News
Declaring a Climate Emergency in Derbyshire
Tue, 5 March 2019
Nearly 40 people from across the county, from New Mills to Melbourne, met in Derby last month to launch Derbyshire Climate Coalition. People came together desperate to get action to address the Climate Emergency which is threatening the whole world. They are calling for local councils to take a lead and are asking all councils in Derbyshire to develop plans to make their local areas ‘net zero carbon’ by 2030.
Locally Wirksworth Town Council is leading the way, having formally declared a climate emergency recently. So far nearly 40 councils across the UK have declared an emergency.
The first step is to get political support for making a council area carbon neutral. The next step is to develop a carbon budget and action plan. The group hopes to get a motion debated by Derbyshire County Council (and Derby City Council) and win support for a declaration before focussing on district councils
Peter Robinson of Derby Climate Coalition said, ‘With CO2 levels now at over 412 parts per million – the highest CO2 level for 35 million years – there is a climate emergency now. Many other areas are already taking action including Nottingham, Leicester, Sheffield and Bristol. Derby and Derbyshire must take action too. We were really encouraged by the enthusiasm from people from all parts of Derbyshire. We encourage everyone who wants action in their area to get in touch and join us.”
If anyone is interested in joining or helping with the campaign please contact Lisa at transitionchesterfield@yahoo.co.uk
www.facebook.com/groups/DerbyshireClimateCoalition
March Newsletter Out Now
Tue, 5 March 2019Our March e-newsletter is crammed full of local news and events realted to community action on climate change. Read it online.
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Four New Nottingamshire Electric Buses to Hit the Road
Thu, 21 February 2019Nottinghamshire is set to benefit from four new electric buses worth £900,000, due to hit the roads in 2020.
Buses Minister Nusrat Ghani announced today that Nottinghamshire Council County is one of only three regional organisations that has secured funding from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) to help fund new green vehicles and infrastructure. Nottinghamshire County Council, Trent Barton and Nottingham City Transport are all successful bidders and will receive funding to purchase new low emission buses and support infrastructure, such as charge points.
County Councillor John Cottee, Chairman of the Communities and Place Committee, said:
'This is fantastic news. This latest £900,000 funding means we can add to our electric bus fleet by introducing four new buses to serve local communities in the Rushcliffe and Mansfield areas. Even more bus passengers in Nottinghamshire will therefore benefit from the quieter, sleek and pollution-free buses, thanks to zero emission bus technology which will help improve air quality and reduce CO2 emissions.
'We are match funding this Government money as its hoped that this investment will encourage further take up of electric buses by bus operators as well as encouraging more people to use the bus.
'Our current two electric buses, which were introduced last summer thanks to a previous round of Government funding, are already serving residents across Stapleford, Toton, Attenborough and Beeston.'
Cash for Derbyshire Community Activities
Thu, 21 February 2019
A number of environmentally-themed projects have received cash from Derbyshire County Council's Action Grants scheme and there's still more to give away.
There's £1.25m still available and more than 200 community groups have already cashed in. Among these is the Eyam Repair Café which launched in February and will become part of a worldwide network of repair cafes where qualified volunteers repair stuff rather than it being thrown out.
Eyam resident Colin Shaw, who is helping to run the café, said: “Getting a £500 Action Grant has made the repair café possible. We used the money to buy toolkits and some for publicity. We’re already getting lots of interest from the local community and beyond.”
Colin added: “Applying for the grant was really straightforward and we found out in just a couple of weeks that we had been successful”.
There is a rolling programme of applications and the council will be awarding grants until the end of May 2020.
Applications Open for Youth Environmental Programme
Thu, 21 February 2019
Applications are open for Bright Green Future, a UK-wide environmental leadership programme for young people (14-17) run by the Centre for Sustainable Energy. The scheme is looking for the next cohort of young people who are passionate about the environment and want to gain the skills and knowledge to create a different world.
Bright Green Future is CSE's environmental leadership programme for teenagers aged 14-17 who want to create a more sustainable future for our planet, learn about climate change and environmental protection, gain confidence and meet like-minded people. It’s a unique opportunity for young people to learn about sustainability and environmental decision-making as well as improve prospects for future jobs and university.
The one-year programme consists of structured training, mentoring, a local project, a work placement and a residential summer school out in the wild. Each young person on the programme is assigned a mentor from the Bright Green Future team at CSE to help them find a work placement and organise their project.
One previous participants said: 'It’s very easy to feel overwhelmed in regards to climate change but on Bright Green Future it was really lovely to meet so many like-minded people with passion for the environment and gave me a lot of hope for the future.'
www.bright-green-future.org.uk