Chamber Event 2019: how can we reach a sustainable future?
2019’s House of Lords Chamber Event took place on Friday 29 November when schools, civic organisations and members of the House of Lords took part in an inter-generational debate. The participants were asked 'How can we reach a sustainable future?'
The debate focused on climate change and how the government, individuals and industries should tackle the pressing issues we face today, as well as the ethical questions about how our lifestyle choices will impact people in the future.
This was the first Chamber Event on climate change and aimed to encourage an inter-generational exchange of ideas and experiences. The debate also highlighted the complicated relationship between economic growth, social wellbeing, and the environment, and the need to consider all three as part of plans for a sustainable future.
The House of Lords once again partnered with The English Speaking Union to devise and deliver the debate. They worked with participants from 10 schools and participants from the two civic organisation partners, the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Meteorological Society, preparing them to speak in the daunting surroundings of the House of Lords chamber, on a variety of views and solutions.
After a lively debate opened by the Lord Speaker, and following contributions from Lord Krebs, Lord Teverson and Baroness Young of Old Scone, the participants were asked to vote on three questions.
The most popular solution for the question 'Are governments responsible for tackling climate change?' was that 'Individuals are the ones who should make the difference, taking responsibility for living sustainably with decarbonising their lifestyle', with 88 votes.
The chosen solution for the question 'Should we make sacrifices now to benefit people in the future?' was that we should 'Change lives now: we need an immediate and rapid reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in all private and industrial sectors', with 123 votes.
The favourite solution for the question 'Can we have sustainability alongside globalism and growth?' was that we should 'Help the developing world: you cannot stop progress but we have to support emerging economies not to make the same mistakes that we did but to grow sustainably', with 85 votes.
