More than 100 people attended an event in Sidmouth to find out what is being done to tackle the climate emergency on a local, regional and national level.

Change for Good on Friday, March 3 was organised by local churches, with Sidmouth Parish Church taking the lead for this event and All Saints Church hosting it.

It featured presentations by the town council’s chairman Cllr Chris Lockyear and the MP for East Devon, Simon Jupp.

Brian Golding, chair of Sidmouth Parish Church’s sustainability group, opened the event, summarising the plan for achieving net zero in Devon and emphasising that this would need both technological solutions and behaviour change, across the county and in every aspect of life. 

Cllr Lockyear then outlined the town council’s activities aimed at helping people to understand their contribution to the emissions that cause climate change and make adjustments to their lifestyles to reduce them.

He then introduced the activity for the interval break in which people were invited to estimate their own carbon footprint, measuring the impact of everyday activities such as travel, heating their homes and putting food on the table.

Sidmouth Herald:

Simon Jupp’s presentation described the national initiatives that are underway to promote reductions in carbon emissions. This was followed by an extended Question and Answer session in which members of the audience quizzed Simon on a wide range of topics, including the promotion of onshore wind and solar panels on new buildings, personal carbon allowances, coal mines and drilling licences, and how those present could spread the word to the wider community.

The organisers would like to thank all who helped make the event such a success, especially to Fords for their sponsorship.

Brian Golding said: “This event was the fourth in a series dating back to 'Our Fragile Earth' in 2019, when four town centre churches hosted nationally eminent speakers on a variety of topics related to faith and the environment. 

“We are delighted, now, to be increasingly working in partnership with other organisations that are working in this space, several of whom were represented at last Friday’s event, including the Vision Group for Sidmouth, the Repair Cafe, the Sid Valley Biodiversity Group and the TownCouncil’s Climate Awareness Partnership Sidmouth (CAPS).”