Last updated at 13:49, Friday, 26 September 2008

It was, says Cumbrian environment expert Rebecca Willis, intended as a rallying call.

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As rallying calls go, it contained some trenchant and worrying predictions about how climate change, if unchecked, will affect the world we live in.

There is still some confusion about what people can do. Rebecca would like to see community groups and schools and local businesses involved.

As a Government adviser on environmental issues – she formerly ran the Green Alliance environmental think tank in London as director – Rebecca is more qualified than most to have a finger on the pulse of climate change, especially in Cumbria.

Imagine a worst-case scenario in which the lakes are shrinking, upland landscapes reducing, native species being replaced by alien varieties, peatlands drying up and more storms, floods, drought and even forest fires.

Rebecca Willis was commissioned to write a report, Low-carbon Lake District – responding to climate change in the National Park, this summer.

It was, she says, a “stock-take” of progress towards tackling climate change in the Lake District and a rallying call to interested parties.

Putting the problem into perspective, she says there are several “brilliant initiatives” in the Lake District, although up to now they have been disparate, with no attempt to co-ordinate a response.

Rebecca’s father is from Teesdale, but much of her early life was spent overseas. Her parents teach English as a second language and she lived in Cyprus, Iran and Singapore before coming back to England to complete her education.

She has a degree in social and political sciences from Cambridge and a Masters in environment, development and policy from Sussex University.

Rebecca balances family life in the South Lakes with regular work in London, focused on environmental politics and national and regional policy making.

She works with Government ministers – last week, for example, she met Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary – advisers and officials to ensure Government policies reflect sustainability goals.

She has worked with Defra, Greenpeace and the University of Leeds and, together with Professor Paul Ekins, co-authored The Green Living Initiative, analysing the role of tax incentives and promoting sustainable households.

An associate of the think tank Demos and Green Alliance, where she was director from 2001 to 2004, Rebecca spent two years as a policy adviser at the European Parliament in Brussels, specialising in international environmental issues.

But as her parents made Kendal, their “adopted home”, and when her husband started a new job at Lancaster University, she had “a good excuse” to move north.

“We knew the area well – it’s such a lovely place to live,” she said. “I was running the Green Alliance think tank in London, working with Government and business at a national level to promote environmental solutions, but I gave that up when we had our first child although I am still working for them as an associate.

“For the past five years I have done Government advisory work and worked independently.

“I am away every other week, but I find I am increasingly working on local issues here. That is deliberate. What is happening in Cumbria is very interesting.”

After Richard Leafe came to head up the Lake District National Park Authority, Rebecca was asked to take a long, hard look at climate change in Cumbria.

She says local leaders are now focusing on climate change and there has been “real enthusiasm” for her report, published in June, which preceded a sell-out conference.

“People are worried about climate change, though they don’t necessarily see a link to how they live their lives,” she said.

“The worst thing that can happen is public information adverts telling you to turn the lights off, because that is top down,” she said. “We need to engage people through their workplaces and groups.”

Rebecca says the latest scientific evidence suggests climate change is happening “faster than was previously thought.”

The temperate zones of the world will suffer much less from extremes, but Rebecca says Cumbria could experience knock-on effects like extra demand for water and more people wanting to live here, with resultant pressures on housing.

“We are feeling the effects already,” she warned. “Weather patterns are less settled. There is less winter snow and floods will become more common. Within 10 years it will become more noticeable.

“The impact will be significant in my lifetime and more so in the lifetime of my children,” said Rebecca.

She believes that “green tourism” could benefit Cumbria, as it is doing now in Devon which is marketed as a low-carbon destination. As it becomes more expensive to fly, domestic tourism could grow.

Political parties are now realising that climate change is taking place, she says.

Her organisation works at all levels, from the Prime Minister down, and recently they have been studying tidal power potential to advise on policy.

On her meeting with Hazel Blears she said: “Hazel is a real community champion and wondered what her department should be doing to promote community energy. We came up with some ideas.”

The promotion of renewable energy in Cumbria – but not massive wind farms – is a topic occupying Rebecca’s thoughts in the wake of her recent report. It could literally start with local schools, or the WI, helping them overcome red tape to get a project started.

“Money is not always the barrier,” she said. “There are lots of regulations – we need an organisation to promote renewable energy in Cumbria, particularly at community and business level.”

Rebecca’s husband, James Willsden, works in London as director of policy for the Royal Society.

The couple have two boys, aged two and four.

Rebecca believes the Lake District deserves a concerted effort to cherish its spectacular landscape.

For Richard Leafe the report marks “the beginning of a journey for the Lake District.” One, he says, where those who care about and are shaping its future can embark on the journey together to help adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects.

There is progress. A biomass project in Eskdale, generating energy from wood; Ullswater Outward Bound awarded eco points to students doing green jobs like litter collecting; Sundog, one of the UK’s leading solar energy companies perched on the fells above Ullswater. Rebecca examines what has helped and hindered projects like these in the Lake District.

However, as Richard Leafe points out, there is “a challenging route map to follow”.

Rebecca Willis points the way along this challenging route to the ultimate goal – a zero carbon Lake District.

First published at 11:44, Friday, 26 September 2008
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk