King’s Global Day of Action event
The event consisted of a talk and Q&A from prominent waterkeepers, Sharif Jamal from Bangladesh and Theo Thomas from London. Their work aims to combat river pollution through advocacy, legal action and community-based support. Sharif Jamal’s advocacy focuses on neglected rivers in Bangladesh, which are becoming heavily polluted. River pollution not only threatens disease and death of river species but affects the drinking water people consume and severely harms the surrounding environment and ecosystems. Theo Thomas as the ‘London Waterkeeper’, who formed this charity in 2014 which acts as part of the global Waterkeeper Alliance, works to achieve the same goal as Sharif Jamal in rectifying the issue of river pollution but in a different part of the world. So far, the London Waterkeeper has had a notable impact, including prompting Thames Water to release an up-to-date storm discharge map. This will assist in better monitoring of companies and act to hold them accountable for stormwater pollution, which is where contaminated rainwater flows into our local rivers through the sewers. The work of the waterkeepers and the London Waterkeeper highlights the transboundary nature of environmental problems, and the importance of individuals and collectives taking local and global action to combat the looming climate emergency before us.
Following the speakers, student attendees were either split into an art-based workshop or a legal workshop. The art workshop allowed students to creatively express their thoughts on river pollution and the climate disaster onto a paper medium through collaging and sketching, which will be showcased on KING’S’s Strand Campus. The legal workshops consisted of different groups collaborating to do research into industrial estates near large river bodies, to collect information on different companies and their adherence to environmental standards. Environmental standards are often loosely regulated. Therefore, it will be an ongoing HRE Legal Clinic initiative to use this student research to notify companies of their potential environmental obligations, test corporate engagement with sustainability standards, and assess their receptiveness to the issue.
Key takeaway: What can students do to help combat the climate emergency?
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests are one simple way at taking a positive environmental step. In the UK, we each have the legal right to make environmental information requests to private and public companies. They are very easy to carry out and can be made through a letter, email, online form or contacting through social media. In making one you should include your name, contact address and a detailed description of what information you want to request, usually the organisation should respond within 20 working days. The way in which FOI requests can be useful is through holding companies accountable, by exposing which companies may be falling below their legal duties. Those who are unresponsive or fail to provide a justifiable answer can then be flagged to the Environmental Agency whose job it is to look further and enforce legal duties upon companies.
Student action is vital in the climate emergency, especially as such an impactful generation for our own futures and the ones to come. It takes micro actions to amount to great macro level changes and a positive turnaround for the planet. Outside of studying, we can choose to spend a small amount of time to create a positive change for our world by taking simple environmentally friendly actions. It is never too late to become aware of this significant issue and try to combat it, time is of the essence and it is very important not to assume it is someone else’s duty to handle the matter for the collective. It takes individual action to create the collective action that is very important in changing the current climate picture.
Some simple ways to make a positive environmental impact include carrying out litter picks, writing an environmental report, volunteering for a local environmental charity, shopping second hand and choosing sustainable brands whilst avoiding fast and cheap fashion trends, recycling properly, taking part in helping clean rivers (Thames 21 offer volunteering positions), choosing eco-friendly products, planting a tree or donating to positive environmental causes. These are just some examples as there are many ways to make a change, regardless of whether they are big or small actions. Do not underestimate the great ripple effect even small actions can have on the world around us that is in desperate need of our care for it. Also, engaging in conversations with friends, family or strangers is a great way at encouraging a spark in this urgent matter.
Do not doubt your significance in the climate emergency, we all have a part to play. Let us help the beautiful natural world that sits in front of us, which is in dire need for our attention and most importantly action.
Images: Clara Smith