Friends of the Earth Scotland’s supporters’ magazineIssue 59 Autumn / Winter 2012

subject lineWhat on Earth 59

Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoES) is:• Scotland’s leading environmentalcampaigning organisation

• An independent Scottish charitywith a network of thousands ofsupporters and active local groupsacross Scotland

• Part of the largest grassrootsenvironmental network in the world,uniting over 2 million supporters,77 national member groups, andsome 5,000 local activist groups –covering every continent.

Our vision is of a world where everyonecan enjoy a healthy environment and afair share of the earth’s resources.

Friends of the Earth Scotland is anindependent Scottish charity SC003442.

What on Earth is published by andcopyrighted to:Friends of the Earth Scotland5 Rose Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PRT: 0131 243 2700E: info@foe-scotland.org.ukW: www.foe-scotland.org.uk

Editor: Per FischerPicture Editor: Per FischerDesign: www.triggerpress.co.ukCover: Graphic by Pauline Verloso

The views expressed in What on Earth are notnecessarily those of Friends of the EarthScotland. FoES accepts no liability for errors,omissions or incorrect data in advertisements.

Printed on Revive pure white silk 100% recycledpaper

Contents

3 Community gardens in FalkirkFriends of the Earth Falkirk's awardwinning community gardens.

4 Campaigns UpdateGood news! We won the battle for nonew coal at Hunterston.

6 Corporate accountabilityOur new corporate accountabilitycampaing is up and running.

7 ‘Just Banking’ successThe Just Banking conference was surelyone of the highlights of the year.

8 Dear MembersAn update on the FoES restructureprogress.

14 Energy-inspired artWe talk to two new art school graduates.

RE-USE AND SPREAD THE WORDWhen you have finished with this magazine,save it or pass it on to friends, a doctor’ssurgery, school, student union, library or café.As a last resort recycle it.

EditorialWHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 20121

What you are holding in your hand is thecompletely re-designed What On Earthmagazine. The re-design is for a goodreason, however, namely to cut down oncosts where possible. While we will maintainthe quality of the magazine’s content, thisformat will mean cheaper printing and lowerpostage costs, which we think is better use ofour supporters’ donated funds.

Please let us know what you think of thesmaller magazine in the member surveywww.foes.do/supportersurvey2012

If you would like to change your subscriptionto a digital format instead of a print version,lowering costs even further, simply contactthe office on 0131 243 2700 or send us anemail to tell us.

With best wishesPer FischerEditorwhatonearth@foe-scotland.org.uk

WHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 2012View from the street 2

We live in interesting times – thesystem that governs our economyis clearly broken, from the point of

view of both environmental and economicobjectives, but none of the suggestedremedies seem likely to fix it. They all sharethe same, wrong, assumptions about whatthe economy is for, what markets can do andwhat regulation can’t do – and about what ispossible.

Three exciting events that Friends of theEarth Scotland organised recently have givenme confidence that we can find an alternative.

In April the Just Banking conference, reportedin more detail on page 7, brought us somebrilliant speakers with a devastating critiqueof the ways banks work today, and specificideas about what we can do if we want abanking sector which builds social justice andenvironmental sustainability.

In May I was asked to organise the launch ofthe Climate Jobs Caravan on its tour of Britain,to bring the message that we can and shouldcreate one million ‘climate jobs’ to tackle bothclimate change and unemployment.

On the back of this we called a meeting onClimate Action, Climate Jobs in June. It wasattended by the STUC, five trade unions,Oxfam and Stop Climate Chaos and agreedto work together to put specific proposals tothe Scottish Government and local councilswhich will create jobs and help meetemissions targets.

Each of these events show the massivepotential there is for a strong and widealliance, which can fight for a popular, sociallyjust and economically viable alternative. Theyalso show that Friends of the Earth Scotlandwill play a vital part in making that happen. Aswas clear at our recent AGM, we facesubstantial challenges as an organisation butif we keep focused on the vital campaigningtasks I am sure we can rise to thosechallenges.

