Accelerating the transition to a low carbon Coventry and Warwickshire

When world leaders gathered for an environmental summit in Paris recently, similar objectives were considered locally by Warwickshire delegates at the 2020 Low Carbon Business and Communities Workshop at St Mary's Guildhall, Coventry.

Tony McNally, managing director of Climate Change Solutions, reports.

More than 120 organisations attended the 2020 Low Carbon Business and Communities Workshop to discuss ways to accelerate the transition to a low carbon Coventry and Warwickshire.

The workshop was arranged to coincide with the UN Climate Change COP 21 summit in Paris and was chaired by Cllr Kevin Maton a director of Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

The scene was set appropriately by Warwickshire-based explorer Mark Wood, whose next polar expedition will lead a team of UK special forces to highlight impacts of climate change, including global security.

Expert views followed from a range of perspectives with keynote speeches from Natasha Smith (senior manager at OFGEM), Martin Orrill (British Gas), Mark McLoughlin (SIEMENS), Neil Liddell-Young (Severn Trent) and Paul Fairburn (Coventry University).

With plenty of food for thought from those presentations, delegates went on to attend five focused breakout sessions discussing: Clean Energy and Technology; Resource Efficiency; Access to Finance and Funding; Homes Fit for the Future; and Low Carbon Sustainable Buildings.

Overall it was a very constructive and useful workshop and the aim is now to build upon it. This will be done by developing an inclusive 2020 Low Carbon Business and Community Partnership of individuals and organisations willing to help deliver within Coventry and Warwickshire the UN Climate Change Agreement unanimously agreed by the 195 countries in Paris. 

The partnership will focus on eight complementary themes: renewable energy; towards zero waste; water management; sustainable transport; low carbon homes and buildings; energy efficiency; sustainable farming and green spaces; and funding and investment.

The next stage will be a public meeting in late January which will include a report from the United Nations.

A summary video of the workshop can be found at: http://www.climate-change-solutions.co.uk/past-events/2020-low-carbon-business-communities-workshop-25112015/climate Summit. More details will be featured on the Climate change Solutions website http://www.climate-change-solutions.co.uk/