CAMPAIGNERS have staged a rickshaw protest outside Leeds Civic Hall to highlight their fears over climate change.
The environmentally-friendly pedal rickshaw was used to make a point about climate change – that the West is responsible for most of the emissions which are causing climate change, and that the world's poorest and developing nations suffer most as a result.
To further make the point the lobbyists wore the national costumes of countries in both the West and the East.
"Leeds Stop Climate Chaos" coalition was launched in the autumn with the aim of making Leeds an environmental beacon through projects such as widespread use of solar panels and reduction of damaging emissions.
It brought together a range of campaign groups and individuals, including the Roman Catholic Church charity CAFOD, Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Oxfam, People and Planet, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Sustrans, World Development Movement and WWF-UK.
The group lobbied Leeds City Council this week to seek support and action.
Lead
Lindsey Pearson of the coalition said: "Local people are already doing a great deal to help reduce climate change, but the really big changes can only happen if the politicians take a lead."
The coalition took with them the results of a survey of attitudes to climate change in Leeds.
"The survey into public opinion in Leeds found that the majority of people surveyed want politicians to take climate change more seriously," she said. "The survey indicated that local people are well aware of the threat climate change poses - rating it as a more serious threat to the world than terrorism or natural disasters. Seventy per cent of people in the survey were concerned or very concerned about climate change.
"People are not fooled – they know it is the big industrialised countries like ours that cause the problem and poor countries like India and Kenya that suffer the worst."
Lobbyists demonstrated how much CO2 is produced in the UK compared to India by releasing balloons.
The survey also looked at what local people are already doing to reduce their impact on carbon emissions. Bill Phelps, from the coalition said: "Six out of every ten people surveyed have already started using low energy light bulbs, or switching off appliances at the wall, not leaving them on stand by and keeping thermostats turned down and using public transport or cycling whenever possible. That is a good start. But there is more to be done.
"The survey indicates that maybe a third of people would like to install either solar panels or wind turbines; the council could help with this by smoothing the planning process."
Contact the coaltion's website at www.leedstidal.org/sccleeds for further details.
peter.lazenby@ypn.co.uk