Amsterdam declaration – Club of Rome conference (Nov09)
Gorbachev was the most high profile speaker but others on the platform included the former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers, a former Chilean President, as well as leading lights from the environmental world, such as Jim Hansen, Gunter Pauli, Bill McDonough, Michael Braungart and Ernst von Weizsacker. There were also contributions from business including Philips […]
The Age of Stupid film (Oct09)
I’ve just watched this film at a screening in the nearby village of South Petherton. The village hall was jam packed, although I was one of the few who had taken along my children. At the beginning we were warned of bad language in the film but actually all that I noticed was someone swearing […]
Generation Green visit recycling plant (Jun09)
I was impressed by the passion, enthusiasm and knowledge of many of the children who are participating in the Generation Green youth think tank, sponsored by British Gas. Age 7-14 we met at Dagenham docks to have a look around the Closed Loop recycling plant. They were told all about recycling plastic bottles and were […]
An inconvenient truth about fish – The End of the Line (Jun09)
A fish collapse. 90% of the big fish are gone. The global fishing capacity is big enough to catch four times more fish than actually exist in the sea. We’ve just squandered one of the greatest resources on the planet – wild fish. The End of the Line leaves one in no doubt about the […]
Summer produce (Jul08)
The weekend wasn’t glorious – certainly not the weather anyway. But I’ve been really enjoying the delicious summer produce, either from my wonderful food delivery service – Somerset Local Food Direct, from my mother’s garden or from our local pick your own. On Saturday night I had 15 people to supper. We started with broad […]
Gay Times – Peter Tatchell (Sep07)
One of three interviews I did for the Gay Times – Peter Tatchell. See also Paul O-Grady and Kristin Digby With piles of paper balanced precariously almost to the ceiling (it reminded me of Dr Seuss’s Cat in the Hat), Peter’s flat is not only his home but his campaign headquarters too. Animal rights, human rights, […]
Green Alliance: can politicians save us? (Jul07)
Giles Chitty and Julia Hailes at Green Alliance Debate Jul07 Matthew Taylor, the Chief Executive of The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) whispered in my ear that he didn’t suppose I would make any jokes in my presentation because women don’t make jokes! He looked a bit surprised when I said that I was starting […]
Sunny day in London (May07)
Unusually I didn’t have meetings in the morning, so I headed for the Lido on the Serpentine. Delicious ‘pain au chocolat’ and not such a delicious organic orange juice for breakfast, whilst reading Rosie Boycott’s Our Farm, published earlier this month. A man approached me saying something about the child he was carrying not being […]
National Trust Question Time on Climate Change (Mar07)
Arriving at the Royal Geographic Society early turned out to be a good thing. I was able to participate in discussions about topics covered in the Question Time style debate ahead of time – and meet a number of people from the National Trust who were involved in organising the event. Talked to Fiona Reynolds, […]