Local action on climate change ‘is happening now’
ACTION on climate change is happening now locally, according to the president of Environment & Infrastructure.
Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez said that a lot had already been achieved when it came to the climate fight, with more action on the way – but acknowledged that needed to be better communicated.
She was responding to calls for action now that were repeatedly made through a special series of Guernsey Press politics podcasts focused on the United Nations COP26 climate summit in Glasgow – and the implications locally.
‘We have been acting.
‘One of the things that I have come to realise, especially in the conversations over the last few weeks in the public arena, is that we probably haven’t been very good at communicating what we as a jurisdiction have already achieved – and certainly what those next steps are,’ said Deputy de Sausmarez.
‘That’s something that I’m taking back. We’ll be really proactive about communicating what we’ve already done, where we’re going next, and that long term vision.’
In a rallying cry for action by everyone, she said there were more steps that could be taken by individuals, businesses and the States now.
‘There’s an awful lot of work that government is doing at the moment as well that should bear fruit over the next few years. The other important point is that it’s not a binary issue in that it’s not something that we either win, or we lose at.
‘We know that climate change is already happening and we know that it’s going to continue to happen.
‘So really anything that we can do, any contribution to lessening its impact is a good thing.
‘Consumption is really at the heart of a lot of this.
‘If we can reduce our demand then all our other problems diminish in proportion as well.’
Deputy de Sausmarez also reflected on attending the COP26 summit during the Guernsey Press’s final climate podcast. Asked what the overriding message was she took from the conference, she said: ‘In one word, urgency.
‘The only question now is how much we can do and how quickly can we do it?’
n You can listen to the special climate podcast series at https://guernseypress.com/podcasts/.
