Climate Change

Climate Change Pledge | Climate Change Action Plan | Climate Friendly Communities | Energy Monitors

What is climate change?

• Climate Change is now high on the political agenda and is the biggest environmental challenge of the 21st Century. But how much do you know about it?
• According to UKCIP (The UK Climate Impacts Programme), average global temperatures have increased by 0.6C over the past 100 years with 2004 being the hottest year on record. We can expect more extreme weather events in the future with changes in temperature, hotter drier summers, wetter winters leading to increased flood risk and rising sea levels, leading to greater coastal erosion. For more information on future weather scenarios see the UKCIP website

What causes climate change?

• Some changes occur naturally over hundreds of years but there is now strong evidence that human activity is causing climate change. Greenhouse gases, released into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels release carbon dioxide (CO2) and other gases such as nitrogen oxides (NO2) and methane build up in a layer high in the earths atmosphere and trapping the sun's energy which warms the earth. For further information, see the BBC Weather website

What is ENABLE doing about it?

ENABLE is currently doing a lot of research into climate change to find out how it can make a difference. ENABLE produced the Climate Change Strategy in 2005 and is currently leading on the following initiatives

Leicestershire Strategic Partnership and Environment
ENABLE holds a seat on the Leicestershire Together Board, the Leicestershire Strategic Partnership, representing environmental issues. ENABLE has been responsible for developing CO2 reduction targets for all Leicestershire Together partnership organisations as part of the Leicestershire Local Area Agreement.

Leicestershire Together Declaration on Climate Change
ENABLE has also developed a Leicestershire Together Declaration on Climate Change (357kb pdf), adapted from the Nottingham Declaration. Unlike The Nottingham Declaration, which is for Local Authorities only, the Leicestershire Together declaration can be adopted by many organisations such as Parish Councils, Strategic Partnerships, voluntary groups, businesses, educational institutions and the Police, Health and Fire Services.

Climate Change Action Plan
The scale of the challenges presented by climate change means that all sectors of the community will have to be involved if we are to meet the national targets on CO2 reduction. The Climate Change Action Plan (2,127kb word), approved by Leicestershire Together, has been developed as a generic action plan for individuals and organisations to pick and choose the actions relevant to their own situation.
The Climate Change Strategy took an approach which mapped out a menu of actions for people whether as individuals, part of a community or an organisation. The Action Plan takes the same approach but has been divided into actions people can take up without any effort or money, have a greater commitment and are willing to spend money on making changes in their life and a separate plan for organisations and businesses.

ENABLE Climate Change Pledge
The climate change pledge developed by ENABLE gives you the chance to see what difference your carbon saving measures can make. There are ten simple actions that don’t require making huge changes in your lifestyle and you don’t have to commit to all actions. Signing the pledge will help us to measure and monitor reduction in CO₂ emissions from ENABLE supporters.
Online Form    If you prefer, here is a PDF version of the pledge

Renewable Energy Kits
ENABLE have worked with Leicestershire Museums Services to produce a community Resource Box all about Renewable Energy Kits. Find out how your school or community group can get your hands on it!

Let us know if you have any comments or suggestions to make at enable@leics.gov.uk