Matthew Crighton was elected as Chair at theAGM. He has a professional background ineconomic development and many yearsexperience as a trade unionist andenvironmental campaigner.

By Matthew Crighton, Chair, Friends of the Earth Scotland

Local groupsWHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 20123

By Norman Philip, Friends of the Earth Falkirk

Friends of theEarth Falkirkvolunteers

established their firstcommunity garden inearly 2011 on atriangle of land onArnot Street Falkirk.The project was part ofthe local group’scampaign to highlightthe issue of abandoned“orphaned land” siteswithin the town – sitesthat have no evidence ofan owner, look abandoned and where littergathers. The group was looking at ways ofproviding an environment which wouldattract insects and evolve as the seasonschange. The aim of the initial garden wasnot to do a one-off garden make-over, butto provide a space where the group canexperiment with planting to encouragewildlife and promote environmentallyfriendly gardening.

With the success of the initial garden, thegroup identified three other sites, allwithin walking distance of Falkirk High Street,and approached land owners to getagreement to use the land. The secondgarden was a piece of land next to a busstop, which was being used as an ashtray.The group turned this space into a herbgarden, replacing the smell of discardedcigarette butts with the smell of mint,lavender, rosemary and thyme. The thirdgarden on Bean Row was an opportunity to

link the group’s campaignissues of local food andcomposting with apractical project tohighlight that food can begrown anywhere.

All four gardens are nowwell established withdonations from manysources, both from

individuals andorganisations. In August the vegetable plotwas harvested and soup and stovies wereproduced from the bounty for a Soup andStovies Day at Bean Row in September.Everyone involved in the success of all fourgardens was able to celebrate the combinedeffort, which has resulted in a “Thriving”award from Keep Scotland Beautiful this year.foefalkirk.blogspot.co.uk

WHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 2012Campaigns 4

No new coal atHunterston!

Our campaign victory of the year came inJune, when Ayrshire Power announced

the withdrawal of its planning application for acoal-fired power station at Hunterston inAyrshire.

FoES has been part of a campaign againstthe development of a new coal fired powerstation at Hunterston for three years, workingalongside the local community group CONCH(Communities Opposed to New Coal atHunterston) and a broad coalition of NGOsand civil society. We could not have done thiswithout the support of our members andsupporters.

Ayrshire Power’s decision signals animportant victory in the fight againstdamaging new fossil fuel developments.However, the site at Hunterston still remainsearmarked for this kind of development in the

Scottish Government‘s high level planningpolicy, the National Planning Framework(NPF). This means we could see anothersimilar plant being proposed in the yearsahead.

But a brave legal challenge against thegovernment’s decision to include this in theNPF is pushing ahead for an appeal at theCourt of Session. We are supporting thischallenge through our Access toEnvironmental Justice campaign, which callsfor changes to the legal system to enablecommunities to challenge poor decisionmaking that impacts on their environment.

We believe that if there is a realistic threat ofcommunities pursuing bad decisions all theway to court, this will lead to better decision-making by the government, public authoritiesand developers.

By Mary Church, Campaigner

Campaigners from RSPB, Friends of theEarth Scotland and WWF announce

16,000 signatures against Hunterstonwith Lewis MacDonald MSP.

CampaignsWHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 20125

Access toEnvironmentalJustice

We are delighted to announce that werecently secured funding to continue

our Access to Environmental Justicecampaign. We would like to thank the EsmeeFairbairn Foundation for their generosity insupporting this work for a further 18 months.At present our work is focussed on engagingwith ongoing civil justice reforms, and liaisingwith government officials and MSPs. Wehave also been working with the ScottishEnvironment LINK network to establish aLegal Governance Group – which we chair –to help support key strands of our campaign.

