Delegates from the public, private and voluntary sectors attended a conference at Chester Zoo last Friday (14th February) to discuss the climate emergency and what can be done in west Cheshire to address it.
The West Cheshire Action on Climate Change conference was organised as a partnership event bringing together experts from a range of industries, community groups and government departments.
The event demonstrated support and enthusiasm for a borough-wide pledge to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2045 or earlier.
The conference opened with a powerful message from children and young people across the borough who shared their thoughts, via a video, about the climate emergency.
Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cllr Louise Gittins shared details about the council’s response to the climate emergency challenge.
Meanwhile, environmental consultants from Anthesis gave an overview of the research they’ve undertaken in west Cheshire.
There were talks from industry leaders who are at the forefront of innovation in the low-carbon energy sector.
They shared details about new technologies being developed in the area which will be central to achieving carbon reduction across the industrial base in the borough (currently responsible for around 5% of the UK’s energy).
Cllr Gittins commented: “This event was organised to ensure that key partners, organisations and community groups across the borough are aware of the scale of the climate emergency challenge we are facing in our borough.
“It was a great opportunity to share best practice, create new networks and for organisations across all sectors to commit to taking action to address this global issue at a local level.”
Cllr Matt Bryan, the leader’s champion for the climate emergency, added: “As a council we have committed to becoming carbon neutral as an organisation by 2030.
“After the event on Friday, I feel hopeful that as a borough we can all work together to make the west Cheshire carbon neutral by 2045 or earlier.”
He continued: “There are already lots of great projects across the borough that are taking action to help tackle this issue.
“I hope that, by sharing some of these projects at the conference, it will spur more people and organisations on to make a change today.”
Information gathered from the event will be reviewed by Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Climate Emergency Taskforce, which is developing a Climate Emergency Response Plan that is due to be presented to the council in December 2020.
