Kendal Town Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 and agreed that Kendal needs to become a net zero town by 2030. Kendal is not alone in setting important and ambitious targets. The wider Zero Cumbria Carbon Partnership is developing a range of interventions that will see Cumbria become the UK’s first carbon neutral county by 2037. The partnership is strong thanks to its strong leadership, diversity, community members, cross sector approach and co-benefit focus.
The partnership recognises that;
‘In the context of climate crisis it is a mistake to think that if everyone does a little we can achieve a lot. If everyone does a little, we will collectively achieve only a little. The days are gone where we can congratulate ourselves for taking a step in the right direction – if that is where we stop. We have to act at the pace and scale required by science’
Whilst this website celebrates many small steps, it is not exhaustive or complete and will not stop. It is designed as a starting point which aims to increase exponentially as Kendal becomes increasingly active and responsive to the imperative to act.
What you can do now, within your current circumstances, is valued and important. Combined with using your voice to call on those who can unlock greater influence, increased positive action is inevitable.
Nationally, eyes are peeled on COP26 and the global, legally binding carbon reduction targets it aims to set.
‘There could not be a more important moment that we should have international agreement. The epidemic has shown us how crucial it is to find agreement among nations if we are to solve such worldwide problems. But the problems that await us within the next 5 – 10 years are even greater. It is crucial that these meetings in Glasgow, COP26, have success, and that at last the nations will come together to solve the crippling problems that the world now faces’ Sir David Attenbourgh.
As eloquently described by Mike Berners Lee in There is no planet B, we live in a world where almost everything we buy and do requires a global supply change and sends ripples around the world and therefore requires global empathy to deliver change.
‘Since our circle of influence is global, our circle of concern needs to be likewise’
Developing a global awareness of our actions will extend our empathy beyond Kendal to support and encourage global responses to the injustices facing our shared living earth.
This blog aims to demonstrate that our town is not alone in its desire to change and adapt to the climate challenges ahead. We can and will draw on the many local, regional, national and global actions to help Kendal become a ‘shining light of positive action’ as described by its citizens on the Kendal Climate Change Jury.
