ONE YEAR ON: CLIMATE DURHAM REACHES OUT

12.00.00am GMT Tue 3rd Nov 2009

Celebrating their first anniversary, local climate change group Climate Durham is calling on families, businesses and organisations in Durham to send a clear message about a low carbon future to negotiators at the climate summit in Copenhagen this December.

The group is issuing a public invitation to an open meeting in Durham Town Hall on Friday 13 November to contribute to a vision statement on a lower carbon future.

Janie Bickersteth, chair of Climate Durham, said:

"After working locally for a year we want to reach out to a wider audience. We have shown that local communities can make a difference by working together on climate issues.

"Our message to climate change negotiators will be that a world-wide agreement will enable and encourage local action to follow.

"We will be asking local secondary school students to deliver this message directly to Copenhagen via a video-link to show that the future can be full of opportunities if they get it right."

North East Euro-MP Fiona Hall, who will be presenting a European perspective on the climate negotiations at the event, said:

"The Copenhagen climate summit in December is a great opportunity to set out a positive vision of what a low carbon economy would be like locally.

"Public pressure is an important ingredient at the negotiations and I am delighted that Climate Durham is calling on Copenhagen to acknowledge the importance of local community action. I will be at the Copenhagen summit encouraging an ambitious and wide-ranging deal."

The event on November 13th will take place from 12.30-2pm in Durham Town Hall. Please email Janie@climatedurham.org if you would like to come.