West Norfolk schools can be climate champions

In our latest Love West Norfolk column, West Norfolk Council Cabinet member for Climate Change and Biodiversity Cllr Michael de Whalley writes...

Amongst a series of tumbling meteorological records, the Met Office reported that last month was the hottest June since records began in 1884. The statement from the Met Office even said: "Alongside natural variability, the background warming of the Earth's atmosphere due to human induced climate change has driven up the possibility of reaching record high temperatures."

In summer 2021 the council declared a climate emergency. It has brought its own net zero target forward to 2035 from 2050 and is committed to reviewing how it could bring it forward further to 2030. In my new role on the Cabinet, I am determined to ensure that our beautiful but vulnerable West Norfolk plays its part in tackling the climate crisis. Work to decarbonise council-owned buildings is ongoing. On our proposed development at Parkway, we have committed to higher levels of energy efficiency with the homes we are building featuring air-source heat pumps, solar panels, and EV chargers.

We continue to upgrade and install EV chargers for electric cars in our car parks. The most recent upgrade was at St James multi-storey in Lynn with upgrades to Central Car Park in Hunstanton coming soon.

Our tourism department, Visit West Norfolk, has been running a greener West Norfolk campaign since March with visitors and businesses in our borough encouraged to see how they can reduce their environmental impact. We cannot achieve anything without residents and businesses playing their part.

I was pleased to see that we are asking primary school Year 5 students to be climate champions. We will be inviting students to design a sustainable place to live using entrepreneurial skills, pinpointing problems, creating a concept, pitching their idea, and then showcasing it in the final.

The competition will take place during Term 1 of the 2023/4 academic year for Year 5 students who are the future for West Norfolk. It will be kick-started with a virtual assembly and a virtual final with a chance for schools to be in the showcase. There is no cost for local schools to take part as the borough council is sponsoring the competition. Schools have until September 15 to register an interest to take part in the competition.

This is a promising start but there is much more to do, and I look forward to working with the community, young and old, along with businesses, to create a sustainable future for the West Norfolk we love and for the planet.