On The Road to Copenhagen: Ed Miliband Comes to Walthamstow Thursday 26 November 2009

If you're a regular reader, you'll know how concerned I am that the UK Government negotiates a deal at the Copenhagen climate change summit in December. The reality of the damage climate change is doing to our world is already becoming apparent. If we don't act now to cut our carbon emissions, countries such as Bangladesh will disappear. A third of animal and plant species will become extinct. Life here in Britain will change forever too. Whether we're facing extreme weather, food shortages or flooding, no area of our lives will be immune from the impact of climate change if it is left unchecked. If we adapt our lifestyles to meet this challenge, we can create a cleaner and greener future for our children.

These issues affect every person on this planet. That's why I think it's vital we come together as a local community and decide how we want our government and our local council to act to stop climate change, and talk about what we can do ourselves. With the help of other local residents, I've organised a special public meeting to help us start this discussion. It's taking place between 7.30pm and 9.30pm on Thursday 26^th November at Willowfield School on Clifton Avenue. It's open to all local residents. 

I'm delighted to say that joining us at the meeting will be Ed Miliband MP, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Ed has been leading the Government's work on building a low carbon future for Britain. He'll be leading the UK's push for a deal at Copenhagen, along with the Prime Minister. Because of their work through the Climate Change Act, Britain is the first country in the world to introduce legally binding carbon budgets. These commit us to carbon savings of 34% by 2020 and at least 80% by 2050.

If you have questions or concerns about what the Government is doing to tackle climate change then this event is your chance to put them directly to Ed.

But this event isn't just about Ed. It's about us, as residents of Walthamstow. So also joining us at the meeting will be representatives from a number of organisations including development charities Oxfam and Action Aid, and our local Waltham Forest Transition Towns movement.

The event will be a deliberative forum. That means it's a chance for us all to talk together and share ideas, tips and plans for building a more environmentally sustainable future for Walthamstow. It also means you can turn up and contribute at any point during the two hours, and you can stay for as much or as little of the meeting as you like!

There will also be stalls and information about climate change and there'll be plenty of refreshments. I'm extremely grateful to the students and staff of Willowfield for hosting this community meeting. If you would like to attend, please email me or join this group on Facebook so that we can let the school know how many people to expect.