing countries. When I asked her if this meant she would vote against carbon credits being included in the bill, Kali responded "I would never vote against the government".

This is outrageous; an elected representative knows something is wrong, but refuses to ever vote against her party.

I'm sure there are commentators criticising the Heathrow climate camp for being an 'attack on democracy', and questioning why we don't campaign solely through 'democratic processes'.

Kali showed today why we have to use all means of peaceful protest. An MP refusing to ever vote against the government is the true attack on democracy. Down at Heathrow, the climate camp is true democracy at work.

Distance covered so far: 439 miles

Glaciers

Risolat from Tajikistan spoke at our evening meeting on Tuesday night in Huddersfield. At 18 years old Risolat is our youngest marcher, and saw the sea for the first time by coming on the march.

Tajikistan is a former republic of the Soviet Union in Central Asia. With 7 million people it has high levels of poverty following the extreme free market policies which were introduced after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Tajikistan also makes effectively no contribution to climate change, emitting 1 tonne of carbon dioxide per person (compared to the UK's 10 tonnes).

Risolat told us how Tajikistan is a mountainous country, which depends on glaciers for much of the water supply. But the glaciers are disappearing. Fedchencko, the largest glacier, has already shrunk by 1km, and is now retreating at a rate of 10 metres a year.

Glaciers act as gigantic water towers, storing water for the dry season, but as they shrink they become less effective. If we allow glaciers to disappear, dry season water supplies disappear as well.

One-sixth of the world's population depends on glaciers for their dry season water supply. Over 1 billion people. Scary.

Distance covered so far: 426 miles

Do they all support us number 9

'Home is where the heart is' some say, but I reckon 'home is where the best local real ale is'. Bradford provided both for me. We were met by my Gran and Grandad as we marched into Centenary Square in the centre of Yorkshire's greatest city, and sampled some excellent Saltaire Blonde ale later in the evening. It is with great pride I can report that Bradford is now viewed by the marchers as the best city we have visited.

In Bradford we also met two local MPs, Marsha Singh and Terry Rooney. They both said they supported the need for at least an 80 per cent cut in emissions by 2050. However, they seemed less supportive of the policies needed to achieve such a cut. When I mentioned that aviation is excluded from the bill, Marsha Singh responded that flying makes up 2 per cent of emissions. This is wrong - in the UK aviation accounts for 13 per cent of our contribution to climate change.

Terry Rooney said we can't stop poor people flying on holiday. Again, this is wrong. The richest 17 per cent of the UK population account for 64 per cent of flights.

Both the statements of Marsha and Terry come from heavy lobbying by the aviation industry. Our campaigning has to challenge the lies peddled by powerful corporations.

Do they all support us number 8

As we marched into Leeds we were greeted along the way by two Labour MPs, Colin Burgon and Colin Challen. Unfortunately I missed Colin Burgon as I was off on an interview for Radio Leeds, but my colleagues assured me he was supportive of our demands and critical of the government.

Colin Challen is a very progressive MP; the first time I heard of him was when he asked a probing question in Prime Minister's Question Time about a secretive but very important international trade agreement (GATS for any long-standing World Development Movement campaigners reading this blog).

Colin is one of the most active MPs campaigning on climate change and certainly supports what we are calling for. Let's hope he can persuade enough of his colleagues to do so.

Distance covered so far: 405 miles

A power station tour of Britain

Another of the delights of our walk has been the number of coal (and one nuclear) power stations we have passed. So far we have got close to: Killroot, Longleet, Cockenzie, Torness, Lynemouth and now Drax, Eggham and Ferrybridge all in one day.

The south of Selby and over to Castleford in Yorkshire is 'Megawatt Valley', with three power stations dominating the landscape. Last year's climate camp was held in the area due to the high concentration of emissions, particularly from Drax, the largest and biggest emitting power station in the UK. This year the camp has moved to Heathrow, after it was pointed out that planes taking off from Heathrow make an even larger contribution to climate change than Drax does.

In talks I use the statistic: "Drax emits more carbon dioxide than Kenya ... and Uganda ... and Tanzania ... and Zambia ... and Malawi ... and Mozambique ... all put together." Last night we made some placards to say that as we walked through Megawatt Valley.

It is a shocking statistic which tries to get accross the scale on which we in the UK emit compared to the poorest countries in the world, and hence the injustice of climate change. Like the scale-model of the solar system yesterday, it is an attempt to make something which is too big to comprehend, comprehensible. Hopefully it works.

Distance covered so far: 392 miles

Getting younger every mile

Our walk has introduced us to many treasures accross the UK. Walking south from York between Bishopthorpe and Riccall we walked along the solar system cycle path. The 6.4 mile track is a scale representation of the solar system, with Jupiter the size of a football, and Pluto as small as a pea.

One step equals 500,000km which meant we were travelling 3 times faster than the speed of light. Information on the way told us that "each journey ends before it begins and every time you travel on the route you will be a little younger at the end than when you started".

