Success! ClimateYouChange recommendation for a Climate Change Ambassadors programme launched by Newham Council
- Nov 8, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 17
Following ClimateYouChange’s presentation at Newham’s Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change in February 2020, and the council’s commitment to a network of ‘Climate Emergency Champions’ in their July 2020 Response to the assembly, we can report the launch of this initiative by Newham Council, as recommended by us.
We proposed this suggestion, having seen the Air Quality Health Champions programme which launched in 2019. Through this initiative Newham Council trained volunteers on how to draw the attention of other residents to poor air quality and the impact on their respiratory health. They aimed to discourage vehicle idling and to increase walking and cycling within their communities, amongst other measures designed to increase air quality awareness.
We felt that a similar programme could be employed by the council to expedite the speed by which communities and individuals are educated on the climate emergency and why their personal contributions to combatting the crisis are so urgently required.
It was a natural fit for us to focus on the educational aspect of climate change mitigation, choosing this from one of the six themes presented by Newham Council in answer to the question ‘How can the Council and residents work together to reach the aspiration of being carbon zero by 2050 at the latest?’
Newham Council have now launched a Clean Air and Climate Champions* programme, in collaboration with the City of London, Hackney Council and Tower Hamlets Council.
*The terms ‘champions’ and ‘ambassadors’ are used interchangeably to describe volunteer work to disseminate knowledge from and the goals of councils/officials with the community.
To this end, we can claim success in having our proposal chosen and taken forward by the council.
We would however have liked to have seen far more emphasis on tackling climate change. The venture seems a little light in this area, having it as an adjunct to air quality education and improvement measures.
We are nonetheless happy to see the council take inroads into broaching the urgent top of climate change with inclusion in a community outreach volunteer programme.
Here is a link to the Clean Air and Climate Champions’ progamme launch document on the Newham Coucil website:
There were other suggestions we gave which we saw evidenced previously in Newham Council’s Response to the Citizen’s Assembly recommendations on Climate Change. Here is the link to that on the Newham Coumcil website:
