The council has been convening regular meetings with the City Leaders Climate Change group since 2017 and is now looking to develop a more action-focused partnership. The council also holds a regular climate forum for local community organisations who are active on these issues.
Those attending the Cambridge City Leaders Climate Change meeting earlier this month explored opportunities to collaborate and to work towards the vision set out in the council’s latest Climate Change Strategy 2021-2026, of a net zero carbon Cambridge by 2030.
The meeting heard from Dr Laura Diaz Anadon and Adrian Gault as representatives of the Cambridge and Peterborough Independent Commission on Climate, who presented recommendations for businesses to address climate change in the region from their recent report. Clare Shine, Director and CEO of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership also presented on leadership, collaboration and partnership for climate change.
The businesses, institutions and organisations that attended the event shared the council’s ambition to collaborate on climate action in the city, discussing ways to reduce carbon emissions, overcome barriers and challenges and to inspire and encourage others to play their part. The group will now explore how to take forward plans to work together in future.
Cllr Rosy Moore, Executive Councillor for Climate Change, Environment and City Centre said: “It’s going to take a real collective effort by everyone in Cambridge to reduce our emissions and fight climate change – and this meeting was a crucial step to work together on this.
“There was a lot of energy and positivity in the (virtual) room for collaboration, and innovative practical ideas for how we could work together in 2022 and beyond, to accelerate progress on addressing the climate emergency.
“We strongly believe that by working together across different sectors, we can achieve more than the sum of our parts and contribute to a greener and fairer recovery.”