“Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen and many thanks for coming to our ClimateKeys Concert.” So began singer Paula Downes’ introduction to ClimateKeys Cambridge. “ClimateKeys is a series created by composer and pianist, Lola Perrin, who wanted to create opportunities for people to have conversations about Climate Change. We, The Cantabrigians, are going to perform a programme that links to climate change in the following ways. We are using only the most natural instrument - the human voice - since our whole programme is unaccompanied. And our sacred texts pray for wisdom and mercy and praise the mountains and the streams.”
Commencing with Hildegard of Bingen, the four singers cast a stillness over the audience as they entranced with a meditative programme that also featured works by Andrew Downes, Sarah MacDonald, Felix Mendelssohn and Ockeghem, interspersing the music with readings from religious texts. Andrew Downes’ ‘Sacred Mass’ was a remarkable listening experience and true to his daughter Paula Downes’ observations that his philosophy denies “the very Western obsession with forward moving time. Instead, everything including birth, life and death exist in a kind of timeless, natural landscape.” In the context of climate change, Mendelssohn’s “Lift thine eyes to the mountains whence cometh help” was a plea to rise to the challenge before us, towards a resolution to our crisis. This section of the concert concluded with a heart-rending performance of Hilary Tann’s The Moor.
The singers took their seats on stage, now joined by guest speaker Dr Emily Shuckburgh who began her talk by explaining she was a polar scientist studying how the polar region in all its outstanding beauty is changing rapidly. The sea ice is in decline and has already lost an area of ice the size of the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany and Spain. People living in the Arctic have lives that are deeply connected to the landscape and they are describing the changes they’re seeing as if witnessing a deeply trusted friend suddenly acting strangely. Species at the pole are already suffering and oddities are occurring; for example, robins can now be heard where before there were none. The polar regions are seeing the changes first, so these serve as warnings to us. Ancient air as far back as pre-history is trapped in the layers of ice and this provides a record for scientists who compare those concentrations of gases to the levels in today’s atmosphere. Studies reveal that for the past million years the levels have wavered between 180 - 280 parts per million of carbon dioxide. We have now tipped over 400 parts per million.
Emily spoke of the new project she’s just launched with her colleagues at British Antarctic Survey where she is deputy head of the Polar Teams. They suspect that the Antarctic’s Thwaites glacier may be collapsing, a “sleeping giant”, if it does collapse, we are eventually going to see several meters of sea level rise. Gesturing towards the beautiful courtyard through the window, she told us that if this glacier does melt the courtyard will be under water. As Graham Stevens said later “it was poignant listening to the gasps as she spoke”.
If the polar regions are showing us the changes, how unusual the changes are, and also what may happen in the future, what can we do about climate change?
Emily was clear. We need to reduce our carbon emissions and reach zero carbon well before the end of the century. We need radical changes at small scale and at large scale. The key is to address many challenges at all aspects of society. Although the science is compelling that the situation is extremely grave, the game is not up. There are many opportunities to solve this, and we can do it through addressing health and lifestyle. For example, cycling as a form of transport has multiple benefits. Similarly, on a wider scale, there are multiple benefits to low carbon and its improvement to life. Cambridge is very strong on low carbon innovation with many new technologies currently being developed. The ultimate challenge of addressing global warming will be addressed through improving so much else throughout society. Each of us should step up and take responsibility both collectively and individually.
The audience was then invited to turn to their neighbour and share comments and thoughts on what they’d heard so far and for a few minutes the room was filled with an animated cacophony of voices. Then, as in all ClimateKeys concerts, the guest speaker became the facilitator of an audience conversation, encouraging a dialogue to take place across the audience. One person spoke of how doing the right thing for the planet is often at odds with the cost, using architecture as an example of how public money does not want to fund sustainable materials because they’re more expensive. This led to a contribution about the new water fountains in Birmingham New Street with their signs imploring people not to purchase bottled water and how people are resistant to using the fountains for fear of uncleanness. Overpopulation was discussed as a major cause of climate change. Educating women – and men - in reproductive health – is seen a vital route towards reducing global warming. Not everyone wants to have a small family though – and this brought forward discussion on how the climate change story is about giving things up that we are used to having. Despite this though, we need to find a way to offer hope, the lexicon needs to be changed, one person is not providing the whole solution, but each person is part of the massive solution.
“Each personal action is a drop in the ocean, and all the drops add up and become a sea of change,” our speaker surmised, asking “so what is it that you can do?”. Responses ranged from choosing to stop flying, to giving up meat, to consuming less, to thinking about our clothing as style rather than fashion - as the fashion industry is fast becoming known as one of the biggest causes of pollution and environmental degradation – now even more than cement production. Emily recommended that once we find what we can do, we then then scale it up, for example that we tell others of our individual action, so more can join in. “The solutions are complex but there are drops in the ocean. Plastics is an example of how when people get together and act collectively, we can make a difference. There is definitely hope.”
The Cantabrigians then rounded off the concert with a performance of a unique, beautiful arrangement of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound of Silence’ - an apt choice for an event about climate change; a subject that most people do not talk about.
Cambridge Carbon Footprint had been chosen as the recipient for the event’s retiring fund. Tom Bragg, Chair of the charity, from came on stage to talk about the project. In response to climate change, big rapid changes in politics, technology and industry are needed. We also need personal change and this is the focus of the focus of Cambridge Carbon Footprint. They are working towards how a change in lifestyle leads to climate-friendly behaviour in travel, home energy, food and other consumption. “Doing something about climate change makes it less depressing.” He gave some examples of their initiatives. Circular Cambridge – their project to make a circular economy – “how to keep our stuff in use, maintained, repaired, maybe donated or sold to someone else or finally properly recycled” – saves a lot of carbon emissions. At the Circular Festival November 2017, they held a world-record Repair Café. Two hundred and thirty-two items were successfully repaired and hundreds of people motivated and empowered to look after their possession better. In November 2018 the theme of Circular Festival is Sustainable Clothing; “global waste of clothing, often good, goes to landfill or incineration at the rate of one lorry-load every second”. Tom spoke of their Open Eco Homes project that takes place in September where twelve sustainable homes are open to view; some are new-build, some are retrofit, and householders show visitors how they save energy. Last year’s visitors made four hundred and forty-four one-hour tours. Practical events include low cost solutions like draught-proofing. Normally 70% of visitors are new to the charity, so they are bringing more people in rather than catering to already committed environmentalists. People are inspired to make their own home energy improvements, last year saving an estimated 757 tonnes CO2 in Cambridge.
Paula Downes, organiser of ClimateKeys Cambridge, returned to the stage and made a personal statement that the event and audience discussion had inspired her to carry on the same route of engaging in climate change issues. She then invited the audience to stay for the post-concert reception and continue the conversation.
