Heat is on for the future
THE Beach is back so Old Market Square is buzzing. I really hope we have lots of good weather over the summer so that families, especially those who aren’t heading off to sunnier climes, can make the most of it. I’ll be here all year, so it’s a selfish wish too!
I hope we don’t see any further extreme heat, though – it was worrying for the clear indicator it gave us that climate change is happening right now.
Our bold pledge to be carbon neutral by 2028 has been progressed through measures that are also making a difference to families’ budgets and their health, such as insulation, accessible and affordable public transport and active travel. These three issues – the cost of living crisis, poor health outcomes in the city and the critical position we are in as we teeter on the edge of catastrophic climate change – are inextricably linked in so many different ways. We all need good food, warm homes we can afford to heat, decent jobs and a healthy environment. All of these can be addressed through the same measures we would take to tackle climate change. We declared a climate emergency at the city council in 2019, and we are serious about that, grabbing every opportunity we can to insulate homes, make cycling and walking safer and easier, make our integrated transport system – the best outside London – greener and accessible to everyone. Our integrated transport brings good employers and helps us get to those better opportunities in ways we can afford and without adding to air pollution. The insulation work we have supported for Nottingham households is making an impact on energy bills and carbon.
Those kids playing in the sand in Old Market Square right now will ask us what we did, when we knew what was coming.
We can tell them we made some bold choices. But I think we have some work to do to convince national government that this should be top of their list.
Our coalfields once powered the industrial revolution. Our area could step up to power the green revolution with the technical, well paid jobs that many families haven’t seen since the pits were shut. The importance of energy security has also become horribly clear in the context of events around Ukraine, and this issue needs some serious action at the same time as families right here face a cost of living emergency.
I hope the new prime minister will be able to see what is happening to the climate and to family budgets and act decisively to tackle both. If they don’t, I think those kids playing in the sand will want to know why not.