GREEN-minded residents have less than two weeks to give their views on climate change in Warwickshire.
Warwickshire County Council controls large budgets for Warwickshire’s highways, cycleways, streetlighting, recycling centres and a number of large buildings.
And this public engagement presents a opportunity for everyone in the county to have their say and get their thoughts on climate change and sustainability heard by senior decision makers.
The draft Sustainable Futures Strategy establishes the direction and priorities of WCC to reduce carbon emissions, support biodiversity and promote economic growth across the county. It directly addresses the significant challenges of climate change, which poses a direct risk to Warwickshire communities and economy, and declining biodiversity, which impacts on both wellbeing and economic prosperity.
WCC has already started work towards its goals of reducing carbon emissions to net zero across the council by 2030 and to support Warwickshire as a county to do the same by 2050 or earlier. But to achieve those goals, more needs to be done. It also needs to be done faster and in partnership with others, including residents, businesses, other public sector organisations, community and voluntary groups.
The council is therefore encouraging everyone with an interest in creating a sustainable Warwickshire now and for future generations, to read the Strategy and give their feedback through an online survey that closes on January 15. They can leave their thoughts on the Strategy approach, the priority areas and planned actions as well as their views on how the goals should be delivered.
The Strategy and survey can be found at https://ask.warwickshire.gov.uk
The results will inform the development of a final Sustainable Futures Strategy to be taken to WCC’s Cabinet in Spring 2023.
WCC’s climate spokeswoman Coun Heather Timms said: “We are very excited to share our new Sustainable Futures Strategy because it sets out our direction of travel as a council for years to come.
“This strategy is a sharing of our plans for rising to the challenge of mitigating and adapting to our planet’s changing climate, but it also embracing sustainability in its widest sense. This includes how we want to build sustainable communities and develop the green economy across Warwickshire and how we plan to protect and increase our precious biodiversity and habitats.
“Sharing this Strategy with the people of Warwickshire is particularly important because sustainability is something we can’t do alone. We are keen to work in partnership and collaboration with the communities of Warwickshire as we deliver this, so I hope as many people as possible will give us their views.”
For more information about how WCC is facing the challenges of the climate change emergency visit https://www.warwickshireclimateemergency.org.uk/
