Expectations for Copenhagen have been a swinging pendulum over the last few weeks. Obama is going…he’s not going. We’ll have legally binding agreements…we won’t have legally binding agreements. In this uncertainty, the LGA held a timely debate earlier this week called Copenhagen: can we turn global talks into action on the ground? The panel was suitably expert to stimulate thought and incite intense frustration (or maybe that’s just me).
Richard Kemp (Deputy Chair, LGA) started off the discussion with a sobering figure on the high percentage of people who still think climate change isn’t caused by humans. Then Chris Church (Low Carbon Communities Network) told a similarly upsetting anecdote of doing a training session in a district authority where a group of councillors came together and said that the council shouldn’t do anything about climate change as it’s not an issue. This points to one of the main issues with the role that councils play in the UK’s response to climate change: we need politicians who aren’t afraid to make a tough decision that might only realise benefits after their time in office. (It would also help if they accepted the causes of climate change in the first place.) Continue reading “Copenhagen or not, we have local responsibilities”
