Tag: Environment

Climate Change – Facts Matter

Published on by Seema RampersadLeave a comment

António Guterres: “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator”.

This year climate change has really been on the news due to adverse evidence weather or natural disasters caused by the impact on the Earth and on our environment.  From a world record breaking warm summer in the northern hemisphere to the glacier ice melting at alarming rates.  We all may have seen very frightening images in the news recently from the devastating floods in Nepal caused by the melting glaciers on the mountains which flooded the valley and river which saw large residential buildings washed away and 1000s of lives loss.

Therefore it is a good time to think of Green Libraries Week 2026, which starts on October with the theme this year being Climate Facts for a greener future: Navigating mis- and disinformation in libraries. To help us have these conversations and action, the webpages by CILIP has some great tools and resources for those of us who work in libraries, and also for all to get involved in positive climate action and to understand the topic a but more.  There are lists of fictions and factual sources, activities, knowledge sharing events and advocacy from libraries across the country. We too at the British Library will be hosting some events during October to raise awareness and highlight the topic so that we can all be hopeful and motivated to consider this important issue together. 

I am proud to see that this topic is growing from strength to strength in my profession. It makes me remember that in the 1990s and 2000s, we were beginning to trying to consume less paper, packaging and save energy.  Then I recall that when I worked at the Greater London Authority (City Hall), we produced a fortnightly Environmental Bulletin, and we also supported research and enquiries on various environmental topics such as parks, trees, health, flooding, sustainable transport and extreme weather.  There have been shifts and positive changes in our infrastructure, relationship with the environment, and even our behaviours with regards to sourcing and choosing goods and services.  I remember hosting the engagement events to encourage us to make and mend or upcycle.  I led and arranged with my colleagues for staff an ethical fashion show in 2011 and a Clothes Swap Party in 2012.  I had to research ethical fashion for a short talk I presented for the fashion show, which helped me to understand the topic a bit more. It was one of the highlights of that time in my professional life.

Now, I have the benefitted and it is a privilege of taking part in the Green Libraries Hib Project funded by the National Lottery managed by CILIP in the last year as part of our work with partners in Camden Libraries and across the country. I have had training by Julie’s Bicycle on learning more about the climate action by trainers who are knowledgeable and obviously passionate about such an important topic.  I also gained more insights and climate literacy from these courses which helped me to understand new topics such as climate justice and other environmental facts.    

Libraries are seen as trusted, open and safe spaces – and therefore this has enable us to reach these audiences and with some element of outreach to the communities who may not visit local libraries.  Our aims have been to help them learn and understand how small changes can help them with their everyday lives – such as growing their own vegetables, reducing energy bills, making use of nature in parks and supporting local wildlife.  My colleagues have been amazing on reaching new targets and audiences to get persons and the wider communities engaged in taking positive action on climate change.  There have been hosting events in many creative ways such as make and mend, repair shops, climate cafes, health and wellbeing walks in the park and surrounding nature, book clubs and other fun and interesting ways to learn about the topic.

David Attenborough: “If working apart we are a force powerful to destabilise our planet, surely working together we are powerful enough to save it…in my lifetime I’ve witnessed a terrible decline. In yours, you could and should witness a wonderful recovery”.

Climate change is a difficult topic to discuss as there are myths and climate deniers – plus extreme weather means that the changes in the climate are not always apparent but it is evidence as many of the authoritative links mentioned below. Extreme weather is a result of the climate changes and therefore it may snow heavily, rain constantly, have heatwaves, wild fires, drought etc. This is hard to communicate but I think the tide is turning as we experience these changes in our lifetime and we see evidence of changes in our own environment.  Some of the key tips is that we base our understanding on factual evidence and reliable sources and there are many out there such as research organisations or libraries.

We also have to accept that it is a big topic and we can all take personal responsibility in our stride, step by step, so that we are not overwhelm with the tasks and choices we make. For me it was examples such as:

  • resisting using the hose for watering plants in my garden this summer whilst there was a hose ban!
  • using my car less and less as I use more public transport in an urban city
  • recycling more and more by visiting one of the largest Recycling centres near where I live

So, instead of preaching to you about climate facts.  I prefer to share some of the above way that I see this as important work which will have a direct impact on my everyday life and hopefully have a positive impact on the environment.

Here are some great sources of information on climate change facts that are reliable sources that we can refer to and learn more about.

EU Climate Actions – the EU has a dedicated page on climate disinformation.

https://climate.ec.europa.eu/areas-action/climate-disinformation_en

Friends of the Earth – Climate change facts based on scientific evidence and the impact on the Earth.

https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate/climate-change-facts-science-and-impacts

Julie’s Bicycle – Resources and content to educate and inspire you to positive action.

https://juliesbicycle.org/take-action/resources/

NASA – a look at the wider impact on climate change

https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change

Nature – content on nature and biodiversity.

https://www.nature.com/nclimate

Met Office – Factchecking – The Met Office has a good link on how to check quality information sources by scientist and peer review resources. It also give you tips to Pause, Fact Check and Resist the Myths.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/blog/2025/fact-checking-climate-information

United Nations – Sustainable development goals and international information on climate change.

