Burnham & Weston Energy joined other community groups in a workshop with Climate Change Committee members held last week in Taunton.

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) is an independent statutory body that advises government on emissions targets and adapting to climate change impacts. CCC members attending included senior advisor Louise Marix Evans, Adaptation Committee representative Rosalyn Schofield and climate scientist Professor Piers Forster. They wanted to hear about the challenges and opportunities communities face when tackling the climate emergency at a community level.

Key points highlighted in our debate

Debate in our group highlighted the importance of:

  • A clarity of vision as to what taking action climate change will mean – this vision needs to be relevant to the people in our communities
  • A clarity of language – a clear and familiar meaning of the words and images used to talk about climate change and climate action will engage more people and communities in making positive changes
  • Place-based solutions – climate change action deemed relevant for one area/one street/one house, might not work in another (“you can’t take the bus when there’s not a bus to take”); we need local solutions based on local knowledge and experience
  • Leadership – making change through delivering action is contagious; people want to know what to do
  • Agency – enable people to make decisions, changes and take action so that everyone can play a part in climate action
  • Policy action now based on what we know about climate now
  • System change – we need different ways of being, socially, politically and economically

Organised by Somerset County Council, the event also gave the CCC the opportunity to speak with other local stakeholders. These included county, district and town council staff, businesses, environment and community leaders. Exploring the challenges of achieving net zero in a rural area, the debate also covered energy, transport, flooding and water management, planning and barriers to change such as inconsistent funding and red tape.

The event was one of a series the Climate Change Committee are attending throughout the UK. A report on the findings is expected later this year.

Update: published – Climate Conversation: Delivering a Net Zero, Climate Resilient UK

A report on the findings was published in June 2022. Key messages highlighted by the report included:

  • The visits, meetings and conversations reinforced the CCC’s opinion that local authorities have a vital role to play in leveraging all their powers, assets and influence to deliver Net Zero and climate adaptation in the coming years.
  • The CCC recognises the importance of the many community-based initiatives which generate the success stories, inspiration and positivity that can start and maintain support for UK climate action.
  • Yet these actions are all different and uncoordinated, and this is not just because different places have different contexts. National strategies do not provide for a devolved set of climate responsibilities and there is generally no framework to manage delivery roles between national, regional and local levels of Government.
  • Efforts need to be focused on the key emissions sectors to tackle heating, new buildings, buildings retrofit and deliver modal shift and decarbonised transport.
  • National, regional and local coordination is urgently needed to ensure that local action aggregates to deliver Net Zero emissions and improved resilience in a coherent way.

To download a copy of the full report, click here.