Cllr Bawden (right) helps organise Lyme Community Support, providing invaluable help during the Covid crisis.
Lyme Regis town councillor and Green, Belinda Bawden, is one of the co-founders of Dorset Climate Action Network, which is engaging climate activists across the county.
The Network focused initially on co-ordinating a collective response on behalf of community groups representing more than 3,500 members to Dorset Council's public consultation on their Climate and Ecological Strategy.
It urges Dorset Council to adopt a 2030 Net Zero Carbon target for its own carbon emissions and 2040 for its partners who can help deliver the scale of carbon reduction needed.
Cllr Bawden said: “the proposed timetable from Dorset Council grossly under-estimates the true emergency facing the world. Dorset Council needs to act far more rapidly than it had planned to cut greenhouse gases and stop the loss of wildlife in the county”.
Dorset CAN will now focus on the consultations on Dorset Council's Local Plan and Brighton, Christchurch and Poole Council's Climate and Ecological Strategy while sharing examples of successful local projects. If you’d like to get involved please contact dorsetcan@gmail.com.
Cllr Bawden is part of a trial of a new Carbon Footprinting Toolkit which could be a huge boost to town and parish councils and community groups struggling to start their climate action planning.
The data will provide a useful guide towards the areas where community action could have the greatest impact in reducing carbon emissions.
