I am a local mum of two children, living in Winterbourne, and a scientist researching climate communications and social psychology at UWE Bristol. I am hugely concerned about the impacts of climate change being felt around the world - extreme forest fires, floods, and famines are happening right now, and will only increase. This may be the coolest summer for the rest of our lives. Our wheat harvest and other food is under threat, and countries like India are currently enduring 50C heat (in springtime...).
I want to ensure a liveable planet for my children, and that's why I think it is so important that councils take action now to reduce carbon emissions. This is in line with increasingly frantic messages from the world's top climate scientists who form part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - warning that we need to act now to keep temperature rises below 1.5C (we are currently seeing these extreme changes at only 1.2C above pre-industrial temperatures).
Modelling from South Gloucestershire Council and Bristol City Council indicates that we need to return traffic to 1990 levels, which means we need to reduce car traffic by 40 percent. We need a suite of policy interventions to make that happen - easier and safer walking and cycling, cheaper, more regular buses, and maybe even new ideas like trams and home working.
