10 November 2025 marked a special day for action on climate change in my home city of Chichester.
Today everything changes with the opportunity to reunite strategy and ambition on the very week that the COP30 meeting starts in Brazil.
Regular readers of this blog (and if you are, welcome back) & if it is your first time, a warm welcome to you too…will know that I believe that the world’s population is facing the biggest existential crisis in the form of climate change.
There is a vast range of evidence gained through the research undertaken by a range of academic, scientific and government organisations, that clearly demonstrate that climate change is real and it is here, affecting our daily lives and our future.
Business organisations including my own are recognising this threat and are working to mitigate their own greenhouse gas emissions.
There is still more that can be done especially in a year, where the average temperature increase is expected to be 2.6 degrees Celsius, which is well above the intended Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees could be elevated to the higher range target of 2.0 degrees.
Against that backdrop, it is possible to feel too negative about the current list targets and climate change crisis ahead of us.
Nonetheless, it is good to see green shoots appearing that could help to reverse climate change.
In my own city of Chichester on the south coast of England, Chichester District Council, covering 303 square miles and a population of nearly 129,000, is looking to bring together the many climate change actions in its area to create a Climate Change Network that is greater than the sum of its parts.
I was at the launch event, where Cllr. Brown set out the role and ambitions of the Chichester Climate Action Network.
“Our new Climate Action Network is another step forward in helping to tackle climate change locally,”
Cllr Jonathan Brown, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for the Environment at Chichester District Council
After this initial rallying call, I spoke to some of the attendees to hear there perspective and how there could contribute to the wider dialogue and actions necessary to reclaim the opportunities to mitigate and adapt to climate change
From the launch of the Chichester Climate Action Network & the engaged people that I have spoken with, there is a clear opportunity for the network to help reshape the conversations on climate change and to deliver projects that can directly benefit the Chichester District area.
But beyond the Chichester area, there is a greater opportunity to develop Climate Change Networks linking together at a national and international level to share best practices, successes and to make real change.
I, for one, will be looking to engage with my local Climate Change Network and maybe, you might consider joining on in your area, or if no exists, to help found one.
I have shared some resources on the Chichester Climate Action Network in the launch article on the Chichester District Council website here.
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