The United Nations asked people in Kettering for their views on the Climate Change summit in Copenhagen and they made it clear they want to see benefits.
Jane Deith blogs:
Gordon Brown has warned of “climate catastrophe” unless the world can come to some sort of agreement to tackle global warming.
In the East Midlands town of Kettering people don’t need convincing climate change is real, they’ve woken up and smelled the carbon.
The United Nations came to Kettering to ask 100 of its ‘global citizens’ what kind of climate deal they want the world to cut in Copenhagen.
Their verdict was harsh, but fair.
Harsh, because they want industrialised countries like ours to cut carbon emissions in half.
And fair, because they agreed developing economies like Brazil and India should be allowed time to catch up, before they’re expected to think about being green.
But when it comes to doing their bit, people in Kettering are diligently filling up their recycling boxes and turning the TV off at the wall and yet the prospect of a really green lifestyle is a turn-off.
Almost half (45 per cent) are against any rise in the price of petrol or electricity,in the rest of the world only 20 per cent of people objected. Even Americans are willing to pay more for petrol than we are.
The message from Kettering was that they’re not going to pay into government’s low carbon economy until they see the benefits, things like cheaper solar panels for their homes or proper public transport.
The climate change secretary Ed Miliband says he’s going to “strain every sinew” to get the climate deal the world needs. But clinching the deal in Copenhagen could be a cinch compared to selling the green revolution at home.