When you sit down and ask yourself ‘How can I avert dangerous climate change by persuading world leaders to sign up to a fair, ambitious and binding agreement at the Copenhagen talks in December?’, the answer is not immediately obvious. That’s why the good folks at Oxfam suggest that would-be activists start by finding out who else in their neighbourhood is pro-global justice or anti-planetary destruction. This is otherwise known as “community mapping”.

So off I went up Streatham High Road. I loitered outside health food shops trying to work out whether the owners were driven by a concern for the environment or just .. er … health. I checked noticeboards and read through back issues of the local papers. I chatted to librarians about local celebrities who might endorse my efforts. (Sadly, Bono is not a regular at Tooting Bec Lido. Neither is Sting.) Then I asked Google.

Now, Streatham is not often associated with environmentalism or with campaigns to alleviate global poverty. (If you’re a proud Streatham resident and know better, please feel free to correct me.) Unlike Kyoto or Montreal, it doesn’t have a protocol to its name. But then its not Three-Mile Island or Chernobyl either. This part of South London lies somewhere in between.

If fact, there’s a lot going on. First and foremost, Sustainable Streatham are working to encourage residents to switch to a low-carbon lifestyle. The White Lion is a new venue/hostel/community centre in the middle of town, run by a charity to help vulnerable children worldwide. There’s the Southwest London branch of the World Development Movement. There’s Angela and Keith at the Baptist Church who run a fair-trade stall. And, of course, the Friends of Streatham Common are doing their bit to preserve a precious local resource. So, far from a tragedy for a new climate activist, Streatham has a great many individuals and groups who might help me save the poorest countries from the worst effects of climate change. I will let you know how I get on.

Tags: Friends of Streatham Common, Streatham, Streatham Common, Sustainable Streatham, White Lion

This entry was posted by Simon Dickason on October 30th, 2009 at 9:13 am and is filed under Oxfam South East, You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.