EAST COMBINED AUTHORITY MAYORAL HUSTINGS 7PM WEDNESDAY 17TH APRIL 2024

How will the new East Midlands Mayor tackle the climate and ecological emergency?

Hustings event – 17^th April 2024 at 7pm

Five candidates for the new Mayor of the East Midlands Combined Authority will be grilled on climate, environmental and social justice issues at an online hustings https://bit.ly/3vHEwAV on Wednesday 17 April at 7pm. The hustings is organised by a wide coalition of environmental and climate groups, coordinated by Friends of the Earth and co-hosted with Fuel Poverty Action, D2N2 Active Travel Alliance (Sustrans, Cycle UK, Living Streets and Ridewise), Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

Friends of the Earth’s campaign organiser for the East Midlands Richard Dyer said:

“The new Mayor will have new powers and funding that can be used to help our region tackle the climate and ecological emergency. They can’t single-handedly solve the crisis, but they must use the powers they have to make as big a difference as possible. They have a very important role to play in providing a guiding vision for the area, and will need to work with councils, businesses, local communities and the national government.”

The coalition are asking all the candidates to sign a climate pledge https://bit.ly/3U4Uoqz and have sent them a 10 point Climate Action Plan for the East Midlands https://bit.ly/3xyzVRY . The Plan covers the Coalition’s priorities for protecting people and planet, including: reducing home energy use, supporting green jobs, radically increasing public transport use and active travel, protecting and enhancing nature, promoting renewable energy and only using ‘green’ hydrogen from renewable energy sources.

Anyone wanting to attend the hustings can register their place online  https://bit.ly/3vHEwAV

Members of the Friends of the Earth coalition include: Broxtowe Green Umbrella, Burton Joyce Climate Action, Canopy 2050, Climate Action North-East Derbyshire, Climate Action Notts, CPRE Notts, Derby Climate Coalition, Derbyshire Climate Coalition, Derbyshire Dales Climate Hub, High Peak Green New Deal, Hope Valley Climate Action, Nottingham Friends of the Earth, Nottingham Pedals cycle campaign, Sherwood Forest Friends of the Earth, Sustrans, Tideswell and District Environment Group, Transition Chesterfield, Teversal, Stanton Hill and Skegby Neighbourhood Forum, Young Friends of the Earth Notts .

For more information contact Richard Dyer: Richard.Dyer@foe.co.uk or 07856 683193

Are you overwhelmed by the amount of information on  the climate and ecological crisis we are now all experiencing but want to know the  key facts and, more importantly, what  the solutions are?  Then read this book;

Simply Climate Change

by Professor Frans Berkhout. Professor of Environment, Society and Climate   at Kings College London and others. Published by Dorling Kindersley  published November 2021.  ISBN 978-0 2415-1607-2. Price £9.99.

This 160 page book can easily be read in just a few evenings because it contains impactive diagrams and visuals on every  page with only a small amount of text to get the most  important points across in a way that is easily understandable.   Readers will very quickly understand the science behind  climate change, its impacts, the speed and scale of the changes climate change is causing and how we can all make a contribution to avoid the worst impacts of global heating .

Our Government’s own advisors on the climate crisis, the Climate Change Committee(CCC) have repeatedly stressed how important our local councils are  in the fight to reverse the climate change we are now all experiencing with July 2023 just the latest example as the hottest month ever recorded globally. 

In 2021 in it Net ZeroStrategy, our  Government said that “devolved and local government(councils) play an essential role in meeting national net zero ambitions” because it “is best placed to integrate activity on the ground” and to inspire “action by, local businesses, communities, and civil society”.

According to the CCC, councils, including Derby,  have either direct power or some influence  over roughly one third of all climate changing greenhouse gas emissions in their local area.   Thats  control or influence over more than 4 million tonnes of the 13.7 million tonnes of  carbon dioxide and other climate changing gases released every year in  Derby.  

So we should  be drawing our council’s attention to examples of the imaginative,  practical and  effective actions being taken by other councils in the UK to cut greenhouse gas emissions and save their citizens money.  These councils are achieving this  despite the lack of money and powers from central government to do so.  Friends of the Earth have compiled case studies showing what these councils have achieved.  To be inspired, go to;

https://groups.friendsoftheearth.uk/resources/councils-tackling-climate-chaos

So we should be asking our own council what they are doing to help us all contribute to making  the drastic cuts in emissions scientists say we need to make by 2030 to avoid catastrophic climate change. – and save us money, now and in the future!    You can do this by responding to the consultation Derby City Council have launched at; 

https://letstalk.derby.gov.uk/climate-change-background