Shropshire Council staging climate change solutions workshop
Shropshire Council will throw its doors open next month for residents, businesses and groups to discuss climate change, which it describes as “the greatest challenge of our lifetime”.
Shirehall, in Shrewsbury, will host a Climate Change Strategy Workshop on Monday, February 10.
Cabinet member Dean Carroll, whose brief includes public health and climate change, said the event will help identify projects that are important to residents.
Council buildings are now working on 100 per cent renewable energy and the authority has reduced its carbon footprint by more than a quarter, but Shirehall will be open to new ideas and discussions next month.
In May 2019, Shropshire Council voted to declare a ‘climate emergency’, and a climate change strategy framework approved last month centres on four themes; carbon reduction through energy efficiency, carbon mitigation through renewable energy, carbon capture and storage, and adaptation and resilience.
Shropshire already has the fifth largest amount of installed renewable energy generation capacity in the UK and produces 20 per cent of the renewable energy across the whole of the West Midlands.
Councillor Carroll said: “We want to work with and involve Shropshire communities, organisations and residents to tackle the greatest challenge of our lifetime, climate change.
Identify
“This workshop aims to do just that. It will inform people of the pressing themes and invite discussion around these.
“We’re hoping that the workshop will help us identify projects that are important to the people of Shropshire which have the potential to improve our performance and deliver Shropshire Council climate change strategy’s target of being carbon-neutral by 2030.
“I would strongly encourage people to attend this workshop so we can work together to approach this issue as a county.
“While there is still much work to do, Shropshire Council has already seen some success reducing its carbon footprint.
“For example, 100 per cent of electricity used in all council buildings has come from renewable sources since September 2019 and street lighting is powered entirely by green electricity. Since 2013, Shropshire Council has reduced its carbon footprint by nearly 30 per cent.”
The workshop will last from 2pm-4.30pm on Monday, February 10. It is free to attend, but attendees will need to register through its Eventbrite listing beforehand at eventbrite.co.uk/e/climate-change-workshop-tickets-88665546035
