Paris has been in the news and the thoughts of many across the world because of the events on Friday 13th November 2015 when death and injury blighted the lives of people seeking an enjoyable evening out or just in the wrong place at the wrong time. From November 30 to December 11, 2015 Paris is also the venue of the latest in a long series of meetings organised by the United Nations to discuss Climate Change.
I hope that this may be the moment when politicians from all participating countries come to realise that achieving sustainable development that limits damage to the climate, in particular, and the environment we rely on as a species, in general, is economically and socially necessary. If so, perhaps they will also realise that money is just a tool that Governments use (and of course need to maintain) and that the cost of sustainability is like the cost of security (which should be in their minds as the venue is Paris) and is more than desirable and worth being properly resourced.
Paul Newman
28 November 2015
About Paul Newman
Paul Newman BSc (Sociology), DMS, MA (Sustainable Development) worked for the Government for thirty years mostly on projects seeking to develop the UK Economy and has also been employed as a part-time lecturer, invigilator, events organiser and as a consultant on sustainable development projects.
He became a member of the voluntary group Sustainable Staffordshire in 1997 and subsequently served as first a Vice-Chair then Chair for a four year term, during this time he also became a volunteer and then a trustee of the Community Council of Staffordshire, which he continued to support as a member of its Board of Directors until its closure in 2018. He has also served three terms as a Councillor for Swynnterton Parish, been a trustee of Hanchurch Village Hall and member of Trentham PCC.
Since moving to Sheringham in Norfolk in 2021 and the death of his wife a year later, he has joined a number of local groups, which are relevant to the themes of this website, including Sustainable Saturday and the Sheringham History Group, he has become a member of local charities such as Sheringham Little Theatre and The Sheringham Museum and is a member of the Parochial Church Council of St. Peters, Sheringham. He has also helped to organise and spoken at an event on sustainability with local churches and Sheringham Town Council and is currently exploring the potential for solar photovoltaics and other renewable technology on church property as part of the programme be pursued by the Church of England Diocese of Norwich.
