Cottenham Conference celebrates local climate action

Creating a greener, cleaner district for South Cambridgeshire residents is on the agenda at a climate conference in Cottenham celebrating net zero action locally.

South Cambridgeshire District Council is holding its first Climate Action Conference in November to tie in with COP28 – 12 days of worldwide talks which determine ambition and responsibilities in addressing climate issues globally.

The local event is being held at Cottenham Village Hall, a flagship building for becoming environmentally friendly, supported with a District Council Zero Carbon Communities grant of £15,000. The grant was made to Cottenham Parish Council for solar panels on the Village Hall.

The event is open to everyone and is at:

• Cottenham Village Hall, Lambs Lane, Cottenham, Cambridge, CB24 8TA. Parking onsite or stop ‘Lambs Lane’ on number 8 bus route from Cambridge city centre.
• Tuesday 28 November 9:30am to 1pm. Doors open 9.15am. Tea, coffee and light refreshments provided. 
• Speakers include Chris Parkin of Cambridgeshire County Council talking about making sure communities benefit from the energy transition; Malcolm Bird of Steeple Morden Parish Council talking about Community Electric Vehicle Charging and Helen Dye of Natural Cambridgeshire talking about developing a local nature recovery strategy for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Also, Alison Giles of Girton Local Nature Recovery and local ecologist Ashley Arbon.
• Book free tickets via Eventbrite

Cllr Brian Milnes, Lead Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “We are proud of our ongoing work in tackling the climate emergency so that our district becomes as environmentally friendly as possible - but we can only do this by working together. We hope this conference motivates local people to come along and get involved with their own suggestions on how we can become Net Zero by 2050. We have some superb speakers and it promises to be a really engaging event with some lively discussion opportunities.”

One of the District Council’s core visions is to help the district become net zero carbon by 2050, to create a greener future for local people.

As part of this it set up a Zero Carbon Communities grant scheme in 2019 and has given more than half a million pounds to 71 projects locally aimed at reducing carbon emissions and engaging communities on climate change,

Designed to equip community groups to take action at a local level, previous Zero Carbon Communities grants have helped upgrade community buildings, educate people around their carbon footprint, and help nature recover in the District. Projects have included tree planting, energy efficient heating and lighting, food production and distribution, plus waste reduction.

Background

• The first global COP conference took place in 1995 in Berlin. This year’s global COP28 event is in Dubai from November 30 to December 12. It is the first year that South Cambridgeshire District Council has held a climate conference to tie in with this global event.