PRESS RELEASE

Date: 12-05-05

Cornwall Switch launches at Eden Project

Warm reception for campaign urging people in Cornwall to switch to ‘green’ energy

Delegates from dozens of community groups and environmental organisations gathered at the Eden Project near St Austell on Thursday 12 May to launch an innovative campaign aimed at encouraging people in Cornwall to switch to ‘green’ electricity tariffs.

The Cornwall Switch campaign aims to spread the word about how cheap and easy it is for households and businesses to start buying electricity from sources such as wind, hydro and solar power, thus helping to cut emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The not-for-profit campaign will also raise money for Oxfam, WaterAid and the Cornwall Green Communities Fund.

Introducing Cornwall Switch, Tom Scott of Falmouth Friends of the Earth described how the idea had come to him after witnessing the destruction caused by the Boscastle flood last August: “It was just the sort of extreme event that climate scientists are warning us will become much more common if nothing is done to slow the pace of global warming,” he said. “Boscastle shows that none of us are immune from the impact of climate change, and that we should all start taking individual responsibility.”

In an address described by one delegate as “moving and inspiring”, Mr Scott said that climate change had begun to worry him increasingly after the birth of his two children: “I started to imagine a conversation my daughters and I might have twenty or thirty years on from now. How would I explain to them that I’d known – that we’d all known – what global warming was likely do, but that we simply hadn’t bothered to doing anything serious about it before it was already too late?”

Dr Doug Parr, Chief Scientific Officer of Greenpeace, presented graphic evidence to show that rapid climate change is already taking place, and that there is precious little time left to avoid catastrophe. Dr Parr said: “Since 1979, more than 20% of the polar icecap has melted away – faster than most scientists predicted. Unchecked climate change will put hundreds of millions of the people at greatly increased risk from floods, water shortages, hunger and disease. This is the most serious problem facing the world, and we simply cannot afford to delay action any longer.”

John Macgrath of Oxfam, who co-authored the recent ‘Up in Smoke’ report on the impact of global warming on vulnerable communities in the developing world, said: “It is people in the world’s poorest countries who are suffering the most from climate change, despite the fact that they have done least to cause it.” Mr Macgrath described recent visits to Africa and central Asia, where he observed at first hand some of the disastrous impacts of climate change, including floods, droughts and collapsing agricultural production. Oxfam is working with local communities in these areas to develop ways of adapting to changing climate conditions. Mr Macgrath said: “Oxfam welcomes the link that Cornwall Switch is making between consumption choices in the UK and the suffering caused by global warming in other parts of the world.”

Tim German of the Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership said that renewable energy holds out huge potential for Cornwall’s economy. “This is a field in which we are leading the way for the rest of the country,” said Mr German, describing how harnessing energy from sources such as waves, tides and locally grown biomass crops could significantly boost jobs and income for local people.

Matthew Spencer, chief executive of Regen SW (the agency charged with developing renewable energy in the South West) said that Cornwall is home to several companies that are successfully pioneering renewable energy technologies. “Cornwall Switch offers people a simple way to demonstrate their support for renewable energy, and contribute to a solution to climate change. As the scheme develops it should encourage more renewable energy generation in the county and bring new business into Cornwall,” Mr Spencer said.

To make it as easy as possible for people to switch to one of its recommended green electricity tariffs, Cornwall Switch has entered into a partnership with the national price-comparison and switching service Energylinx. People interested in switching can compare price information on these tariffs and switch online via the Cornwall Switch website at www.cornwall-switch.org, or can do this by phone by calling a dedicated Cornwall Switch line on freephone 0800 1088 333. Energylinx will take care of all the necessary paper work, making a simple process even easier for customers. The price comparison and switching service is offered completely free of charge.

Cornwall Switch will also be holding a series of prize draws which everyone who switches to a green tariff will be invited to enter. Four winners will have their electricity bills paid for a year, up to a maximum of £260 (the average bill for households in the South West).

Ben Simpson of Cornwall Greenpeace said: “It’s extremely easy to transfer to a green tariff. It doesn’t involve any rewiring, and many people will find they can actually save money by switching. But the best thing is knowing that the people who supply your power are helping to tackle a deadly threat that’s overshadowing us all.”

For each customer who switches, Energylinx will donate £10 to Cornwall Switch. After covering its campaign expenses, Cornwall Switch will be passing any surplus income on to three good causes:

• Oxfam and WaterAid, both of which are committed to working with poor communities worldwide to achieve sustainable improvements in health and quality of life. The two charities recently joined with other development and environmental organisations to call for urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, warning that unchecked climate change “threatens to reverse human progress”.

• The Cornwall Green Communities Fund, which Cornwall Switch has set up in conjunction with the Cornwall Community Foundation and the Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership. The fund aims to help small-scale renewable energy projects that will benefit local communities, such as solar panels for village halls and small wind turbines to generate power and raise income for local facilities.