Background Note 1 – Why we’re having this event now
Transition Town Chichester and its climate group know there is a lot of enthusiasm in the community both to understand how climate change will impact us all, and how we can all be involved in something stimulating that makes a positive difference in either reducing emissions or helping to avoid the worst effects of increasingly extreme weather events.
While the emphasis has been on reducing carbon emissions the big impact globally will come about when there is effective action by the world’ss governments in phasing out fossil fuels. What we can do in the Chichester area is dwarfed by the international scale. This shouldn’t stop us trying to cut down our own carbon footprint – but we do need to take stock of the actions of government, local government and others are taking or planning to take to protect us all and maintain services through increasingly testing times.
When we looked for the District Council’s climate adaptation strategy we found it didn’t have one, although it does plan through its emergency planning service for extreme weather events and it is currently consulting on positive adaptation projects while preparing its Climate Emergency Action Plan for 2025-30. The County Council has also just updated its Climate Change Strategy and we look forward to hearing about it.
So it seemed that the time was ripe for a good look at adaptation and resilience issues in the Chichester area. Our list of speakers covers a detailed look at what is being done and what is planned and it gives us all as concerned citizens a good picture of whether this is sufficient or whether we should press for more. A particular strength of Transition Town Chichester is its community action focus and we believe that there are many who would volunteer and participate in projects that have a positive purpose and community benefits. Outreach by the council, government agencies and other service providers is vital if the community is to understand, support and participate positively and we hope that attendees will interact and find new opportunities.
For the climate change group it’s also an opportunity to set out our programme for the year ahead and hope that more may join us in learning about the challenges.
This note was prepared by Colin McKenna, Chair of Chichester Climate Change Group, 22nd August 2024
Chichester Adapt to the Climate navigation
- Programme
- Background Note 1 – Why
- Background Note 2 – Advice
- Background Note 3 – What