Interesting insights:

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Climate Change & MK Council

MK Youth Cabinet have been voicing how the youth of MK are not happy with the current state of our planet – listen to this powerful video made by them and calls for us to all pledge what we will do to save #OurPlanetOurHome – Make your pledges now, there’s no time to wait.

What will you do?

MK Council Task and Finish Group:

We submitted a report that complied the views, worries and opinions of residents across MK who had responded to our Climate Change Survey this was invaluable insight into what action people want to see taken as well as how they are being impacted now and worry they might be in the future. You can take a look at our report here. We want to thank all of those who participated.

At the beginning of March the council finished gathering insight from a range of organisations who had fed into the Task and Finish group. These groups provided evidence, ideas and plans relating to Milton Keynes becoming greener and achieving MKC goals of being carbon neutral. You can look at the evidence from those who participated in the Council’s Task and Finish group here.

MK Councils 2019-2050 Sustainable Strategy. This explores various priorities and considerations that need to be taken to achieve Milton Keynes aim of being the ‘Greenest City’. The community has a vital role to play in terms of this agenda. Through supporting and participating in aims, as well as holding the Council to account in terms of moving towards greener objectives and prioritising sustainability.

Learn about climate change and the climate emergency

Key Principles of Climate Change

Learn about the science of climate change, the risks it poses and how human activity is changing our world.

Climate Change courses, free online course from: Future Learn & UN Climate Change Learning to Action course

Climate change: The Science

World Scientists declare climate emergency

“The best news is that there is still time for people, policy makers and the business community to make the necessary changes to ensure that future generations can enjoy living on planet earth, our only home”.

What can you do?

Investigate how you could make changes…

  • The Gigantic Change – Your guide to taking action on climate change
  • WWF – 10 things you can do
  • The Guardian – 50 easy ways to save the planet
  • DW – 8 Ways you can help the environment in 2020
  • Earth Day – 12 New Year’s Resolutions

Take a look at ‘Facts about Compostable Bags‘. Putting your food waste in the green bin is a great way to help and having compostable bags makes it that bit easier.

What goes where… sorting your rubbish

Local groups and Organisations

These are some groups that are operating in MK that are looking at reducing the impact we have on the environment. They are happy to talk and share their experience. If you’re ready and curious about making some changes get in touch.

  • Transition Town MK – The Transition movement is made up of vibrant, grassroots community initiatives that seek to build their community resilience in the face of such challenges as peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis.
  • Friends of the Earth MK – The Milton Keynes Friends of the Earth (FOE) group works to protect the environment by participating in eco-campaigns at the national and international levels, sharing information with others and taking green action locally.
  • Conscious Living MK – A local group that is looking to hear, learn and grown from residents input and support each other as you try to make changes, big or small. It is a learning and interactive space to share ideas and know that you can do something to help lessen your impact.
  • Extinction Rebellion MK – Is an International movement that uses non-violent civil disobedience in an attempt to halt mass extinction and minimise the risk of social collapse.
  • Wolverton Community Energy –  A community benefit society, owned and run by our members. We are working with individuals and businesses in Wolverton and the wider Milton Keynes area to help them become more energy efficient and to reduce the amount of carbon they use.
  • Milton Keynes Community Energy – A consortium of community led renewable energy projects sharing resources, knowledge and expertise. The call to meet climate change targets is stark and urgent. Our ambition is to help accelerate the response to these challenges across our city and our communities. 
  • Reuse Community Project MK – Not for profit community interest company that sells on furniture, goods, products. Some are brand new, some are preloved – this is a great way to ensure things aren’t being wasted.

More video resources

Scientists predict climate change will displace more than 180 million people by 2100 — a crisis of “climate migration” the world isn’t ready for, says disaster recovery lawyer and Louisiana native Colette Pichon Battle. In this passionate, lyrical talk, she urges us to radically restructure the economic and social systems that are driving climate migration — and caused it in the first place — and shares how we can cultivate collective resilience, better prepare before disaster strikes and advance human rights for all.
“For all that’s ever been said about climate change, we haven’t heard nearly enough about the psychological impacts of living in a warming world,” says science writer Britt Wray. In this quick talk, she explores how climate change is threatening our well-being — mental, social and spiritual — and offers a starting point for what we can do about it.
How do you talk to someone who doesn’t believe in climate change? Not by rehashing the same data and facts we’ve been discussing for years, says climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe. In this inspiring, pragmatic talk, Hayhoe shows how the key to having a real discussion is to connect over shared values like family, community and religion — and to prompt people to realize that they already care about a changing climate. “We can’t give in to despair,” she says. “We have to go out and look for the hope we need to inspire us to act — and that hope begins with a conversation, today.”
Rising carbon levels in the atmosphere can make plants grow faster, but there’s another hidden consequence: they rob plants of the nutrients and vitamins we need to survive. In a talk about global food security, epidemiologist Kristie Ebi explores the potentially massive health consequences of this growing nutrition crisis — and explores the steps we can take to ensure all people have access to safe, healthy food.