First meeting for Preston People’s Climate Jury
Preston People’s Climate Jury’s first meeting was held last night at Preston Town Hall.
The council has brought together 30 people from the 93 Preston families who applied for the project.
The jury will discuss the question, “How can we in Preston work together to address the opportunities and challenges of climate change in a way that is fair to everyone? ”
Those meeting will focus on what climate change means to them for the region, and what should be done to address it. Areas of focus include changes to the environment from transport, housing, green spaces.
Councillor Carol Henshaw, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, said participation and co-operation of the residents is necessary to move the climate change agenda forward towards Preston’s goal of carbon neutrality.
She said: “So the recommendations of the jury that are, that can be done just within Preston will go to all those different stakeholders and all those different groups. And then anything bigger, we will present to the MPs and lobby parliament, and you know, and that kind of thing.
“So, it is a grassroots project that will hopefully then rippled across Preston and help us achieve our goal.”
Members of the People’s Climate Jury have been selected to represent the diversity of the population of the Preston area, yet there is a slight weighting in favour of the younger generation who will be most affected by climate change.
They do not need to be well-versed in Preston environmental change issues, and it consists of individuals with varying levels of concern or knowledge about the issue, ranging from those passionate about climate change to those who are less worried or have limited understanding.
The Jury will meet for up to eight times in following two months, participating in the development of the report and provide recommendations to provide a public voice for climate change policy in Preston.
Preston City Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2030 from the City Council’s own activities to the Preston area.
The Climate Jury is hosted by Preston City Council, working with specialist facilitators Shared Future CIC, with funding from the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).
