Local Climate Change Campaign

29th September 2009 Harrogate Council approved a new Climate Change Strategy which includes the FOE target of a 40% cut in CO2 emissions in the district by 2020. This is a huge step forward and would not have happened without the lobbying of our small Harrogate FOE group backed by staff at Leeds FOE office. We believe Harrogate is the first local authority in the country to adopt this target.

We achieved it largely as a result of one meeting, at Marie's house, where 8 of us went through the council's earlier draft of the Strategy line by line, and listed numerous changes, most of which were incorporated in the final version approved by the Borough Council.

In addition, the Council's member services department is canvassing Councillors and officers to encourage them to attend a screening of Age of Stupid later this month, just before the screening we are arranging at Henshaws College on 30 October. This will increase their awareness of the urgency of the climate change threat.