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Kent lecturer to chair Labour Conference debate

Sarah Lonsdale, a lecturer for the University of Kent's Centre for Journalism, has been invited to chair a fringe debate at this month's Labour Party Conference in Manchester.

The debate, called Zero Carbon Homes: Future or Fantasy, will cover the topic of reducing carbon emissions from the nation's homes in the face of mounting concern over climate change and will ask whether the controversial 'eco towns' plans are achievable.

It will take place on Wednesday, 24 September, the last day of the conference.

Housing Minister Caroline Flint will be one of the speakers. The debate is being staged by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), one of the country's leading independent think-tanks.

Sarah Lonsdale, who will be teaching reporting and writing to this year's new intake of Journalism students at Kent's Medway campus, has a regular column called Ecohomes in the Sunday Telegraph.

In June she was named Environment Writer of the Year for her Greenpiece column in the Daily Telegraph. Last year Sarah also made the final shortlist of three writers for the title of Journalist of the Year in the British Environment and Media (BEMA) Awards.

'It is now generally accepted that to avoid runaway climate change we need to reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent by the year 2050,' she said.

'Reducing emissions from our homes - which make up more than a quarter of the UK's total carbon emissions - is one of the easiest areas to tackle. Better insulation in lofts and walls, for example, could radically reduce the amount we need to heat our homes in the winter.'

Sarah added that, in the face of rising fuel bills and fuel poverty, being 'green' should become a national campaign on the scale of the war effort in the 1940s. 'This is an issue that is becoming increasingly urgent both for the future of the planet and our own immediate financial needs,' she said. 'I am looking forward to chairing a debate on such a vital issue at this year's Labour Party Conference.'

Contact: N.J.Ellwood@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 4:00pm 15 September 2008