Climate Emergency Newsletter – COP28 Special
Attend one of our climate events to celebrate COP28
This year's United Nations' Climate Change Conference, COP28, will run from 30 November to 12 December at the Expo City in Dubai. The conference aims to bring the world together to tackle climate change. The annual event will take place in the United Arab Emirates and will deliver an ambitious agenda.
In July 2019, we unanimously declared a climate emergency. This declaration commits us to do as much as possible to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Subsequently, we published our first Climate Emergency Action Plan (CEAP) establishing more than 100 actions to minimise carbon emissions.
Our latest annual CEAP update was approved at Council in September and demonstrates the planned steps on our journey towards achieving this goal, along with the current progress on each action. You can take a look at our climate emergency action plan progress summary (pdf) for a visual overview.
As part of COP28 week, we are running two events at Wokingham Library at Carnival Hub which will focus on our ambitious CEAP, the work that we are doing to tackle the climate emergency locally and how you can help to play your part.
The climate emergency talks will be hosted by Executive Member for Climate Emergency and Resident Services Cllr Sarah Kerr and take place on:
To sign up, click on the buttons or call Wokingham Library on (0118) 978 1368.
Climate change: facts, fiction and next chapter event
Professor Ellie Highwood from the University of Reading and Royal Meteorological Society is giving a talk at Wokingham Library later this month.
In the run-up to these important international discussions at COP28, come and hear the latest evidence for climate change and its impacts, learn how to spot misinformation and find out the most useful things you can do to play your part.
This event is being held on Wednesday 29 November, from 10.30am to 11.30am. It is free to attend, but places must be booked.
Competition for youngsters to design a climate poster
We are inviting young people in the borough to design a footprint poster to inspire the community and highlight ways in which we can reduce our carbon footprint to help tackle climate change. The winner for each age category will win a £20 book voucher.
The age categories include:
- Four to seven-years-old
- Eight to 11-years-old
- 12+ years-old
You can be as creative as you like, for example you could draw around the biggest foot in your household and design a poster to show all the different ways in how we can all play our part.
To take part, you will need to design your poster on an A4 piece of paper and drop it into your local Wokingham Borough library, with your name, age and parent’s email address by Friday 15 December.
Alternatively on Saturday 9 December, you can pop into Wokingham, Lower Earley or Woodley libraries where you can create your poster. Visit our website to find your nearest library.
We will judge the entries along with our Libraries Team and winners will be notified by email. We look forward to seeing your designs - good luck!
Mock COP28 to be held at Holme Grange School
Holme Grange School in Wokingham will be holding a mock COP28 event on 5 December.
Students in nursery, early years and education system (EYES), Pre-Prep and Prep school will take part in a range of activities that are being discussed at this year's COP28 climate change conference in the United Arab Emirates. The school will address sustainable development goals, education, leadership, skills, competency and empowerment.
Holme Grange School's mock event will follow the same format of the actual COP28 conference and will include secondary students from a number of schools including St Crispins School in Wokingham.
The students will be put into small groups to represent a particular country and discuss climate issues, share ideas and actions in helping to tackle climate change. Executive Member for Climate Emergency and Resident Services Cllr Sarah Kerr will also be attending the event.
Free webinar for businesses looking to go electric
As part of COP28 and our Climate Emergency Action Plan, we are inviting businesses and non-profit organisations in the borough to attend a free, zero-emission vehicle webinar hosted by The Energy Saving Trust.
The Energy Saving Trust is an independent organisation, working to address the climate emergency and we are pleased to be working with them.
The webinar takes place on 6 December at 8.30am to 9.30am and aims to provide information on how your business can go electric. Topics include:
- Outlining where electric vehicles fit into the sustainable transport hierarchy
- Information about electric vehicles, including types, charging options and costs
- Benefits of choosing a zero-emission vehicle
You can register by clicking on the button below. We look forward to seeing you.
Climate change workshop to be held at CLASP
We're working in partnership with the University of Reading Institute of Education, to run a climate change workshop for CLASP on 8 December.
CLASP is a self-advocacy group for people with learning disabilities in Wokingham Borough. The workshop will raise awareness about climate change and extreme weather events, with an opportunity for CLASP members to create a flood and heatwave resistant eco home model.
If you are a CLASP member, we look forward to seeing you there.
Make a planet pledge for COP28
We're asking all residents living in the borough to make a planet pledge for COP28.
A planet pledge is a solemn promise an individual chooses and delivers over the course of the year to tackle the climate emergency.
If you're stuck for ideas, you could pledge to:
- Shop more responsibly at local stores
- Re-use old textiles for cleaning purposes (cloths)
- Heat the rooms you spend time in, to save on electricity bills
- Freeze left over food to prevent food waste
There's lots of great pledges residents have shared on our Engage Wokingham Borough platform.
Submit your COP28 pledge on our platform today.
Free bus travel this festive season
If you are looking to travel to any Saturday events this festive season, you can take the bus for free, as plans were approved earlier this month.
Local bus routes will be free to all every Saturday until 23 December, for those boarding in Wokingham Borough, funded by a national grant. This was formally agreed on 10 November.
Check the full list of routes included on our news site. Includes services for Arborfield, Crowthorne, Earley, Finchampstead, Lower Earley, Riseley, Shinfield, Sonning, Swallowfield, Three Mile Cross, Twyford, Winnersh, Wokingham and Woodley.
By using public transport, you can help reduce carbon emissions in the borough, helping to tackle the climate emergency.
Walk, cycle or use public transport to win prizes
If you need some extra motivation to make greener and healthier travel choices this autumn, why not try our My Journey Wokingham Challenge on the BetterPoints smartphone app?
This free app, which is available for both Apple and Android devices, automatically records every time you walk, cycle or take a journey by public transport and gives you points.
You can save this up and exchange them for gift vouchers for a range of well-known retailers and restaurants, or trade them in for a donation to a charity of your choice.
There are also regular competitions like our regular Ditch The Car Star slot, where you could win £15 worth of points.
All you need to do is download BetterPoints from Google Play or the App Store and create a new user account, then join the My Journey Wokingham challenge using the 'Challenges' button on the bottom navigation bar.
More information about green travel around Wokingham Borough is available on our My Journey Wokingham page.
Earn points by taking part in Santa Dash
If you want to earn some points, you could take part in the annual Santa Dash at Dinton Pastures Country Park in Hurst. The event takes place on 16 December and you can choose to run either two or five kilometres.
For the two kilometre race, entries cost £16 per adult and £12 per child. For the five kilometre race, entries cost £20 per adult and £16 per child. Family tickets (two adults and two children) are available and cost £49 for the two kilometre race and £65 for the five kilometre race.
£2 of every entry is donated to First Day's Children's Charity to help local children by providing them a nice warm bed to sleep in this winter. Sign up to Santa Dash by visiting the Barnes Fitness website.
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