Unconventional gasand fracking

Over the past six months we have beenmaking contact with communities faced

with unconventional gas developments intheir area, creating briefings and resourcesand linking up with other concernedorganisations. Funding for our pilot projecthas come to an end, but while we exploreoptions for future funding and work we arekeeping an eye on what Dart Energy, themain player in Scotland, is up to with itsdevelopment at Airth and recent acquisition ofGreenpark’s licenses in the Canonbie area.We have also launched a new website as a

first port of call for people who want to getbetter informed about the issues, what’shappening in Scotland and find out how toengage with developments in their area.

Free West Papua

We would also like to share with you thegood news that Benny Wenda, a West

Papuan tribal leader andcampaigner forindependence fromIndonesia, hasbeen removedfrom theInterpol “RedNotice” wantedlist. Some ofyou mayrememberBenny as amost inspiringspeaker at our2011 AGM.

Benny was granted asylum inthe UK in 2002 following his escape from abrutal Indonesian prison. The IndonesianGovernment wanted to put Benny on trial fora number of alleged offences, but in Augustthis year Interpol recognised that the requestwas politically motivated and removed theRed Notice against Benny’s name.

WHAT YOU CAN DOFind out more by visiting

foe-scotland.org.uk/access-to-justice,or search for ‘justice’ in our resourcessection to find briefings, consultation

responses and evidence.

WHAT YOU CAN DOVisit the website at:

www.frackfreescotland.org.uk

WHAT YOU CAN DOYou can find out more about Benny

Wenda’s work and the campaign to freeWest Papua at

http://www.bennywenda.org/

WHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 2012Campaigns 6

We have launched a new campaigntargeting Cairn Energy, pushing forthe Edinburgh-based oil company

to withdraw from its operations in the Arctic.Cairn has been unsuccessfully exploring foroil in the Arctic for two years. It involves usingtechniques similar to those employed by Shellin their infamous Deepwater Horizon well.

Iceberg alleyComparisons between the two operations areeasy to make, but what we must remember isthat the Arctic is a much more remote, fragile,dangerous and difficult to access environment.A clean up operation in the Arctic would behampered as the Arctic winters may makeaccessing the leak impossible for months. Thelikelihood of a spill is increased as the oilrigsare situated in ‘iceberg alley’. Cairn’scontigency plans have been exposed asinadequate, and involve towing away icebergs.We are standing up to Cairn and telling themto pull out of the Arctic, as the environmentalprice is too high for the possibility of some oil.

The RBSThe other company we focus on is The RoyalBank of Scotland (RBS). The banking sectorand RBS in particular have been in ourspotlight the last two years. We held theacclaimed “Just Banking” conference thatexamined the sector, and we have beencampaigning to clean up RBS, who is stillinvesting in tar sands and other carbonintensive energy. Since the UK taxpayer owns84% of the bank, we should be able to pushthe bank to become far more sustainable.

WHAT YOU CAN DOSign the petition and support our appeal to stop Arctic drilling:

www.foes.do/cairn-appeal

By Paul Daly, CorporateAccountability Campaigner

Just bankingWHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 20127

To highlight the problems with banksand their role in financial booms andbusts, Friends of the Earth organised

a two-day “Just Banking” conference inEdinburgh in April 2012, in partnership with anumber of other organisations. The event saweconomic experts from the UK and abroad,attracted huge media interest from financialmedia, and attracted over 300 people to anevening lecture before the main event. To sayit was a huge success is entirely anunderstatement.

Ways forwardThe purpose of the event, which was a publicevening lecture at Edinburgh University’sBusiness School followed by a full dayconference, was not to just point the finger ofblame for the financial crises at the banks. Itwas just as much a two-fold strategy of onone hand understanding how the financialsector works and what role the banks playwithin it, and on the other offering practicaland sustainable solutions.

Size mattersBoth understanding the banking system andfinding ways to free society from the sector’s

credit grip on our economy is a hugeundertaking, and this article can only scratchthe surface of the implications. Since the1980s we have seen massive financialderegulation, and the power to create moneyhas now effectively passed from publicinstitutions to the banks, and the monetarysystem has become digital. The UK banksector is concentrated on a few companiesthat are so massive that they cannot beallowed to fail.

