Author: Julia Patrick

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Time to act: fossil fuel divestment

  • Students call for fossil fuel divestment at St John’s College

Last week Oxford students occupied St John’s College in protest at its £8.1m fossil fuel investments. The students held up placards reading “We can’t eat money or drink oil”, “Fossil Fuels are History” and  “Wake up Fossil Fools”. As they endured the overnight cold in their tents, the college’s response included attempts to keep out sleeping bags and blankets, deactivating the students’ key fobs, and a proposal from the Bursar that he could “arrange for the gas central heating in college to be switched off with immediate effect”. Calling themselves “Direct Action for Divestment“, the campaign group was supported by the Oxford Climate Justice Campaign, XR Oxford and other climate activists.

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Missing the wood for the trees? Tree planting vs rewilding

Last summer it was hailed as a climate change solution with ‘mind-blowing potential’: tree planting has been making national headlines as government, NGOs, national and local organisations have launched initiatives to increase UK tree cover. Thousands of trees were planted in Oxford during National Tree Week in November, with support from Oxford Direct Services, Oxfordshire Trees for the Future and the International Tree Foundation.  We were delighted to be joined by over 100 enthusiastic volunteers to plant 500 new trees in Sunnymead Park.

Increasingly, however, this focus on tree planting is being questioned. Journalist George Monbiot, in particular, has argued that public resources should be directed towards “rewilding” – allowing trees to seed and spread themselves – instead of tree planting. According to Monbiot, rewilding “is much faster and more effective, and tends to produce far richer habitats”. Monbiot draws on work by Simon Lewis and others which suggests that “[commercial] plantations are much poorer at storing carbon than are natural forests, which develop with little or no disturbance from humans”.

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500 new trees planted in North Oxford!

Over 100 people joined us on a bright and frosty Saturday morning to plant more trees in North Oxford, as part of National Tree Week. As one of them said – “What a great way to start the day”! Thank you to everyone who came, to Oxford Direct Services who organised the trees and oversaw the event, and to International Tree Foundation, who funded the trees.

Michael Woods from Oxford Direct Services’ Parks Team was up early to prepare the site at Sunnymead Park, and the first volunteers arrived shortly before 10. Soon the park was busy with people of all ages and, under Michael’s expert supervision, 500 trees were planted in record time.

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National Tree Week starts 23 November – help us plant more trees in North Oxford!

We are delighted to have secured funding for 500 trees from the International Tree Foundation. Come and help us plant them!

When? Saturday 30 November, from 10am until about 1pm.

Where? Sunnymead Rec Ground (next to Cutteslowe Community Centre, Wren Road).

Please share with your family and friends – all ages are welcome, no experience necessary, and children are encouraged to help!* Turn up any time from 10am and we will guide you to the exact site. Please bring sturdy shoes and gloves. We will provide cake, hot drinks, trees and equipment.

Oxford Direct Services’ Landscape and Countryside team will be there to oversee the planting and provide advice and help. We will plant a mix of native trees, including oak, hazel, silver birch, sweet cherry, European spindle, wayfaring tree, and whitebeam. You can find out more about most of these on the Woodland Trust’s A-Z of British native trees. Or download their free Tree ID app.

If you have a moment, please sign up or register your interest on our facebook page.

*Please ensure all children are accompanied by a responsible adult. LCON is unable to take responsibility for unaccompanied children.

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Want to talk about Climate Change? Come to our next Climate Cafe on 27 October for a friendly chat and cake

Our next cafe is at 15.30 to 17.00 on Sunday 27 October at the Bicycle Shed, 204-206 Banbury Road (opposite Thorncliffe Road and next to Summertown Cycles).

We think our Climate Cafes offer something different from the usual gatherings of people with interests in climate change. They are facilitated – so you can be sure that there will be space for you to speak. They are not designed to recruit you to do anything or to put you under any pressure. The idea behind them is that talking about climate change is really important – but it is often made more difficult by our feelings of guilt that we are not doing enough, or frustration that others are not doing enough. So we provide a space in which we don’t talk about what we or others are doing or should be doing. We just talk about climate change and how it is making us think and feel. Everyone is welcome.

For more details and to RSVP visit our Meetup page.

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How to plant a tree

Did you know?

  • Just 13% of the UK’s total land area has tree cover (compared to an EU average of 35%).
  • Doubling UK woodland cover could help absorb 10% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions annually.
  • Not only do trees absorb carbon, they fight flooding, reduce pollution, nurture wildlife and make landscapes more resilient.
  • In a year, a single mature tree can absorb up to about 22kg CO2. That’s roughly equivalent to driving 10 miles in heavy traffic.
  • 100 mature trees can absorb roughly a third of an average annual UK carbon footprint (excluding stuff we buy and international flights).

Every tree counts, and we need more trees in cities like Oxford. If two thirds of all households in Oxford planted just one tree in their garden, we would have an additional 40,000 trees, which in time could grow into the equivalent of a tenth of Wytham Woods!

This short video from the RHS talks you through what you need to consider if you want to plant a tree.

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Our chance to take action – have your say on traffic reduction plans for Oxford

Oxford is taking to the streets. Over 5000 children and adults took part in last Friday’s Global Climate Strike, spilling through Broad Street, Cornmarket and surrounding streets, demanding action. This was followed on Sunday by World Car Free Day, as Broad Street was stripped of its car parking and “given back to the people”.

Now is our chance to build on this and help Oxford become a less congested, healthier and more pleasant city to live and work in, reducing its climate impact as well as air pollution: Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council have published ambitious proposals to reduce congestion in Oxford and are inviting the views of residents, commuters and employers. Members of the Coalition on Health Streets and Active Travel, including LCON, will be contributing to the consultation and we encourage everyone to have their say. Find out more,  including how you can respond, here. And check out Cyclox and LCON’s Alison Hill’s column in the Oxford Mail.

  • This is what more of Oxford could be like – CAR FREE Broad St on 22 Sept