The start of the walk covers the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars very quickly. Although Venus is further from the sun than Mercury, the high level of greenhouse gases in its atmosphere means it is more than 150 degress hotter.

A couple of nights before in Sowerby, I had been asked for ID for the first time in seven years, whilst trying to buy a local Yorkshire ale. Maybe walking does actually make you younger.

Distance covered so far: 374 miles

Do they all support us number 7

On Wednesday 8 August we reached the heart of Yorkshire, passing through York. I spoke at a mini-rally in the city centre along with Cassia and the local MP, Hugh Bayley (Labour).

Hugh is on the International Development Select Committee, so aware of issues around climate change and its effects round the world. We challenged him about the improvements needed in the climate bill, to which he responded that at least 80 per cent is needed, and aviation should be included. Another Labour MP down, another one who has publicly supported us on the need for improvements in the climate bill.

Is there anyone willing to support the government's position?

Inequality

The big day arrived on Monday as we crossed from County Durham into Yorkshire, God's own country. With 16 miles done by the finish in Northallerton, we've now managed 322 miles since we began 23 days ago in Northern Ireland.

One of the things you notice as you arrive in Northallerton are row-upon-row of 4x4s for sale. Many may be of more use here than those used in cities, but a local did whisper in my ear "this is one of the richest places in the country".

The way in which many of us compare a country's contribution to climate change is how much carbon dioxide a country emits per person. The UK is around 10 tonnes, China 4, India 1 and Bangladesh 0.3.

But within a country these figures are meaningless. There are clear divisions between how much different communities emit, and one of the biggest is between rich and poor. Richer people are more likely to fly, consume lots of manufactured goods, fill homes with electrical applicances, and have a (or many) gas guzzling cars.

In contrast many of the ways individuals are told to reduce their carbon emissions, for instance by the UK government, can only be done by richer people. "Better insulation" requires you to own your own home. "Buy solar water heating" requires lots of money available to invest. Even "fly less" assumes that you can afford a holiday in the first place.

Greater responsibility for climate change resides with the rich both between countries and within countries.

Wise words

We've now arrived in Durham on Satuday night, after a 17 mile journey south from Newcastle. We are all tired, so I will just give you the words of 6-year old Sam whose family are kindly putting me up tonight:

"This is my remote control car. I don't like the real ones as they make gases which are making the globe warmer."

Distance covered so far: 286 miles

Do they all support us number 6

Our walk through Tyneside on Friday included going via Jarrow to meet the daughter of one of the Jarrow marchers. In 1936 207 Geordie's marched down to London demanding relief from unemployment and poverty. When they arrived in London after 22 days of marching, the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, refused to meet them.

We have almost the opposite problem. Whilst many MPs are now on holiday, earlier in the day we had been greeted by Alan Campbell MP (Labour), who marched with us to the Tyne ferry. Alan is a government whip, which means its his job to ensure Labour MPs don't rebel and do vote for the government. Of course, this meant he did not depart from the government's line that a 60 per cent cut is all that is possible and aviation does not need to be included within this.

Our job is to make Alan's life as difficult as possible when the climate bill enters parliament in the autumn.

Political will

Thursday was 19 miles from Lynemouth to Whitley Bay, assisted by a nice breeze and occasional sun. Half-way through the day we passed through Blyth and made a brief stop at the 'New and Renewable Energy Centre', a not-for-profit organisation supporting the development of wave, wind and solar power.

I joined Chira, our marcher from the Democratic Republic of Congo, in talking to Andrew Mill of the Centre about renewable technologies. Andrew talked us through current issues, such as the fact there are around 80 different designs of wave and tidal energy systems currently being developed. The limited government funding for them is spread across many technologies, and so none are given the support they need to be made viable.

I asked why the government doesn't just support a few designs, but apparently the government does not want to be seen to 'pick a winner' rather than the best design emerging from 'the market'. I suspect if we wait for the market we'll be waiting a long time. And we know that time is one thing we don't have.

Having also spoken about the potential of wind and solar energy, Andrew told us: "These technologies are all possible. It is the political will which is needed."

Distance covered so far: 256 miles
Highest roadkill in one day: 26

Commuter heaven

Over the past couple of weeks as we have worked our way down the north-east coast, we've been continually meeting up with the main north-eastern rail line between Edinburgh and London.

Today's journey of 24 miles from Alnwick to Lynemouth was no exception. I've passed through Alnmouth station quite a bit on journey's north and south and always loved the view out to sea. It was great today to have more time to appreciate it.

Last night Demo and I were talking to Peter, one of our hosts for the night. He is the chair of the rail users association in Alnwick. They have been fighting for more regular services into Newcastle, and recently they have been improved. Consequently, commuter journey's to Newcastle have increased by 45 per cent, which, as Peter says, does something to reduce carbon emissions. But Peter also said it is far more relaxing, quick and useful to be commuting on a train than in a car.

Trains are another of those areas where a low carbon world would deliver a better quality of life. Whilst it would be expensive to massively upgrade our rail system in the UK, the benefits would be seen in ways in which GDP cannot measure.