After weeks of hot weather, Green Week started off looking decidedly grey and windy but the planned events attracted plenty of interest, particularly the films shown at No6 Cinema. There was also enthusiastic involvement from local schools who put on displays and assemblies or, in the case of Milton Infants, their own green day. The Lodge in Victoria Park displayed some of the artworks sent in by schools, while the photographic display on Green Portsmouth at Central Library proved so successful that it will be on show at other library branches in the coming months.

As for the Green Fair itself – well, we can’t say it was easy trying to set up the fair over two sites but it was worth it for the sheer number of people who attended throughout the day. There was a wide enough range of stalls to please everyone, from food and plants to crafts and gifts, representatives of local organisations like Portsmouth and Southsea Tree Wardens who were on hand to chat about their work, or companies offering ideas or equipment for renewable energy and recycling. The children’s activities area was kept busy all day as demonstrated by the painted faces and hand made windmills seen around the park, and the music in both the square and the park went down well, judging by the dancing that was still continuing long after the fair had finished. And the weather was good!

One unexpected problem on the day occurred when the tent planned for the Green Fair Speakers failed to materialize, leaving invited speakers and potential audience alike without a venue. We can’t apologize enough to those speakers who went to a lot of trouble to come down to Portsmouth, and to those stall holders who might have felt that the initial setting up of the fair was a little chaotic, but it has to be remembered that the entire event was planned over months and carried out on the day by a small group of committed volunteers who also have full time jobs and busy lives.

On that note, we’d like to thank everyone for coming along and making it such an amazing day. We couldn’t have done it without the volunteers who turned up bright and early to help set up the two sites, and kept things bubbling along during the day, particularly all those energetic cyclists who were powering the music arena and cinema in Victoria Park (and thanks to Rob for organising some thought provoking films)!The biggest thanks go to Sue and Chris for their tireless efforts over this past year in making the Green Fair happen. From the feedback of people in the park, the idea of having a regular event in Victoria Park was mentioned a number of times and that’s certainly something to plan for in the future.

Photos of the Green Fair will be on the website very shortly…

Despie the best efforts of environmentalists, the World Bank has approved a controversial $3.75bn loan to build one of the world's largest coal plants in South Africa.

As planned, it would put out 25m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and would prevent South Africa making good on a promise to try to curb future emissions.

America, Britain, the Netherlands, Italy and Norway registered their opposition to the loan by abstaining from the vote, the traditional method of dissent on the board which operates by consensus.

In a statement, the US treasury department said the loan was incompatible with the bank's stated commitment to promoting low carbon economic development.

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