Campaigns marching from Sweden in an attempt to avert a “gloomy” future praise Northumberland’s climate plan
Climate activists who have marched thousands of miles to urge world leaders met with Northumberland’s council leaders last week as they neared the end of an environmental pilgrimage.
With the UN COP26 meeting in Glasgow starting at the end of this month, hundreds of people from all over Europe and outside Europe have come to Scotland in an attempt to raise awareness of the planet’s plight.
Among these travelers is a group of churchgoers from Poland and Sweden, who have traveled the entire distance from their home countries to Britain, and who passed Northumberland last week.
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On Friday, they met with Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson, who said he had shared ideas with the marchers and was “encouraged” by their campaign.
Northumberland County Council declared a “climate emergency” in 2019 and aims to become a carbon-neutral county by 2030. Plans to reduce emissions in the county include the expansion of charging stations for electric vehicles, tree planting and financing of renewable energy systems.
Coun Sanderson said: “We have a really good team of officers who see us through this work and also make sure that everything we do as a county is climate safe …
“Plenty [the campaigners] had read our action plan on climate change and was very inspired by the progress we have made over the last three years. “
Hoping that Northumberland’s work would become an “example” around the country, Councilor Sanderson said he had had “talks” with Conservative colleagues in Westminster about Britain’s environmental law. And he called on the government for “more financial support” for advice on green initiatives, including increased recycling capacity.
“We need to keep the environment at the top of the agenda,” he said.
“It is an enormous obligation that we must fulfill for the next generation and for the future.”
Local organizer Chris Myers, from Seghill, joined the group of “pilgrims”, some of whom had been hiking for more than 100 days, to guide them through their eight-day trek through Northumberland.
He said: “It was very powerful to talk about their story and their commitment to climate justice. The good thing was that with every community we visited we would have a service and a conversation about the climate crisis, because it’s about commitment.
“We need world leaders to do the right things, but it is also about sharing that message with local communities, because we all have a role to play.
“It’s all about commitment and trying to inspire people to do what they can, and probably to do a little better than that, because it’s not just about doing the simple things now, we have to seriously think about how we live our lives, what we consume what we eat.
“We have to do it for our children and our grandchildren because if we do not, the future is very bleak.”
He thanked the council leader for joining the marches and added: “It was really good [Coun Sanderson] came to meet us in Alnmouth, I’m very aware of what Northumberland is doing and I very much support it – it’s not just about the climate crisis, they have a plan to deal with it and I think it’s a good plan, even if it there is a lot of work to be done. “
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