Charles had the following letter published in the Barnet Borough Times on 29 June 2023.
Dear editor,
Without much fanfare, Barnet council have published the recommendations from the Citizens’ Assembly and Young People’s Assembly on Climate Change and Biodiversity 2023, which were convened to help work out suitable policies following the declaration of a climate emergency by the council. There is a link to the sixteen recommendations on the Barnet Climate Action Group web site (www.barnetclimate.org.uk).
I hope that, when the recommendations are translated into policies, some figures are added for both the cost and the number of tons of carbon dioxide saved. These can obviously not be calculated accurately, but an estimate could be made. For some of the measures, for example insulation, the cost is the difference between the materials plus labour of doing the work, and the savings on fuel bills into the future: the answer you get depends on predictions of inflation and interest rates, so the estimate will be rough. And for some, like better information, the costs and benefits could be anything depending on what is done. And who is to say what is the cost of saving 20kg of carbon dioxide emissions by staying at home instead of driving to the seaside for a day trip? But my estimates are that the costs and benefits of the sixteen measures will vary widely and some numbers would help us to decide what to concentrate on.
There is a danger that, without the numbers, the measures with minimal savings will be implemented, and people will think that it is all taken care of, and no more needs to be done.
Charles Wicksteed
Abbotts Road, New Barnet