STANDING UP FOR GUERNSEY'S ENVIRONMENT
CANDIDATES
Thank you to all the candidates who completed the survey.
The puffin ratings below are based on their answers to the multiple choice questions we posed to them across three key issues, with four green puffins indicating the best answer down to 1 green puffin indicating the least environmentally friendly option. We did not factor the candidates' free form text answers (visible by clicking 'Read More' to get to their candidate page) into the ratings.
Candidates who did not engage with the survey received zero green puffins.
The States questions also contain informative environmental responses for some candidates:
Which statement best aligns to your views on the climate crisis?
We should reach net zero carbon emissions as early as possible (and no later than 2040), and take this opportunity to transform Guernsey into a climate leader and innovator.
Please let us know more about your perspective on the climate crisis in your own words.
I think it is the existential issue issue of our age but far from being daunted I think we should realise the huge opportunities a green revolution could provide. The equation is simple carbon emissions = the typical emission per person x the number of people on planet earth. So population growth is a vital factor [also for other environmental reasons] but so is lifestyle. This does not mean having to all grow our own and wear homespun clothes [although I quite like doing so] but rather to embrace today's new technology as a solution to the problems which the new technology of the industrial revolution started to create and which are now reaching crisis point.
BIODIVERSITY LOSS
Which statement best aligns to your views on the challenges being faced by local biodiversity?
I believe urgent action is needed to save Guernsey's biodiversity, and the States should immediately invest more funding to protect it, introducing new legislation as appropriate.
Please let us know more about your views on the challenges faced by local biodiversity in your own words.
The challenges are legion. High population density, over development, loss of habitat and an obsession that everything [even open land] must be tidy. This latter point shows that at least part of the solution lies in education.
CLIMATE EQUITY
Transitioning to a greener economy could result in major, potentially unequal, social and economic impacts. Which statement best reflects your view of how these should be managed?
We can do more than just avoid unfairness - we can and should use climate action as an opportunity to build a better, fairer society, for example, through green job creation and progressive funding solutions.
Please let us know more about your perspective on climate equity and transitioning to a greener economy in your own words.
I could write a book on my views on this but no time because this is such a busy period. Just one example where the "greening of Guernsey" could tackle inequality rather than exacerbate it. At the moment we have a significant issue with fuel poverty and poorer households tend to live in worse insulated properties than wealthier households. So a states sponsored programme of mass insulation could reduce energy use, reduce poverty and produce really meaningful employment
THE NEXT 4 YEARS
Where the environment is concerned, what outcomes do you think the States should achieve in the next four years, in your own words?
Reduce total energy use, encourage migration to renewable energy sources, invest in local carbon capture through mass planting, invest in a major research project into how to first slow and then halt [hopefully even reverse] or loss of biodiversity.
