Politics: 'Be the Change' and make the world a better place

A column by Swindon Council Leader David Renard

You may have seen over the last few weeks that we have launched a big campaign encouraging local people to make small changes to their everyday lives to help the wider efforts to tackle climate change.

The council has already set its stall out to achieve net zero by 2030 and at our Cabinet meeting in July we approved Swindon’s first Net Zero Emissions Action Plan.

The plan clearly sets out how we intend to achieve net zero when it comes to the council’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. This includes, among other things, completing our LED streetlight replacement programme, using a solar farm at a disused landfill site to power our operations depot at Cheney Manor, purchasing low emission vehicles and downsizing our corporate estate.

My Cabinet colleague, Cllr Keith Williams, has climate change as part of his portfolio and is hugely passionate about the environment and ensuring that we as a town do our bit to combat climate change.

However, even after the council achieves its net zero objective, it is still a fraction of what we need to do as a borough and this is why our ‘Be the Change’ campaign is so important.

We need local people and organisations to join together to make small adjustments to their lives and operations, because if you add all of these up it will make a positive impact on the environment.

The ‘Be the Change’ campaign is about all of us and aims to raise the profile of climate change in Swindon. There are so many positive actions that local people and businesses are already undertaking to make a difference and an example of this can be found in this month’s magazine.

The great thing is that you don’t have to buy an expensive electric car or install solar panels on your roof to contribute.

You may reduce your energy usage by having the heating on for half an hour less each day, invest in ethical banks, or try cycling to work instead of taking the car. Businesses too can play their part by minimising the amount of waste they produce, electrifying their vehicle fleet, or switching to LED lights.

I’ve taken small steps myself by ensuring my home is well insulated, keeping the heating as low as possible, keeping my lights off when I don’t need them and using low energy bulbs. We also recycle as much as we can.

‘Be the Change’ will continue to run over the next few months so that by the time of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow between 31 October and 12 November later this year, the climate change agenda will be something many more people in Swindon will act on.

To find out how to get started, visit the ‘Be the Change’ webpages on the council’s website and follow the new @bethechangeswindon Instagram page.