COP 27 - A Moment to Reflect

COP27 Progress

This year’s COP27 provides an opportunity to reflect on the progress we as a council have made over the last year, and the challenges still to come.

COP27 - A Moment to Reflect

 

Decisive action is needed at the local, national and international levels to limit global warming. St Helens Borough Council declared a Climate Change Emergency at a meeting of full Council on 10 July 2019, committing to address the ecological and climate crisis we all face. In 2021, the 26th Conference Of the Parties (COP26) meeting took place, reaffirming the goal of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees in line with the Paris Accords established in 2015.

 

St Helens Council are committed to doing our part in addressing this global challenge, and the council set out a detailed climate response plan in response. We committed to reach net zero carbon emissions for the borough by 2040. Over the last year, we have continued making progress towards this goal, laying the groundwork for a range of exciting projects.

 

This year’s COP27 (6th-18th November 2022) provides an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made over the last year, and the challenges still to come. Climate change has become increasingly clear over this time, manifesting through extreme weather events that have affected us all. St Helens Council continues to do its part in tackling the climate crisis, actively working to reduce its own emissions and encourage decarbonisation efforts across the wider borough. Carbon emissions from council activities have dropped by nearly 4% from our 2019/20 baseline for the year of 2020/21. Important steps have been made over the last 12 months to ensure progress toward our net zero goal, laying the groundwork for sizeable emissions reductions in the near future.