County vows to work together to tackle climate change

Council bosses, businesses chiefs and educationalists in County Durham have pledged to work together to tackle climate change.

As world leaders are in Glasgow for the crucial COP26 summit, more than 70 people – including representatives from Durham

County Council, Durham University, businesses, and the NHS – gathered to sign a new agreement, committing to work together to protect the environment.

This County Durham ClimateChangeAgreementaims to create an active partnership of organisations which

will work together to make real environmental progress and it is hoped more organisations across the county will sign the pledge.

To support the agreement, the council developed a new website and video to extend the invitation to individuals

and communities to come together and pledge to reduce their support.

Cllr Mark Wilkes, cabinet member for neighbourhoods and climate change, said: “We are committed to doing all that we can to tackle climate change. We have pledged to make our county carbon neutral, and to do this we need to work with the community in a collective effort to achieve this target.”

The council’s chief executive, John Hewitt, and Cllr Wilkes were key speakers at the event which also discussed the next steps to addressing net zero.

In 2019, Durham County

Council declared a climate emergency and pledged to reduce carbon emissions from its operations by 80% by 2030.

It also set a target to make County Durham carbon neutral by 2050.

To sign the climate change pledge, go to www.climatecountydurham.org.uk