Friends of the Earth Scotland Chair MatthewCrighton has written a more detailed analysisin the Scottish Left Review:www.scottishleftreview.org/article/reforming-the-debt-creators

The economist Professor Richard Werner,one of the main speakers, argued that smalland local, and indeed regulated, is betterwhen it comes to banking. He called foralternative models, like credit unions or locallyowned banks.

Ann Pettifor (see interview in WoE58) repeatedher call for a green new deal, and handingmoney creation back to the Bank of England.

By Per Fischer,CommunicationsOfficer

WHAT YOU CAN DOView the interactive summary from the whole event: www.justbanking.org.uk/summary.

Support our campaign: www.foe-scotland.org.uk/corporate-accountability

costs. Prior to the financial downturn FoESwas able to access large grants, as well aslegacy income in the earlier stages of therecession. However, trust and grant fundinghas increasingly dried up for the type of workwe do.

We were able to use financial reserves tomake up for shortfalls of income when times

WHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 2012The future of Friends of the Earth Scotland 8

Our Annual General Meeting in Maypresented a turning point as we faced up to adifficult financial situation, reported the planfor a smaller staffing structure and agreedthat the Board should report back to themembers within six months.

We also took steps, however, to set Friendsof the Earth Scotland (FoES) on a path whichadapts to the new funding and campaigningenvironment and which aims to maintain orincrease our influence – the problems wewant to combat have not gone away!

The AGM agreed that we should beincreasing the contribution from themembers, volunteer activists and localgroups to the work of the organisation. Wealso decided to promote membership ofFoES to organisations which support ourobjectives, for example gropus which arecampaigning actively on issues ofenvironmental justice and climate change atlocal level.

FoES is now in the process of recruiting anew Director who we will be able to introduceto you in the next issue of What on Earth.About our financial situation: For many yearsFoES has been funded by trusts and grants,as well as membership income anddonations. Our budgets were reliant on trustsand grants funding contributing to our running

The future of Friends of the Earth ScotlandWHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 20129

Landrights conference 2011, with WestPapuan tribal leader Benny Wenda. Oneof many member and supporter eventsorganised by Friends of the EarthScotland.

got tough more recently. However, last yearwe faced a significant deficit and we were nolonger able to continue funding the same sizeof operation as we used to.

The Board has therefore decided to downsizethe staff structure to a size that is not relianton large scale grants but is based mainly onour membership income. FoES will shortly be

moving to a structure where there will be acore permanent staff of five, with additionalcampaigners being brought in when we havegrant funding to pay for them. This will enableus to be financially secure and flexibleaccording to the income levels we have eachyear.

Our income from members and donors ismore important than ever as it is only withyour support that we have been able tocreate a new, more sustainable structure.

We have had a kind offer from a donor tomatch fund any donations given to us for alimited period of time. Please make adonation to help us secure the future ofFriends of the Earth Scotland and help it buildstrong campaigns and a higher profile byvisiting www.foe-scotland.org.uk/join

Please also help us to decide upon our futurecampaigns within a smaller organisation bycompleting the membership survey online atwww.foes.do/supportersurvey2012 or pleasecontact the office on 0131 243 2700 or emailinfo@foe-scotland.org.uk for a paper copy.

With many thanks for your support.

Davina Shiell Matthew CrightonInterim Operational Director Chair

WHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 2012Staff and Board 10

Over the summer we said goodbye tothe following staff members: StanBlackley, Chief Executive;

Francis Stuart, Parliamentary Officer;Hannah Kitchen, Volunteer and ActivismDevelopment Officer and Clare McKeown,Fundraiser.

