TRAINING for local authorities over the climate emergency has been welcomed by Wokingham Borough Council.
Last week, Climate Emergency UK, the organisation behind Council Climate Scorecards, announced it was to use its academy to show how councils can reduce carbon emissions and work to net zero.
The Local Climate Academy (LCA) will provide online training sessions from October for officers, residents and councillors, aimed at improving climate strategies and action.
Courses explore what it is and isn’t possible for councils to do and how local authorities can make the best use of their resources.
Across the country, the new academy has been welcomed.
Conservative Vice Chair of South Holland Council, Cllr Jan Whitbourn said: “As an experienced councillor, I understand that it’s important for councils to act and lead in the face of the climate emergency. However, the lack of resources available to councils makes this difficult.
“I’m interested to see how the Local Climate Academy could help my council to make improvements and look after our local residents better.”
The Local Climate Academy uses insights from Climate Emergency UK’s assessment of councils which took place recently via their action scorecards. Every council in the UK was assessed on its Climate Action Plan, with results were published in January 2022.
The next scorecards will be published in October.
Jenny, a campaigner and Campaign to Protect Rural England researcher from London, said: “I know that my local council could make changes that would help everyone in this area tackle the climate emergency, however, they are slow to take the urgent action that is needed.
“This course looks very useful because it will enable participants to identify what councils can and can’t do and how they can do it. Thus, participants will be provided with the insights, tools and confidence to approach councils in the most persuasive manner and can urge them to take some real action.”
And in Wokingham, executive member for climate emergency and resident services Cllr Sarah Kerr said: “Wokingham Borough Council are familiar with the Climate Emergency Scorecard, which independently reviews and scores our Climate Emergency Action Plan (CEAP) each year, and publishes the results on their online platform.
“We welcome the news of a training dedicated to local councils, to raise awareness of the climate emergency and discuss practical solutions to this challenge.
“With rising costs, Local Authorities’ finances are particularly under pressure at this moment in time, and so making this training available does remove a significant barrier for councils.
“We are aiming to promote this training internally, with a view of learning from the work of other councils and supporting the delivery of our CEAP which will be presented at council this September.”
For more details, log on to: www.climateemergency.uk/localclimatecademy/
