Get Involved with your Local Climate Alliance

On the evening of Thursday 24^th September, a diverse group of individuals representing a wide range of organisations met online to discuss how the Chesterfield community could help tackle the climate and ecological emergency. School kids, councillors, community groups, faith groups, action groups, political parties and concerned individuals of all ages were represented in a move to join together and form a united voice to drive climate action in the region.

The group is forged under the banner of ‘Chesterfield Climate Alliance’ which began five years ago to show Chesterfield people’s support for greater action from world leaders at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21, held in Paris. Support is still strong in the region to achieve the outcomes of that Paris meeting, where Nations committed to achieving a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. Only last September around 500 young people and adults joined together to march through Chesterfield to support A Global Climate Action Day called by the youth group Fridays for Future.

Again young people’s voices were at the forefront as three young people from ‘The Green Team’ at St Mary’s school joined the zoom meeting to see how they could get involved in the wider community. Eleanor who leads the team wants to see actions to support the climate awareness teaching in school, for example through minimising the use of single plastic in school canteens or reducing traffic congestion around school gates. Air pollution was a theme widely discussed with concerns over the impact of heavy traffic on our main town roads. Another participant, Simon Redding, was keen to get an accurate measurement of air-borne pollutants and particulates around some of the traffic hotspots in the town. Many of the groups involved on the night are calling for a ‘green and fair recovery’ and to ‘bounce forwards’ with visions of a better future post COVID. Other issues discussed were the expansion of public transport systems, cycle networks and greening of the town’s urban areas. The group is also very keen to meet with the newly appointed Climate Change Officer when they take up their post.

The meeting was very timely as Sir David Attenborough had chosen the day to open an Instagram account to discuss climate change. His address began with ‘The world is in trouble, Continents are on fire, glaciers are melting, coral reefs are dying, fish are disappearing from our oceans’. Over 10 million have seen his first post, in the next few weeks, he will be recording messages about the climate change problem and how to deal with it.

The group would like to urge anyone interested in getting involved to contact them through their Facebook page ‘Chesterfield Climate Alliance’ or via email chesterfieldclimatealliance@gmail.com.