At the time of going to print, we are alsoabout to lose two more staff members.Davina Shiell, Interim OperationalDirector, is leaving to continue pursuing hercareer in communications. Fiona Brown,Finance Officer, has been made redundantin the recent restructure.

We also want to thank our office volunteersNatascha Deininger and AnaDragalina, who have moved on.

Paul Daly, who has also been volunteeringfor some time now, is our new CorporateAccountability Campaigner. Paul is workingthree days a week on this campaign whichtargets Cairn Energy and RBS and is fundedby the Isvara Foundation.

The new BoardAt our AGMMatthew Crighton waselected Chair and Eurig Scandrett waselected Vice Chair. The Board would like tothank former Chair Chris Revie andboard members Hugh Wormersley andGavin Strang, who stood down.

Teresa Martinez, Jim Orr and DayaFeldwickTeresa is a former Friends of the EarthScotland staff member and worked for theCommunity Action team for six years.Currently she works as ProjectCoordinator for the Fife Diet, the largestLocal Food Movement in Europe.Jim Orr is a City of Edinburgh councillorand vice-convener of the transport,infrastructure and environment committee.Daya is a community worker and activist,and currently works for the LoanheadOrganic Garden, as well as volunteeringfor different organisations.

Jim OrrTeresa Martinez

Annual Prize Draw

We are extremely pleased that the firstprize is the same as last year.

Cruenbeg Highland Holiday Cottages andActive Outdoor Pursuits very kindly agreed togive us the prizes again. See page 1.

Other prizes kindly given by: Green Peoplewww.greenpeople.co.uk • Cairn o’Mohrwww.cairnomohr.com • FirstScotrailwww.firstgroup.com • CrossKasecrosskase.com • BioD www.biodegradable.biz• New Internationalist Magazinewww.newint.org • Clipper Tea www.clipper-teas.com • Superjam www.superjam.co.uk •Current Cost www.currentcost.com.

If you don’t have a book of tickets with thiswhat on Earth and would like to buy ticketsyou can either do it online by going to foe-scotland.org.uk/prizedraw2012, or call theoffice and we will send you a book.

Gift Membership forChristmas

This year why not think about giving a giftthat keeps on giving. A membership to

Friends of the Earth Scotland. We will send ayear’s membership to the recipient along witha Christmas card wishing them all the bestfrom you. Please call 0131 243 2700 and wecall get all the details from you. Minimummembership £12.

Recycle yourJewellery

Are you having a clear out of your oldjewellery? Did you know it can be

recycled and we will receive a donation?It is very simple to do. You can either send it

free of charge in an envelope tojewelleryrecycling.org at: Friends of the EarthScotland, FREEPOST, License RSKJ-AJAB-GSYA, Fundraising, Sutton Coldfield, B755BH. Or telephone the free phone number0800 633 5323 and a FREEPOST envelopewill be posted out to you.

Change your bankand change the world

If you open a savings account with TriodosBank with £100 or more they will donate£40 to us. See inside back page.

Double yourDonation

Thank you to everyone who donatedrecently to allow us to ‘Double your

Donation’. There is still time if you wish todonate and the generous donator hasinformed us that each donation will bematched. www.foes.do/double-your-donation.Your support is very much appreciated.

Your supportWHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 201211

WHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 2012Corporate capture 12

Two decadesagogovernments

across the globewere so concernedabout thedeteriorating stateof the environmentthat theyconverged in Rio tofind commonsolutions to ensurethat we did notdestroy theplanet. During theoriginal Rioconference,countries signedup to Agenda 21,‘a blueprint torethinkeconomic growth,advance social equality and ensureenvironmental protection’.

So where did it all go wrong?Recently a debate has opened up aboutcorporate takeover of the United Nations(UN). Friends of the Earth Internationalargues that corporations now exert adisproportionate amount of influence over theoutcomes of debates, and in doing so onlyaim to get the best outcome for their profitline, regardless of damage inflicted to theenvironment. Corporations are also accusedof undertaking ‘green washing’ to make their

activities look asthough theyreally are actingin the bestinterest of theenvironment.

