Greener and wiser - an older people's manifesto on the environment

Age should not be a barrier to being green, but many efforts to engage people with the environmental debate and to promote green lifestyle changes focus on younger people. Older people have impressive potential to contribute to the environmental debate and to help build more sustainable communities. Their experience and enthusiasm should be drawn on.

The Greener and Wiser Taskforce was composed of ten older people from around the country and was supported by Green Alliance, Age Concern and Help the Aged and Natural England. The taskforce came together over six months to debate green issues, with each other and with experts, and developed a positive manifesto for change. It aims to:

• Increase the profile of older people’s views in environmental decision-making; and
• Address the practical challenges that older people face in making greener choices.

There are 20 million people in the UK aged 50 and over, many of whom are very active on environmental issues. But for others there is a mismatch between their circumstances and the lifestyle changes suggested. They may also not be given the opportunities to get involved in decisions that affect their local environment and community.

As the government looks at ways of promoting individual and community level behaviour change they would do well to look to older people. Many are well placed to share environmental messages and to make green issues more relevant to people’s daily lives. As this taskforce argued, older people have great potential to communicate green messages to their families, friends and the many groups that they are part of.

The Greener and Wiser manifesto was launched on 11 May by Lord Hunt, then minister of state at Defra (now DECC). Tony Hams, Natural England board member and David Sinclair, then head of policy at Age Concern and Help the Aged also spoke, along with two members of the taskforce.

Please see here to read Greener and Wiser – an older people’s manifesto on the environment.

Please also see our press release here.

For more information on this work please contact  Faye Scott.

Acknowledgements

Green Alliance would like to thank Age Concern and Help the Aged and Natural England for their support of this work.