Scientists are in agreement that unnatural climate change is happening and is happening now and recently, the UK Parliament declared a climate emergency.
The recent TV programme ‘Climate Change- The Facts’ from David Attenborough and the action-demanding protests are testament to the emergency we are facing, alerting us to the threat of a future that Attenborough refers to as ‘catastrophic’.
Within the programme, Attenborough comments: “If we have not taken dramatic action within the next decade, we could face irreversible damage to the natural world and the collapse of our societies. We are running out of time but there is still hope.”
Locally, Wirral's climate strategy, Cool, is led by Dr Bryan Lipscombe, Wirral’s Sustainability Liaison Officer. Bryan says that in addition to action that authorities can take to address this climate emergency, individuals can make changes which will also help to make a difference.
Bryan said: “The threat is the resulting change of a damaging build-up of heat, associated with ‘greenhouse gas’ pollution. Our daily lives result in vast amounts of pollution, particularly through the burning of fossil fuels for warmth and transport.
“However, there are some simple changes that we can make in our own lives that can make a difference. This might be walking or cycling more instead of driving, shopping locally, eating less meat and reducing the amount of waste we produce.
“While the difference we can make seems minimal, Wirral is home to over 322,800 people, so even these individual changes can soon add up if enough people act.”
Wirral is not starting from scratch when it comes to climate action. Cool, a local strategy that acts against Climate Change, already brings together people and a number of public, private and voluntary organisations locally.
Bryan says a number of measures have already been taken including installing solar panels at council buildings, replacing streetlamps with low LED lamps and improving cycle paths but there is still more to be done.
Bryan added: “The latest evidence presents a deeply worrying picture, making it clear we need to move further and faster to cut pollution.”
“With the future of the climate at stake, our local strategy is currently undergoing further development and there is sure to be an increased focus on the environmental impact of every decision made. We all need to play a part in eliminating pollution.”.
Join Bryan and host and keynote speaker, Ed Gillespie, at Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight on 10 July in a local effort to build this new climate strategy.
There will be two sessions held to enable more people to take part. This event will consider what we need to do next in Wirral in the face of the global crisis.