Environmental experts to speak at Adur and Worthing's climate assembly

Environmentalist Sir Jonathon Porritt and the chairman of the Carbon Trust , Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, will be speaking at the Adur & Worthing Climate Assembly which launches on Saturday (September 19).

It is being delivered as part of the councils' SustainableAW programme, which aims to protect and improve the local environment.

The councils declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 and have committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

Worthing Borough Council leader Daniel Humphreys said: “The voice of the community is critical for helping us to plan how we deliver our ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2030.

"To help shape our ongoing commitment in Adur and Worthing to tackling the climate crisis, we want to hear from residents about how they feel about climate change, what changes they are already making to their lives, what more they can or would like to do and what barriers may be preventing them from doing so.”

The climate assembly's expert speakers will be live streamed to an online private event attended by 40 residents of Adur and Worthing on the first day of the five-part programme taking place between September and December.

The 40 residents have been randomly selected from a representative sample of the local population and will hear from a range of speakers, in addition to Jonathon and Julia, about the impact of climate change at a global and national level.

Jonathon Porritt is a writer and founder of Forum for the Future, which advises government, businesses and civil society on sustainability issues.

Julia King heads up the Carbon Trust, which supports businesses, governments and the public sector to implement changes to address the climate crisis.

The Assembly will also hear from local businesses and organisations over the course of the five days, including Adur & Worthing Councils, Southern Water and Worthing Homes about what is being done locally to tackle climate change.

Having heard the evidence from experts, the 40 participants will present their recommendations to the councils in early 2021 about how Adur and Worthing can collectively tackle climate change.

Neil Parkin, Leader of Adur District Council, said: “With a fantastic line-up of speakers, our participants can expect to learn lots about climate change and how these issues relate to Adur and Worthing. We look forward to receiving the participants’ recommendations for how we can all work together to tackle climate change.”

As part of the Climate Assembly, Adur and Worthing Councils are inviting all local residents to contribute to a questionnaire to find out what changes in behaviour people have already made that may help towards achieving greater sustainability in Adur and Worthing, and capture views and opinions on climate change.