Leader of Brighton & Hove Labour, Councillor Nancy Platts, on the urgency of tackling the climate crisis in The Argus in September 2020.

It is a really exciting time for those with an interest in tackling the climate crisis – which I hope is all of us.

As a council we were among the first to declare a climate emergency, and both Labour and Green councillors were elected on a promise to bring our city to carbon net zero by 2030 to tackle this emergency head on. While in administration, we set up the city’s first climate assembly, which will give residents across the chance to have their say on how we reach carbon neutrality within the decade. While Covid-19 delayed the start of the assembly, invitations have now gone out and residents have responded. The first assembly meeting will take place virtually in the coming weeks.

The first topic our city’s climate assembly will discuss is transport. I’m pleased to see one initiative regarding transport already taking shape, as more volunteers are undergoing training for the new School Streets programme we worked with the Green Group to introduce. The programme will support safe and active travel back to the classroom for hundreds of children, which means temporary closures of roads close to school entrances during drop-off and pick-up times during term time. It will also create extra space at school gates to facilitate physical distancing. This is crucial as coronavirus still hasn’t gone away…

Read Councillor Platts’ full article in The Argus: https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/18720130.column-time-tackle-climate-change-starts-right-now/