How docorporationsexertinfluence overthe UN?One method ofexerting corporateinfluence on theUN is through aprocess known as‘revolving doors’,when corporatesenior executiveschange job roles tobecome UN officialsand vice versa.

The danger of allowing corporations into suchhigh level summits is that they will proposesolutions to problems completely lead by theirown requirements, while advocating thatthese are legitimate green solutions.

Friends of the Earth Europe believe thatcorporations are pushing for industry to beseen as possessing the solutions toenvironmental problems. The fear is thatcorporations have increasing influence overthe UN and government bodies and will gain

By Paul Daly, Corporate Accountability Campaigner

Corporate captureWHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 201213

control and beginto divide up ourresources with noreal regard forenvironmental orsocial concerns.

Criticism is oftenlevied the UNfor moving awayfrom solutions tothe financial andenvironmentalcrises andinsteadfocussing on theshort termneeds of largecorporations.This is based onthe belief that wecan buy our way out of the financial crisis andthat for our future prosperity we need tocontinue down the path of ongoing financialgrowth.

The Future: brought to you by oursponsors20 years on from the original Rio summit,world leaders met again in 2012 for theRio+20 summit. Outside the conference therewere demonstrations about corporatetakeover of the UN process. The campaignwas an alliance of over 100 groups from boththe global North and South which consistedof peasant, labour, women’s, environmental

and faith based movements, includingFriends of the Earth International.

Henry Saraghi, General Coordinator of laVia Campesina talked about a ‘re-brandingof capitalism through the design andimplementation of the corporate greeneconomy… a clever way to cheat nature

and continue business as usual’.

The future we wantWe call on the United Nations Conference onEnvironment and Development to revisit thefounding principles and ask if its currentprocesses are still in line with these values.

As campaigners we must remain vigilant andensure that our corporations are acting in thecommon interest, not in their shareholders.

For more about the Corporate AccountabilityCampaign in Scotland, see page 6

“Governments no longerconsult business,

business consults withgovernments”

– Friends of the EarthInternational

Donate to support the campaign:www.foes.do/double-your-donation

WHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 2012Feature 14

The Glasgow School of Art (GSA)degree show is a showcase for thecoming generation of young artists

from all over the world. What On Earth wentto the 2012 show, where at least two of thegraduate exhibitions dealt with environmentalissues, albeit in very different ways.

Collecting coal dustPhilip Longstaff’s work “As Long As It Lasts”was a thought-provoking dark room filled withcoal dust, and a video showing himself

scraping the dust off the sand on North Garebeach, where he normally walks his dog.Philip got the main inspiration for the workwhen travelling to New Mexico to studyAmerican land art, realising that it is possibleto use the landscape as a medium.

“The history of the North East of England hasbeen based on its coal resources, andindustry has dominated its landscapes sincethe industrial revolution,” Philip says. “Somepeople assume that the coal waste is from

By Per Fischer, Communications Officer

PHOTO:PHILIPLONGSTAFF

FeatureWHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 201215

the industry This was maybe true in earlieryears when they pumped the slag from themines into the sea. The sea coal you see onthe beaches today is a natural rift in the seabed that is eroded away by the tide andbrought into land. This natural occurrence willend at some point, just as the industry hasslowed down in the area. This idea for mehas a poetry; the way that this material hasformed this area of the UK and is now beingeroded and disappearing is why I titled thework, As Long As It Lasts.”

Philip thinks that environmental issues shouldnot only be covered in GSA's environmentalart course, but that it should be something allart students and artists should be aware of.“Recycling is a great skill to have, using yourmaterials in the best possible way andmaking sure they are suitable for the job. Mydegree show was de-installed, the woodsalvaged and has been made into a storageunit for my new business.”

