Coventry & Warwickshire’s Climate Action Partnership
The Coventry & Warwickshire’s Climate Action Partnership meeting was suppose to take place on 18th of March 2020 at the Coventry City Council House; however, due to the Coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic and taking into consideration that the government has issued a social-distancing policy, the event was essentially cancelled.
The Coventry & Warwickshire’s Climate Action Partnership was suppose to meet to address some very important issues such as the Coventry Green New Deal, Coventry & Warwickshire Clean Growth Business, and Coventry & Warwickshire Clean Air & Transport.
About 30 people were registered to attend the meeting and more discussions were to be had on how to make Coventry more green with the collaboration of Coventry and Warwickshire Climate Action Partnership.
Addressing the Climate Emergency
Furthermore, since the Coventry & Warwickshire Climate Action Partnership were not able to meet, Tony McNally– Managing Director of Climate Change Solutions and organiser of the Coventry & Warwickshire Climate Action Partnership- agreed to meet with me to discuss the Climate Emergency that the world is now currently under.
According to the MET Office, the planet has been under a Climate Emergency since the Industrial Revolution began, which was in the 1800’s, and the average temperature has risen by 1°C; however, the temperature may be a little higher in some places. For example, the UK has risen at 1.5°C.
The MET Office also said, there is evidence that shows we have been under a Climate Emergency due to “a number of winter storms that have increased in the North Atlantic and they are getting stronger. Heavy rainfall events are also becoming more frequent: warmer air carries more moisture, which means rain falls in heavier showers.”
McNally agrees with the MET Office that the planet is and has been under a Climate Emergency and believes that the public needs to act now to save the planet.
“It’s very clear if we are to confront the unprecedented global emergency, which is really about how we can avoid rising temperatures average of 1.5°C; in the next 10 years… if we don’t do what is necessary to reduce the carbon emissions that are driving this, we will then be into the tipping point of no return.”
Tony McNally, Managing Director of Climate Change Solutions
What can we do?
McNally said, “it is essential for Coventry City Council to work with both the business community and the wider citizens of this city. Working together will make all the difference by reducing carbon emissions.” For example, he said he is involved in a community project called Act on Energy – a Solar Farm between Stratford and Avon. He said, “there are 60,000 solar panels and it could generate equivalent to supply all of the residence of Stratford with clean energy for the next 25 years.”
By incorporating a Solar Farm so close to Coventry, Act on Energy has developed a new project- the Leap Project – which it makes it easier and cheaper for people who would like to transform their home into a more eco-friendly home. The Leap project provides residents a free service to help keep people warm and reduce their energy bills without costing them any money. The Leap Advisors are supplied to do four things:
- install free simple energy saving measures such as LED light bulbs and draught-proofing
- check if you’re on the best energy tariff via our dedicated energy switching service
- arrange a free money advice consultation
- help you find funding for further energy-saving home improvements
And lastly, McNally mentioned there are 3 key things that the community can cut back on that can help with the Climate Emergency : “the generation and use of power, the generation and use of gas, and the generation and use of petrol and diesel.” McNally said, by reducing these 3 things it could give us a “cleaner, healthier community and world. “
Reflection
As the world stays at a busy pace, there are many experts who point out very easy and simple things that the community can do to improve the risks of Climate Change.
McNally mentioned quite a few different ones and Coventry is now underway of presenting a Coventry Green New Deal and will be presented by the end of this year.
According to the Coventry City Council, “Coventry was one of the first cities to produce a Climate Change Strategy. The Climate Change strategy published in 2012 set a target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 27.5% by the year 2020. Coventry achieved this in 2014 (6 years early). And now Coventry is working to improve on reducing even more carbon emissions in order to continue to make more progress” – i.e. the Coventry Green New Deal.
McNally believes that fortunately we are heading in the right direction to preserving the Climate Change; however, there is still more work to be done.
“I think the good news is we are going through a transition of 200 years of an economy built on burning fossil fuels, but also the economy that has depended upon the combustion engine and what the requirement for addressing Climate Change is the need to transition from the combustion engine powered by burning fossil fuels to clean energy technologies….it is possible to generate all our own energy requirements from within our cities by multiple sources of generation.”
Tony McNally, Managing Director of Climate Change Solutions
Moreover, the reality is that it really does boil down to the communities working together in order to handle this problem of Climate Change. Tony McNally said, “Ultimately, we have to win the hearts and minds of the vast majority of people to make a contribution.”
Updated March 26, 2020
