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Council keen to hear from young people on climate change action


Solihull Council is encouraging young people across the borough to have their say on reducing emissions.

It’s an important year for climate change action nationally, with the 2021 United Nations climate change conference, entitled COP26, taking place in Glasgow next month.

More locally, the Council is currently reviewing what actions it can take to reduce Solihull’s carbon emissions. These proposals are laid out in the draft Net Zero Action Plan (NZAP), ‘net zero’ meaning that the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted is balanced out (or offset) by the carbon that is removed from the atmosphere.

The Council is keen to gather as many views as possible, particularly those of younger residents aged 10 to 25, to ensure that they are a part of this important conversation. Therefore, the Council has launched Solihull’s Youth Climate Action Survey, which can be accessed here

Councillor Andy Mackiewicz, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Planning and Housing said:

“Climate change is one of the most defining issues of our era, and it is our young people who will face its consequences in the years to come. Solihull Council recognises the scale of the climate emergency and has set the aspiration of reducing the Borough’s CO2 emissions to net zero by 2041.

“It is crucial that we hear the views of younger residents, so if you are aged 10 to 25, then please fill in Solihull’s Youth Climate Action Survey. I also encourage the parents and guardians of young people to give them the time and motivation needed to fill in the survey. This way, Solihull’s young people can have their say over the future of climate change action in the borough.”

The Council is working with the InterClimate network, as in previous years, to deliver the survey and analyse the results. The survey will be presented at the Solihull Schools Climate Conference on 11 November.

The Solihull Schools Climate Conference will be an on-line event timed to coincide with COP26, during which students will be able to debate the progress made towards the Paris Agreement as if they were part of the UN themselves. Students can also put forward their questions to councillors and local business leaders as part of a ‘Climate Question Time’.

Further information on the Council’s Action Plan for tackling the borough’s CO2 emissions can be found here.