Council accesses expertise to help address climate change

Published on 15 January 2020

As we embark on a new decade one of the greatest challenges we face is addressing climate change.

Since declaring a climate emergency last summer, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has prioritised this as a key area for action and pledged to work with partners across the region to make the Moorlands carbon neutral by 2030.

And over the last several months, the Council has been meeting with experts and local groups to research the subject and start developing an effective, achievable and costed action plan.

Central to this is ensuring that organisations and individuals understand the science and how this affects the Moorlands so the Council has teamed up with Keele University to deliver training sessions for District, Town and Parish Councillors.

Two sessions have already taken place and more are planned this year.

Councillor Joe Porter, Cabinet Member for Climate Change at the Council, said: "This training is part of our long-tem partnership with Keele University who are working closely with us to advise the Council on the climate change action plan.

"As a Keele graduate, I'm delighted we are able to access this academic expertise to help shape our response to one of the biggest and most important challenges we all face.

"We will be organising more of these training sessions so that more and more decision makers, influencers and those members of staff responsible for undertaking projects and actions are able to benefit from better understanding of the scale of the challenge and what we can do about it."

The training was delivered by the University's Professor of Sustainability in Higher Education Zoe Robinson who said: "Addressing the climate emergency requires all of us to be aware of, and act on, ways that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our areas of influence.

"The Council is demonstrating real leadership in ensuring that their councillors understand more about the climate emergency and are able to build this into their work and decision making for the Council."