Alton Climate Action Network (ACAN) have participated in discussions ahead of an environmental conference in the town aimed at providing initiatives that local people, businesses and councils can implement to help combat climate change.

COP26 East Hampshire tomorrow (Friday) at Alton Maltings is being jointly organised by East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds and East Hampshire District Council.

It is being held ahead of the week-long UN Climate Conference in Glasgow (COP26) that starts on Sunday, October 31.

The local COP will focus on what East Hampshire can contribute to the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions, writes Melanie Oxley of Petersfield Climate Action Network.

In advance, three action groups – on agriculture and land use; buildings; and transport – met in July, August and September and PeCAN had members on each group.

It was represented on the transport action group by transport expert Steve Atkins, on the land and agriculture action group by ecologist Melanie Oxley, and on the buildings action group by PeCAN chair Greg Ford.

The groups’ reports will be presented at the event in Alton Maltings.

Mr Ford said: “The meetings showed the value of involving different voices to address a shared problem, and we were pleased to see so many ideas from the community represented in the final reports.

“The conversations highlighted the need for all parts of society – government, businesses, households and individuals – to make full and urgent contributions to tackling climate change.”

On land use, PeCAN proposed that while farming emits carbon dioxide, land has potential to both store carbon and provide renewable energy for local and regional use.

This resulted in the inclusion of nature restoration as an important part of the discussion, acknowledging the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis are intimately related.

The role of the East Hampshire District Council was also given high prominence, owing to its responsibility for many public open spaces.

In an effort to ensure local authorities step up to their own climate strategies, the group asked government to place a statutory duty on councils to act on climate change within national targets, a direction of travel also recommended by the National Audit Office.

Other land-use propositions include EHDC’s adoption of the environmentally-aware landscape policies of the South Downs National Park planning framework, and better support for farmers to adopt regenerative farming techniques that improve the soil’s carbon-storage capability.

The transport action group has included some of PeCAN’s recommendations, such as simply enforcing existing speed limits, as an immediate way to reduce transport emissions.

The group’s report also recommends a faster switch to non-fossil fuel vehicles through taxation changes, saying non-zero emission vehicles should be taxed progressively more heavily and the fuel duty escalator to be brought back into use.

There is also encouragement for local authorities to deliver their Active Travel projects, many of which have been abandoned or delayed.

The buildings action group heard about the Super Homes scheme being managed by PeCAN and the National Energy Foundation.

This resulted in a number of action points in their final report, such as removing VAT from retrofit works as a matter of urgency, and using planning to make construction greener.

The group recommended EHDC revisits its draft Local Plan, with the aim of bringing its policies on sustainability, energy efficiency, environment, climate and nature in line with best practice, and also urged local authorities to retrofit community buildings, churches and sports centres, to serve as local exemplars.

All three action groups had much to say about communicating advice and opportunities to East Hampshire residents.

One report suggested “a new central hub for information, advice to householders and gardeners, tips and community ideas needs to be co-created by EHDC and local climate action networks”.

It is thought this could bring together myriad helpful ideas and leads, even a market place for locally-produced food, tools, labour and car shares.

According to Mr Hinds’ office, this initiative has been repeated in a handful of other regions of the UK, with recommendations expected to feed into COP26 Glasgow.

Mr Ford added: “I hope the ideas flagged in these reports will lead to a raft of new, effective and immediate actions being taken in our community and by our local authorities and government to tackle climate change.”

PeCAN is now calling on EDHC and Mr Hinds to start delivering the recommendations directed at them, starting with the highest-impact, quickly-achievable actions.

Lord Deben, chairman of the government’s Climate Change Committee, will not be present in person, as was hoped, but a recorded message from him will be shown on the day.

The final reports of the three action groups can be found on PeCAN’s website along with the inputs at https://petersfieldcan.org/resources