Independent Citizens' "Climate Assembly" For Adur and Worthing

Monday, 27 July 2020 23:20

By John Warburton @Warblefly

Randomly selected local residents are set to be invited to have their say at a Climate Assembly about how Adur and Worthing should tackle climate change.

According to the two local councils, the Climate Assembly, which is being run independently by the Democratic Society, will reflect the population of Adur and Worthing.

Letters have been sent to 8,000 randomly chosen local households inviting residents to apply, from which 40 people will be selected to take part.

It's after Adur & Worthing Councils declared a Climate Emergency in July 2019.

Under the Climate Emergency Declaration, the Councils committed to work towards being a carbon neutral council by 2030.

Assembly participants will meet asked to meet online from September to December this year, and be asked to consider two questions and make recommendations for:

How can people in Adur and Worthing collectively tackle climate change and support our places to thrive?
What does this mean for the way the borough and district live, and what does it mean for the local environment?

The two local authorities said the recommendations will be formally taken to the Councils in Spring 2021 and used to inform future policy and action locally for achieving its target of zero emissions by 2030, as set out under the Climate Emergency Declaration.

Cllr Neil Parkin, Leader of Adur District Council, said:

"Reaching zero emissions by 2030 will require us to work together to identify how residents, businesses, communities and the Councils can tackle climate change.

"The Climate Assembly will enable us to bring together a group of residents who can help to identify different opportunities and challenges and find ways to address them together."

Cllr Daniel Humphreys, Leader of Worthing Borough Council, added:

"Building on the successful Zero30 conference that we hosted in Worthing earlier this year, at which we outlined to delegates our plans for combating climate change, we now want to hear from residents their views to help shape the local response to the climate emergency."

While recruitment to the assembly is only open to the 8,000 households that receive a letter, the Councils will be inviting all residents to give their views on how climate change can be tackled.

More information can be found at https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/climate-assembly/