BOSSES in Warwickshire are joining forces with other government leaders to ramp up action against climate change.
Warwickshire County Council has signed up to the UK100 Net Zero Pledge on carbon emission reduction – a network focused on tackling the climate emergency.
The network will allow the council to work directly with other authorities facing the same challenges, as well as access climate research, campaigns, publications, funding models and private sector expertise.
It will also enable the council to become part of the Countryside Climate Network, which aims to strengthen the rural voice to encourage national policy to tackle climate change.
By uniting with the other 110 authorities on board, Warwickshire County Council will also join the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Race to Zero initiative. This is the global campaign and movement aligned to the aims of UK100, to help build international as well as domestic momentum towards zero emissions ahead of COP26 – the UN climate change conference – in November.
Warwickshire County Council’s plan of action to reduce emissions and achieve net zero targets since declaring a climate emergency in July 2019 includes:
– Tackling the council’s carbon emissions by decarbonising its buildings and vehicles
– Supporting communities to reduce carbon emissions through initiatives such as the Green Shoots community grant scheme and the Solar Together collective buying scheme
– Installing additional charging points for electric vehicles
– Supporting travel schemes for schools to promote cycling and walking
– Continuing strategic countywide activity in areas like waste, flood prevention, transport policy and planning development.
WCC leader Coun Izzi Secombe said: “Warwickshire County Council signing the UK100 Net Zero Pledge is an important step in our plan to combat the impact of climate change.
“It will enable us to work collaboratively with other local authorities and organisations to meet the council target of net zero emissions by 2030 and sends a clear signal to our partners, residents and businesses on the pace and scale of our ambitions for Warwickshire.
“We will use this pledge, along with the momentum from COP26 later this year, to demonstrate the power of what can be done when we work together.”
Visit www.uk100.org for more information on the pledge.
