Online conference on 13 November 2020 from 10am to 5pm in the United Kingdom will explore how councils, other public organisations, businesses, charities and communities can all work together to develop radical Action Plans to deliver on commitments after having declared a climate emergency.
→ Full timetable of sessions here
Has your organisation declared a Climate (and Ecological) Emergency, committing to radically reduce its emissions and improve biodiversity by 2030? Are you a concerned activist or organisation focussed on ensuring the necessary climate action is taken in your locality?
‘Taking Action Together’ showcases current best practice and new ideas from across sectors. The conference provides examples of the most effective Actions Plans and launches a new checklist to help you develop yours.
“We’ll focus not only on what councils and other organisations can achieve directly, but also on how they can involve others in the locality, utilising their skills and influencing them to take action,” wrote the organisers, the UK Climate Emergency Network.
The network’s first conference was held at Lancaster Town Hall in March 2019, and was attended by 200+ Councillors, local authority officers, business leaders, educators, activists, young people, faith groups, health professionals and many others from all over the country.
Strong movement in United Kingdom
13 November 2020 marks two years of Climate Emergency Declarations made by Councils in the UK, starting with Bristol. To date 300 UK Local Authorities (75%) have declared a ‘Climate (and in some cases Ecological) Emergency, alongside more than 20 universities and a variety of other organisations including health authorities, professional bodies and the UK Parliament.
While the UK Government has said it will go carbon zero by 2050, many of these local declarations are leading the way, aiming for 2030 or earlier.
“Our public institutions are uniquely positioned to be catalysts for change. In the climate era, as we face one of the most challenging decades of our time, let’s use the full power of councils to strengthen our local communities and create a true sense of place and purpose,” public service consultancy agent FutureGov has stated.
Engaging communities is at the heart of change and is a central focus of the conference which will “showcase examples of how to inspire, involve, educate and inform, building truly transformative climate action.”
→ Full timetable of sessions here
Latest newsletter about the conference:
By Cllr. Kevin Frea
“The Ecological Emergency often gets overshadowed by the Climate Emergency, but if we continue to trash the planet that is our home, we will all suffer the consequences.
So, our Taking Action Together conference next Friday 13th has a whole stream devoted to biodiversity, with a particular focus on food production.
We’re delighted that Stuart Roberts, the deputy president of the NFU, is addressing the conference as one of the keynote speakers. Stuart, a third-generation livestock and arable farmer in Herefordshire, is a passionate believer that farmers are part of the solution. He will talk about how farmers can work with government and others to make UK agriculture carbon zero by 2040.
Working with farmers to increase biodiversity and soil health is the subject of a session led by Neil Heseltine, Chair of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, with presentations on engaging with arable & hill farmers to address both the climate & ecological emergencies.
A session on Sustainable Food Places, led by Anna Clayton from LESS CLC, showcases how by changing what institutions and individuals eat, organisations and consumers can help to transform the food system.
Scientists from Lancaster and Liverpool Universities present their research on the Rurban Revoltion – how growing food in urban areas can provide healthier and more sustainable food and green a city, benefitting both people and wildlife.
We are all searching for win-win answers. Solar farms can offer both renewable energy and an undisturbed sanctuary for wildlife. Professor Pieran White from York University and Dr Alona Armstrong from Lancaster University present their Spies toolkit that enable local authorities to maximise the ecological as well as the climate and economic benefits from investing in solar farms.
Other planned sessions include presentations about Natural Flood Management, including both working examples and some of the latest research showing its environmental and economic benefits.
Finally, we are offering a practical guide to what should be included in your Biodiversity Action Plan – we’ve room for another speaker in this session, so do let me know if your council is a leader in this area.
Please register for the Conference if you haven’t already – you can come for the whole day or just for one session, and if you register you get recordings of the whole conference afterwards. And do spread the word, it’s a chance for people to be inspired and enthused, just what we need during lockdown.”
Additions and updates to UK CED data in Cedamia’s global database
Please check the UK section of the Cedamia global CED database and send the following additions or updates to info@cedamia.org:
– If your town or parish CED is not listed, please send the council name, CED date, and link to the relevant meeting minutes.
– For all CED councils, if your carbon neutral targets are not shown (or require updating), send the targets for council’s own operations and for community-wide emissions.
– For all CED councils, if your Climate Emergency Action Plan is not shown in Column K or there is an updated version, send the link to your Plan.
Local Authority Climate Officers and Climate Contacts
Have you ever struggled to find the contact information for who to contact in your council about climate related matters? We certainly have! So we are creating a directory of who to contact about climate related things within all local authorities across the UK. We need your help! Who would you contact within your local authority? Are you the contact? Please complete this form.
Top 5 Priorities for Climate Emergency Action Plans
Climate Emergency UK is working to create a checklist of top things a local authority climate emergency action plan should include. We would like your help!
If you were creating a climate action plan, what would be the top five things you would want included? This could be anything from council support for EV vehicles to ensuring a science based area wide emissions reduction plan to making sure workers are trained and up-skilled for green jobs. Survey to complete is here.