Tracing powerSam Dransfield graduated in Photography thisyear, and his show “From the Mouth to theSource” was inspired by the simple wonder of

looking at your bedroom light switch andthinking about where electricity comes from,and how. “I thought about the distance eachunit of charge travels across every day,” Samsays. “My goal was to re-trace the path ofelectricity from a light switch in my Glasgowflat back to its source at the power station.Following overhead power lines through thelandscape, I travelled by foot and stayed asclose to the line as possible, going over eachobstacle or difficult terrain I encountered. Ibegan each leg before the sun rose, andended once the sun had set.”

The result was a series of 250 photographsshowing power lines hovering above differentlandscapes, and Sam selected five of theseimages for his final exhibition. He explainsthat the lightboxes displaying the photos werebuilt by the same company that manufacturedthe pylons he had been following on hisphotographic journey. “I got in touch with thecompany to build the galvanized steel framesfor the fronts of the boxes.”

Sam’s degree show included a map of thechanging sky colours, “to provide a sense ofscale and an overview of the journey.”

Video installation, GSA (main photo)Coal dust (right)

PHOTO:PHILIPLONGSTAFF

WHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN/WINTER 2012Just banking 16

If you’d like to use money to help theworld become a better place, then we’dlike to introduce you to our partner

Triodos Bank. Triodos is an ethical bank thatonly uses your money for positive social,environmental and cultural change. Keysectors include organic food and farming,renewable energy and fair trade.

Transparency is a core value and uniquely fora UK bank, Triodos publishes details of everybusiness it lends to.

As the appetite for alternatives to the currentfinancial system increases, more and morepeople have moved their money to joinTriodos Bank. This bank doesn’t have abonus culture and only lends money to ethicalenterprises.

Recently Triodos Bank has moved its officesto the heart of Bristol and Edinburgh tobuildings that reflect their values and meetthe same rigorous environmental standardsas the organisations they finance. TriodosBank offers a range of sustainable savingsaccounts for individuals, including ISAs andfixed-term bonds. It also offers a range ofinvestment opportunities from investing in theUK’s growing renewable energy industry to amicrofinance fund supporting people indeveloping countries.

Change your Bank, Change the WorldIf you open an account and deposit £100 ormore Triodos will donate £40 to Friends of theEarth Scotland (terms and conditions apply).www.foes.do/triodos-offer

This new documentary about carbonoffsetting had its European premiereat the Take One Action film festival

in September 2012. The screening wasoutdoors at the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens,and ‘cycle-powered’. Sandra Burt and LesWallace went along to see it.

Sandra: “It was my first visit to the Botanicsin Edinburgh and my first experience of acycle-powered film – I’d heartily recommendboth. The film itself was brutal, not at alleasy to watch. I was waiting for the happy

ending but there was none. Everyoneshould watch this film, these people deservetheir stories to be heard.”

Les: “The shocking environmental andsocial costs of ‘carbon offsetting’ depictedincluded everything from assassination oflocal activists fighting palm oil plantations inHonduras to recycling workers in Indialosing income and jobs to wasteincineration. There was no positive, upbeatending to the film – that’s for us to do bytaking action and spreading the word.“

FILM REVIEW

CHANGE YOURBANK.CHANGETHEWORLD

Are your savings being used to support something you don’t believe in?

At Triodos Bank we onlylend our savers’ money topeople and organisationsthat benefit people or theenvironment and we promise you’ll always know where your money goes.

Find out more at www.triodos.co.uk/foescotland

*See www.triodos.co.uk/foescotland for the full terms and conditions. The donation can only be paid if applicants complete anapplication form in accordance with these terms and conditions. Triodos Bank NV (incorporated under the laws of the Netherlands withlimited liability, registered in England and Wales BR3012). Authorised by the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) and regulated by the FinancialServices Authority (FSA) for the conduct of UK business. Registered office: Triodos Bank, Deanery Road, Bristol BS1 5AS.

Openanaccountwith us,deposit £100ormoreandwe’ll donate£40to

Friendsof theEarthScotland*