What are your thoughts about climate change and how much do you understand about its potential impacts on your life?
Mansfield District Council is keen to learn more about how local people feel about climate change, what kinds of transport they use and what actions local people think they can take personally to reduce the impact of global warming.
It launched a six-week public consultation yesterday (21 February) with an online questionnaire for residents and businesses on the council website (link opens in new window). The survey is anonymous and there is no need to register any details to take part.
Printed copies of the survey are also available at the reception of the Civic Centre and at libraries in the district.
The consultation is part of the council's ambition to achieve a 'net zero' on its carbon footprint by 2040, after formally declaring a climate emergency in 2019.
Cllr Andy Burgin, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Leisure, said: "While the draft Climate Change Strategy sets out our ambitions, we believe consulting with the public takes us closer to the council being able to adopt this strategy.
"This, in turn, will put us in a much stronger position if or when any public funding on tackling climate change becomes available.
"Global warming and the climate change consequences of it are probably the biggest challenges facing the entire human race in the coming decades so we really hope people view this consultation with the seriousness it deserves and spare us 15 minutes to complete this survey.
"It is worth recognising that the district's carbon emissions have steadily declined over the past 15 years, by over 40%, which is in line with national trends.
"But an immediate and rapid programme of decarbonisation is needed if Mansfield is to hit targets for local authorities based on the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep a rise in global temperature to well below 2C this century and preferably limit the increase to 1.5C, and with emissions to be net zero by around 2050."
Question in the survey include:
- How seriously do you think climate change will affect you and your family?
- What climate change-related pressures do you think will affect you? Answers include sea level rises and flooding, more extreme weather, decreased access to fresh water, increased pollution and adverse impact on human health.
- As an individual, what more could you do to tackle climate change?
The results of the public consultation will feed into the development of an action plan which will set out how the council aims to become a carbon neutral authority.
It is currently reviewing all of its operations and services to establish what measures could lessen their carbon footprint.
These have included looking at everything from emissions from council buildings and its fleet of vehicles, to whether lighting could be switched to energy saving light bulbs or motion sensor lighting.
It is also shaping its policy and regulatory powers, including Planning Policy, Licencing and Environmental Health regulations, to require that particular environmental standards are met to influence the reduction of carbon emissions.
Among the figures the council is using as a base for action are carbon emissions statistics, produced by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which suggest that the three main sources of emissions in 2019 in Mansfield were:
- Domestic properties - primarily heating, lighting and appliances (51%)
- Transport - private vehicles and public transport (27%)
- Industrial, commercial and public sector properties (22%).