Cookham Discussion Board

A pioneering new Climate Partnership established to involve the community in tackling climate change and help deliver the Royal Borough’s Environment and Climate Strategy has appointed its Executive Chairman.
 
Barnaby Briggs, who has extensive experience in the conservation, energy and charity sectors, has been appointed by the Partnership’s board.
 
The Climate Partnership will be a Community Interest Company, separate to the council, and already has a board with community, public and private sector representatives. The board will serve an initial term of 12 months.

It will bring together businesses, charities, community groups and individuals who will work together to share knowledge and expertise across the borough to deliver action that will help achieve the ambitions of the strategy. These include the borough's net-zero emissions target by 2050 at the latest, alongside action on restoring biodiversity and helping to address health and wellbeing.

A ground-breaking approach in Berkshire, potentially nationally, the partnership will lead the way in uniting the community in tackling climate change, helping everyone to work together to play their part, take action and bring about change.

Barnaby is currently chairman of the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust and a management consultant helping corporations improve their social and environmental performance.
 
His roles have included working at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for six years, where he was the energy and transport policy officer and presented its report to the Kyoto convention in 1997 outlining a correlation between global warming and changes in the behaviour of wildlife.
 
Barnaby said: “It is a privilege to be appointed executive chair of the borough’s Climate Partnership. The exciting thing about the partnership is it will focus on action, it creates a way for the community to have their say and will build on the expertise of the many people across the borough, who know their communities best. It aims to bring about meaningful changes.
 
“In my experience of working on the realities of sustainable development, this level of commitment and leadership is rare - but essential to deliver real change.
 
“I am hugely optimistic that we can act, catalyse others to act and help make the changes needed to make to reduce our collective impact on the environment, but we need to work together.
 
“If you look around the borough, there are lots of people who have an interest in environmental and climate improvement who all want to help. Harnessing that passion to help make changes is what the partnership is all about.”
 
Councillor Donna Stimson, cabinet member for climate action and sustainability and a member of the board, who drove the creation of the Partnership together with fellow board member Sarah Bowden, said: “Our Environment and Climate Strategy makes clear that we cannot act in isolation but require the whole borough to play their part. The partnership will play a key role in delivery of the council and community ambitions of taking action to tackle climate change and its consequences.
 
“Having someone like Barnaby leading it, with his wealth of experience, fills me with confidence that we are in a strong position to take the partnership forward and encourage more individuals, organisations and businesses to join and work together collectively to meet our goals.

“The climate crisis is everyone’s problem, and it is up to each of us to do what we can to make a difference. The Climate Partnership is an exciting step forward that can accelerate our collective impact, and I urge anyone with an interest in climate and the environment to join.”

You can register your interest in joining the partnership by emailing theclimatepartnership@gmail.com
 
Further information on how to get involved will be announced in due course.