The Worthians saving the planet

Worthians helping to save the planet

2021 has been another year where climate change has demonstrated its power on the planet, with devastating floods, fire and famine increasingly on our screens. In August the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) unveiled a report that outlined the most up-to-date insight into understanding the physical aspects of the climate system and the impact it was having on our world – with brutal honesty. The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November brought people together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. We thought it would be interesting to see who in our network were working in this field and in their own way doing their bit to protect our planet, and demonstrating the Benedictine value of Stewardship.

We are stewards, not masters of the earth.

Peter 4:10

“Listen to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor, who suffer most because of the unbalanced ecology”

– Pope Francis

Stephen Bamford StB’68 was one of the founders and Chairman of the SulNOx Group who have come a long way since 2013 when they had the dream of reducing diesel and petrol users’ money, whilst at the same time radically lowering the toxic emissions from their vehicles. SulNox is now a quoted company and will have an integral part on the “Path to zero emissions by 2050”. Stephen has recently done a 6 month savings assessment on his brand-new BMW 520d X Drive.

Anthony Elletson B’71 started his career as a solicitor, but in the mid-1990s found himself with a forestry concession in north west Russia and has been doing forestry related things ever since. He has been involved with various environmental projects, including the Strath Carnaig Woodland creation scheme (near Dornoch in Sutherland). This was the largest planting scheme for nearly 100 years having secured Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval for over 1,000 ha of new planting, largely within a site of special scientific interest, and a hen harrier special protection area. He currently lives in The Black Mountains in deepest Wales.

Gregory Dix B’88 has been working on large scale renewable energy developments for the last 15 years. He has provided consultancy services to developers on over 500MW of large ground mounted solar schemes in the UK, alongside large-scale wind development, battery storage schemes and is now working on green hydrogen generation development. He has spoken to hundreds of landowners on farm scale renewable generation and has provided due diligence and viability to funders and community investors. These developments are all helping to decarbonise our economy and towards the challenging target of the UK being carbon neutral by 2050.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Genesis 2:15

Worthians helping to save the planet continued

A sustainable glamping pod designed by Mark Waghorn Design

Mark Waghorn StB’90 moved to Wales in 2011, inspired by the country's goal to become a One Planet nation within a generation, ensuring that within this timeframe, its citizens consume no more than their fair share of the world’s resources. Mark believes Wales can be a beacon of hope, inspiring others around the world. It’s a beautiful land, rich in natural resources, with many citizens willing those in positions of power to facilitate positive change. As a director of Mark Waghorn Design (www.mwd.wales), Mark helps clients build or adapt their buildings to reduce their environmental footprint, delivering high quality environments that use available resources responsibly for the benefit of future generations. The inspiration for his work is rooted in the knowledge that we are an integral part of the natural world. As a Director of the Calon Cymru Network CIC (caloncymru.org) Mark is contributing to radical proposals for sustainable economic regeneration in rural Wales, and also tries to instill the principles of One Planet design in the work of the third year architectural students that he teaches at Trinity St David University in Swansea.

Mark is also an advocate for and specialist in One Planet Development, a planning policy unique to Wales that allows for new homes in the countryside on the condition that their occupants have very low ecological footprints. Mark says, “It’s based on an honest appraisal of the combined climate breakdown and ecological crises facing us, and allows inspiring, positive responses that allow a space for hope. Understanding the importance of One Planet Development requires the courage to face the reality of the situation, as only then can we appreciate the level of change needed in the way society operates”. He goes on to say “Action is needed on all fronts: the effect of carbon emissions on climate change, the loss of habitats and biodiversity, the depletion of the life of the soil, and so on. If we are to survive long term, they are non-negotiable. Thankfully, there is a growing appetite amongst landowners, politicians and other key decision makers for such radical responses to the escalating environmental crisis, but there is sadly also a corresponding reaction by those unwilling to engage with the realities of the situation, so the fight must go on, while time is fast running out”.

