Newly appointed trustees Paul Vine, Director of OHM Energy, Andrew Durling, Executive Director of the Eastbourne Eco Action Network, and Andy Walker, Founder of The Young Leaders Academy, will be furthering the UNA Eastbourne’s work to achieve the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Director at Eastbourne-based renewable energy company OHM Energy, Paul Vine has more than a decade of experience delivering energy efficiency plus carbon and cost savings to different industries. Having worked within the engineering sector for his entire career and with the public and private sectors, Paul’s success is underpinned by his commitment to net zero and ending fuel poverty.

Andrew Durling is the Executive Director of the Eastbourne Eco Action Network CIC, a social enterprise dedicated to facilitating cross-community collaboration on climate action, carbon reduction, and the clean energy transition in Eastbourne. He is also a director on the Board of the Eastbourne Food Partnership CIC, which works to create a local food system that can ensure equitable access to healthy, nutritious food for all Eastbourne residents. He is a founder-member of the Pevensey and Westham Community Forest Garden. He is also a member of Eastbourne Friends of the Earth, and was its Coordinator for 10 years.

Andy Walker retired from television broadcasting in 2005 and launched the Young Leaders Academy in Camberwell SE London for talented black male students ‘at risk’ of school exclusion. Andy is also a Trustee of a new Foundation, established to publicise the Phoenix Project in Lewes, that has recently received planning permission to build houses, leisure facilities and workshop space on the former iron works site.Andy is also an active member of the Lewes Climate Hub.

Founded in 1945, and consisting of over seventy local businesses, UNA Eastbourne informs the public on issues relating to the SDGs and supports practical programmes to achieve specific SDGs such as mitigating the effects of climate change. All UNA Eastbourne meetings are open and free to the public who wish to support any or all of the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Retiring trustee Dr Kathy Ballard, Liberal Democrat councillor for Upperton Ward Eastbourne, has developed strong links with Uganda to encourage local businesses to to think and act both locally and globally (SDG 17). Members are encouraged to offset their carbon footprint by planting trees in Uganda. This project not only directly contributes to the welfare of the rural communities in Uganda but allows businesses to meet the responsibilities to offset their CO2 footprint, of which over 50% is now generated overseas. 

In May 2022 UNA Eastbourne initiated a further international link – through a tree planting programme in Bangladesh to help mitigate the increasingly frequent disastrous floods. 

New trustee, Paul Vine says “We are delighted and privileged to be continuing Dr Ballard’s excellent local and international environmental work. As a team, we were chosen due to our commitment to mitigating climate change and our track record of helping Eastbourne reach net zero by 2030.”

Trustee Andrew Durling adds “Continued expansion of the tree planting programme in Uganda - the Mvule Project - remains high on our agenda. UNA Eastbourne sponsorship is increasing and recent scientific evidence has proved how effective the project is for carbon capture and offsetting the carbon footprint of local businesses.”

Third trustee, Andy Walker explains further “We plant the Mvule tree for two key reasons: As Andy has mentioned, it is an exceptional tree for carbon capture and carbon sequestration, possibly the best in the world. Secondly, the Mvule tree is on the IUCN Red List as a Near Threatened Species, so we must reverse catastrophic deforestation. Eastbourne can help whilst working towards net zero 2030.”

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