A new report from the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) confirms a fact that we’ve been aware of for a long time: technology alone won’t enable us to hit carbon targets. You can have the greenest technology possible, but if people don’t know how to use it then energy efficiency will never happen.

Global Action Plan meets with facility managers who have not been shown by the architects or builders how best to run their building for maximum environmental benefit.

One extreme example was a company who cut down a row of trees to improve the views for their staff without realising that they had been deliberately planted to help control the ambient temperature of the building. The cost of both air conditioning and lighting increased as staff coped with the glare of the sun by putting down their blinds.

Smart meters are another case that demonstrate the need to integrate the introduction of new technology with behaviour advice. They could be the catalyst for improved energy efficiency but households need information that they can act upon. Households will need to see which specific devices are using energy and how much they cost, and to be able to switch them off remotely.

Their rollout also needs to be accompanied by an effective behaviour change campaign that provides a stimulus for action and helps to shift social norms.

Change in China

China is facing its most severe drought in 60 years threatening the harvest of the world’s biggest wheat producer. The situation is getting so desperate that they have announced $1bn in emergency water aid and the army is firing cloud-seeding chemicals into the sky.

There are clear indications, however, that positive change is happening elsewhere in the country. Sinba Duan, the Climate Change and Science Manager from the British Council in China, visited our offices as part of a job sharing and learning exchange.

The strangest thing that Sinba found about the UK was the pub. He told us that in China if people go somewhere and there are no seats they leave whereas in the pub everyone was happy to stand and chat!

Read our interview with Sinba.

Over the past four years we have been helping to train Chinese teachers on the techniques we use to educate young people about climate change. It has been a fascinating learning process on all sides.

It’s clear that the Chinese take a far more direct approach to climate change with businesses being given individual carbon reduction targets which they have to reach. However, engagement with the public is weak in communities and is more akin to propaganda than real change. The British Council is trying to change that in their work with the Chinese government and organisations such as the Local Education Commission.

Climate Squad

On Monday, I was filmed for a video that celebrates the first two years of our Climate Squad programme, jointly sponsored by Bank of America and Vinspired. V is one of the many youth initiatives that will not survive the government’s austerity programme. It means the end of an initiative that has helped thousands of young people make a positive contribution to their communities.

Over the past two years we have created volunteering opportunities for 3,319 young people and have trained 142 young people who are not in employment or training (NEETs) to be community leaders. 100 of them have gone on to win a BTEC qualification.

Most of the volunteer ideas have been created by young people. Operation Pump it Up goes into public car parks and helps people adjust their tyre pressure to the correct level, helping them to save carbon and money. The initiative has run in five shopping centres by over 200 young people and has helped save over 35 tonnes of carbon. Simple but effective.

Trewin Restorick is the chief executive of environmental advisory body Global Action Plan

This article first appeared at his blog Trewin Says