Could new green framework be blueprint for better living?

Story published 4.12.08

At an event in London yesterday, a group of forward thinking businesses and local government members came together to promote projects that use a new sustainability framework – a framework that could be used around the world for positive change.

International sustainability charity BioRegional ran the One Planet One Day convergence. The day brought together BioRegional’s international partners to share their experience of applying the One Planet Living framework to deliver projects that show true, measured sustainability in action.

The framework is made up of 10 principles such as Zero Carbon, Zero Waste and Equity, Fair Trade and Local Economy. It is being applied to new community developments in the UK, Portugal and North America, to home improvement retailer B&Q’s eco-product range and internal strategy, to the London Borough of Sutton and has even been applied to the London 2012 Olympic bid strategy.

The over-riding aim of BioRegional and its partners is to deliver projects that show how we can live within a fair share of the Earth’s resources while enjoying a high quality of life. In the UK context this means reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 90% and reducing overall impact (Ecological Footprint) by two thirds. These targets are adapted according to the country specific context.

If the framework was to be adopted on a wide scale some of the problems of our modern day living could be solved such as:
• employing sustainable transport strategies that make cycling, walking and taking public transport easy to decongest roads and reduce pollution;
• making local, healthy food more widely available and promoting healthy lifestyles to prevent obesity and improve wellbeing;
• massively reducing carbon dioxide emissions which cause climate change to reduce flooding and storm damage.

BioRegional’s Executive Director Sue Riddlestone said:
“In the week after the Climate Change Act set us all a target to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 in the UK, these projects are using the one planet living framework to show us what life in such a low carbon world would be like.

It’s easy to talk about sustainability but the value comes from actually trying to do it. The real beauty of what we are showing through these inspiring One Planet Living projects is that reducing your eco-impact doesn’t mean going without, it means saving money and having a better quality of life. Who could argue with that?”

Speakers at the event included Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Jill Rutter Director of Strategy and Sustainable Development at Defra, developer and presenter Kevin McCloud and the One Planet Living partners who are delivering truly world class examples of sustainability.

Notes

About the One Planet One Day Convergence
One Planet One Day was the public day of a four day long convergence of discussion and learning for sustainability. The event was held at The Room by the River, Waterloo, London.
For full details of the day visit www.oneplanetoneday.co.uk

The 10 sustainability principles of One Planet Living
Zero Carbon
Zero Waste
Sustainable Transport
Sustainable and local materials
Local and Sustainable Food
Sustainable water
Natural Habitats and Wildlife
Culture and Heritage
Equity, Fair Trade and Local Economy
Health and Happiness

The principles were jointly developed by BioRegional and WWF.

Applying the 10 principles framework to projects
For each project BioRegional uses the ten One Planet Living principles to produce a Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) which guides its development and implementation. Each SAP has time-bound targets, which allow for equitable and sustainable use of resources around the world in order to achieve One Planet Living, and is audited annually. BioRegional works with partners in a spirit of finding solutions together and sharing best practice rather than a “tick box” approach. BioRegional wants as many people as possible to use the One Planet Living approach but will only allow the use of the “planet with a heart” logo for projects which have an approved One Planet Living SAP. This will allow easy recognition of projects which are part of the One Planet Living network.