[159] Carbon Literacy – with Phil Korbel

A Sustainable Life with Jen Gale

Awareness of the climate crisis feels like it is at an all-time high. All the studies tell us that 75-80% of people are worried about it, but we're still not really talking about it, and lots of people aren't really sure what they can do about it.
There are lots of reasons behind this, but sometimes feeling like we don't have the knowledge or expertise to start conversations, and like we don't know enough. Many of us might feel like we kind of understand what's going on, and what's causing the problems, but possibly we wouldn't be able to explain it to our kids.
Which is where Carbon Literacy comes in.

You might have heard me banging on about Talking Climate - the Sustainable(ish) Carbon Literacy course in the last few months. So I thought it was probably a good idea for an episode all about Carbon Literacy - what it is, how it works, and how to get involved. And who better to hear from, than one of the co-founders of the Carbon Literacy Project, Phil Korbel.

I first heard about Carbon Literacy during the first Covid lockdown, when I took a course delivered online by Pete Watkins from Speak Carbon. Inevitably it then took me a while (about a year!) to get my act together and create my own course for individuals and households, but in March this year I launched it, and since then have trained over 130 people. And those 130 people add to the 42,000 people worldwide that have also done the course and gained their carbon literacy certificate.
It's been amazing to run this course - seeing lightbulbs go off, and seeing people's confidence grow in the science, the impact and their agency to create positive change is HUGE. Everyone has to create two pledges at the end of the course, and reading these pledges as they come in makes me smile from ear to ear.

Listen in to hear more about the project, the courses and how to get involved.

Enjoy!

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LISTEN...

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CHECK OUT...

• Carbon Literacy Project
  - Website
  - Facebook
  - Twitter
  - Instagram
• IPCC reports
• MOD climate and sustainability strategy
• House of Lords - Environment and Climate Change Committee - In our hands: behaviour change for climate and environmental goals
• The JUMP
• [138] - How much difference can individuals actually make - with Tom from The JUMP
• Department for Education's strategy for sustainability and climate change
• National Climate Education Plan
• Keep Scotland Beautiful Climate Ready Classrooms
• [117] - Transforming Eco Education with The Ministry of Eco Education
• [133] - UK Schools Sustainability Network
• Talking Climate - The Sustainable(ish) accredited Carbon Literacy course
• The Sustainable(ish) Facebook group

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