Justin Pavry StB’91 has been working on climate related projects for the last 20 years, first at a law firm, then at the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group) and now at CDC, the UK’s development finance institution. In the last 12 years his work has been almost exclusively the financing of renewable power projects in the developing world. It’s been an exciting journey, working in South America, Eastern Europe, South Asia and, more and more, in Africa and focused on making renewable power act like ‘baseload’ power to be a replacement for fossil fuel based power.

A One Planet home in Wales

Francis Binney grading whelks as part of an annual stock assessment

Francis Binney G’00 is a Marine Scientist for the Government of Jersey and has a broad scope of responsibilities ranging from assessing sustainable fishing limits for key stocks such as lobster, crab and whelk to mapping and managing marine key habitats such as seagrass meadows and fish spawning grounds. Francis, along with colleagues in the Marine Resources Team, works with both local and French fishers as well as NGO partners to find the best path to sustainably exploit the seas in which Jersey sits. Blue carbon is also becoming an increasing part of his portfolio with the opportunities of restoring the seabed to sequester carbon gaining international interest.

Lorenzo Curci B’00 Is Chief Commercial Officer at Earthly, a platform that connects businesses to highquality nature-based solutions (NbS) that remove carbon, restore biodiversity and support local communities. Earthly connect funding to a broad spectrum of NbS that can contribute to the estimated 11Gt annual drawdown potential these solutions can offer, but also to those projects that can best protect, maintain and regenerate ecosystems. With businesses of all sizes looking to play their part in combatting climate change and reducing and removing their impact, Earthly has become a leading Climate Tech business helping achieve those goals. Their mission is, “to be the leading global marketplace for high-quality nature-based solutions and help businesses remove at least 1 Gigatonne of carbon (1 billion tonnes) by 2030”. www.earthly.org

Ed Bonn G’01 delivers a programme of rural skills training for the Cotswolds National Landscape, an independent body with a remit to conserve and enhance the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (CAONB). At 790 square miles, stretching from Bath on its southern most edge to the far reaches of north Oxfordshire, the Cotswolds is England’s third largest protected landscape, just behind the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national parks. He offers courses on such skills as; restoring dry stone walls (a significant landscape feature

Dry stone wall restoration in the Cotswolds

Lorenzo Curci attending COP26 in Glasgow in November

Worthians helping to save the planet continued

James Longman reporting from Mont Blanc

Tom Hicks training for his trek to the North Pole

of the Cotswolds), coppicing woodlands and producing sustainable charcoal, and laying hedges in the traditional manner. In recent times, these traditional practices have been gaining new momentum, particularly as people re-evaluate their priorities and look for other ways to live.

James Longman B’05 is doing his bit to highlight the dangers of climate change to a mass audience in his role as Foreign Correspondent for ABC News. He reported from Mont Blanc last year on the melting of the Planpincieux Glacier which is moving 10 times quicker than anticipated and slipping 150cms a day in extreme cases. This creates the danger of 66 million gallons of ice falling into the Aosta Valley on the Italian side of the mountain.

Tom Hicks B’13 was inspired during his time with the Born Free Foundation in Zambia in 2016 and has subsequently been attempting to get to the North Pole on an expedition for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation where he will also be collecting data for the Scientific Exploration Society. Hampered by the pandemic, Tom has spent the time continuing to train and write passionately about wildlife and environmental conservation on his blog. Up until recently Tom was Rugby Development Coach at Worth and is now working as a coach for London Irish.

Ellie Chidgey StA'19 has been involved in a fascinating project in Cornwall, photographing the work of a conservation team as part of her university course. Ellie is at Falmouth University studying Marine and Natural History Photography, a specialised course where she’s able to use the scuba diving skills she learnt whilst at Worth to explore the Cornish coastlines with underwater cameras and discover the unseen-wonders of the natural world with microscopy. The course has also raised Ellie’s awareness of global issues, including habitat loss, climate change and plastic pollution. As part of the conservation module, she was set the task to design and create a feature article for a magazine based on a local conservation story, which led her to work with Dynamic Duneescapes, a project restoring sand dune biodiversity across England and Wales for the benefit of people, communities and wildlife. www.duneescapes.co.uk

Ellie Chidgey photographing the sand dunes in Cornwall