North Norfolk re-iterates climate pledge
The council has launched a special animation
North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) has launched a special animation highlighting the urgent need for action against climate change, and re-enforcing our commitment to play our part through delivery of our new Environmental Charter.
NNDC were the first Norfolk Council to declare a climate emergency in 2019 and has been working hard to create a programme of initiatives which aim to reduce our carbon emissions to net-zero by 2030.
The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report contains worrying evidence that both globally and locally the climate crisis needs addressing immediately. Warning of the human impact on Earth’s rising temperatures it states:
Global surface temperature was 1.09C higher in the decade between 2011-2020 than between 1850-1900.
The past five years have been the hottest on record since 1850
The recent rate of sea level rise has nearly tripled compared with 1901-1971
Human influence is "very likely" (90%) the main driver of the global retreat of glaciers since the 1990s and the decrease in Arctic sea-ice
It is "virtually certain" that hot extremes including heatwaves have become more frequent and more intense since the 1950s, while cold events have become less frequent and less severe
In light of this, and ahead of the COP26 conference in the Autumn, the District Council acknowledges that the actions we all take as individuals, consumers and as members of wider society over the next ten years are going to define our planet’s future. How we act now will determine whether we can successfully limit global warming and stave off the most destructive impacts of climate change.
So, we need to take action now, and we need to be bold and decisive in how we meet these challenges at a local level. North Norfolk may not have experienced the wildfires seen in California and Turkey, or the floods sweeping Germany and China or the extreme heatwaves felt in Canada and Siberia this last month but we are on the front-line of sea level rise, water-resource pressure and other climate related pressures.
Cllr Nigel Lloyd, NNDC’s Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, Climate Change and Environment, commented:
“It is vital we step up and react now. North Norfolk District Council has developed and implemented a number of projects that will contribute to the reduction of our carbon footprint. As the first Norfolk council to declare a climate emergency, I am proud that we are being bold and brave by leading and promoting change in our communities.”