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change

World Resources Institute – climate change resources.

https://www.wri.org/our-work

WWF – Here are 10 myths about climate change:

https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/here-are-10-myths-about-climate-change

Ernest Hemingway: “The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for”

Celebrating Green Libraries

Published on by Seema Rampersad2 Comments

In October, libraries will be celebrating Green Libraries Week from 2-8 October with the theme ‘Go Green at the Library’. Awareness and activities for a more sustainable future are more important than ever with the impact on climate change.  There many aspects that we have to remember the impact of good practice will have on our lives, our users live and the work that we do.  

The Green Library Manifesto was launched in 2023 with a partnership of many British organisations, including CILIP and The British Library.  I also attended the first Green Libraries Conference in March 2023, which was great for hearing all the initiatives and excitement of others sharing their activities and ideas for reaching these shared goals. This year CILIP’s Green Libraries Conference will be held at the British Library in November.  

Here are some small ways that I have tried to improve my own carbon footprint or share my knowledge of green libraries and sustainability in the last few months:

Improving our Knowledge and Skills

With entrepreneurs and business who we meet at the Business & IP Centre, we actually have the privilege to meet businesses who try to solve some of the world’s problem with business models or ideas that are sustainable.  Sustainability means many and different things to everyone but here is a quote I have used in the past to discuss sustainability:

WHAT DOES “SUSTAINABILITY” MEAN IN BUSINESS?​

​In business, sustainability refers to doing business without negatively impacting the environment, community, or society as a whole.

Sustainability in business generally addresses two main categories:​

The effect business has on the environment​

The effect business has on society​

Source: HBR Online What is sustainability in business?

https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/what-is-sustainability-in-business

For businesses, there are a lot of support for encouraging best practice from organisations such as FSB, Gov.UK, the Carbon Trust and other organisation that help with best practice and insights for leaders and organisations to adapt and implement better sustainable businesses. 

Infrastructure and Physical Spaces

Living more environmentally conscious and compliant can only be achieved if our infrastructure and physical spaces are able to adapt and mitigate against damage and devastation to our natural resources and habitat. Although, one of the most annoying aspects of our infrastructure in the city are the pollution and litter that are times too visible for me.  I can’t help picking up some weeds and litter that are frequently left in my neighbourhood.  It is disappointing too that the streets are not cleaned regularly and that small items like 100s of cigarette butts can be found if you took a mile walk around my neighbourhood.  I do blame the council for not having contracts with cleaning companies that truly care about the environment and for doing more to protect our environment.  I recently went to another part of London, and even Boston USA in July, where I felt envy for the clean street they had compared to my own neighbourhood.  I know that buildings and infrastructure are expensive but I hope that we can take steps to make improvements. 

Positive Action and Collaboration  

As with an activism or change, it is actually harder to do on your own.  It is great to see that a new generation of consumers are making choices for their future and there are also people of all ages standing up for environmental issues.  You may recall about 20 years ago when we were protecting our planet by “Think Before you Print” messages in the office.  It did create a shift of mindset for us to not work paper – which eventually saves trees! Likewise, there has been several issues great shifts in our attitude and behaviours for aspects such as plastic pollution and single-use plastics.  Most of the people I know now re-use bags or recycle their plastics.  At work we have also encouraged the use of re-useable cups.  In most public spaces, there are a few bins for our recycling of different materials.  This too was a great shift from about 20 years ago.  I remember I only had one large bin and just a crate for recycling when I first moved to my current home, but now we have four bins for recycling! 

Improving Travel and Accessibility

I am pleased that I use public transport to get to work and I tend to use my car less and less due to restrictions and charges for driving around town.  I do still have a car for longer journeys but also for getting items that are larger than usual for a delivery.  There are issues with rail transport in the United Kingdom as it is really expensive to use the train for traveling further away from city to city, or up and down the country. If I lived on the European continent, I do believe that I would also use the trains more but the cost and time to travel sometimes do not encourage us to do this as often.  Therefore, I know that I use aeroplanes for overseas travel – I do know that I will not be traveling forever but hope to see the countries still on my list and then perhaps slow down to places closer to where I live.  

Accessibility sometimes comes at a cost.  As I make my way on public transport and travel overseas by planes, trains and boats – I do see that there are issues with accessibility if you have a disability or if you are a bit slower. Hopefully there will be better designs as old ways of traveling are replaced with accessibility in mind. 

We have also seen a shift on hybrid services from our workplaces to services being offered online by video conferencing.  The impact has improve journey times, enabled us to be open to the world and to choose some lifestyle changes from the time not traveling. However, Technology also has contributed to vast amounts of carbon emissions for servers and other negative energy effects.

Raise aware for the issues on sustainability

The good news about a topic that is talked about and for those who are still learning about it, is that there are of resources by information professionals or resources that can be used for raising awareness and understanding of the topic.  There are some great articles and current awareness articles for keeping on track on the latest trends and developments on the topic.  As with a living aspect and ecosystem, such as our environment, climate and wellbeing – there has to been a constant conversation and research into new information and evidence of the impact on our lives and the environment around us.  For this October, I have little time to cover everything on this big topic but I hope these personal thoughts will help to Celebrate Green Libraries initiatives and action.

Resources for further reading: