Carbon and Biodiversity

In 2022, Vetwork UK developed 'CLiVe', a Carbon (and Biodiversity) Literacy Course for the Veterinary Community.

 

Accredited by the Carbon Literacy Project (CLP), CLiVe was the first CLP accredited course specifically for the veterinary community, and the first with biodiversity folded through it.

 

CLiVe has five parts:  participants learn/revise relevant basic science;  examine human culpability;  explore carbon and biodiversity footprinting;  engage with climate justice;  and commit to two actions - one in your day to day work, the other focused on professional level change.

 

CLiVe piloted successfully in December 2022 at British Veterinary Association HQ with 17 participants covering social science, pharmacy, and veterinary leadership across a spectrum of disciplines. Professor Dave Goulson presented on the environmental effects of veterinary parasiticides on invertebrates.

 

Biodiversity literacy maps onto the seven (5+2) IPBES* drivers of global biodiversity loss:  land use change, exploitation of species, climate change, all the pollutants, invasive alien species;  and human detachment from, and undervaluing of, nature.

 

CLiVe involves 8hrs of study, some personal, some in a face to face workshop. Participants can apply to CLP for a Certificate of Carbon Literacy (with 14 of the first cohort choosing successfully to do so).

 

Vetwork UK also offers shorter bespoke workshops that cover similar ground, particularly regarding biodiversity. We consider ourselves facilitators, not experts.

 

Please contact us if any of this interests you.

 

* IPBES - the UN-associated Inter-governmental science and policy Platform on Biodiversity and Environmental Services