This week leading environmental groups from across the South Hams will hold an event to discuss how residents can tackle the growing climate and environmental crisis. At a time when climate and nature breakdown is accelerating, community level action couldn’t be more important.

Till The Coast Is Clear, Kingsbridge Climate Action and Wild About Kingsbridge have joined with the campaign group Zero Hour to organise the event, entitled ‘Nature and Climate: What’s next for Totnes Constituency?’ MP Anthony Mangnall will be participating in the discussion on how we can work together both locally and nationally to cut emissions and restore lost biodiversity.

Tom Rivett Carnac, a former political strategist for the UN and an advisor to corporations and governments on climate solutions, will be on hand to provide an international perspective along with Prof David Stephenson, Director of Exeter Climate Systems (XCS) research centre, and a lead author for the IPCC.

The Climate and Ecology Bill, which Zero Hour are campaigning for, will form a critical part of the discussion. This proposal for new legislation to tackle the climate and nature crises currently has the support of over 150 MPs and Peers from every major party, Devon County Council, South Hams District Council as well as over 20 town and parish councils in the constituency.

The need for action is essential. We all know what will happen if we’re too slow; the Government’s own 2021 Net Zero Strategy Report is crystal clear:

“If we fail to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the floods and fires we have seen around the world this year will get more frequent and more fierce, crops will be more likely to fail, and sea levels will rise driving mass migration as millions are forced from their homes. Above 1.5°C we could lose control of our climate for good.”

Climate change and nature loss are tightly linked. The event will cover both to reflect the dual crisis that we’re facing. The Government’s own independent watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection reported in May that the UK environment is in a  "precarious state" and that, "our rivers are in a poor state, bird and other species numbers are in serious decline, poor air quality threatens the health of many, and our seas and sea floor are not managed sustainably.”

Despite ongoing political turmoil, the time for action could not be more urgent, Amanda Keetley, panellist at the public event and Executive Director of the Devon Environment Foundation, argues, “the UK is now in the bottom 10% of all countries in the world judged by how much biodiversity it supports. There’s only so much we can do locally and personally before we hit the wall of politics and law - demonstrating a clear need for joined up action at national level. We need action from the top. We need new legislation.”

Harry Barton, CEO of the Devon Wildlife Trust, agrees. He has spent decades working to protect nature. He says “we have lost incredible amounts of our wildlife. Species which once thrived in Devon have gone; many others which were commonplace are now rare. It is no longer enough to protect what nature we have left, we need to restore what has been lost and we need to do this on a grand scale. That’s why we welcome the Climate & Ecology Bill - legislation to help tackle the climate and ecological emergency.”

The Greater Horseshoe Bat is just one of these species facing UK extinction in the next 10-20 years. These small mammals, like so many others, are facing unseasonal rising temperatures and alarming habitat loss, argues Alan White from the Greater Horseshoe Bat Preservation Society. Campaigners say that whilst councils and other bodies have policies in place to protect species, nothing is currently being done to stop the destruction of essential habitats in our region.

This is why a joined-up national response is key, driven by solid legislation grounded in the science, providing the resources and political will for local leaders to halt the destruction of nature and restore ecosystems, and acting to keep global temperatures below 1.5C. As Cllr John Hart (Con), Leader of Devon County Council states “We need a strong legislative framework to embed those environmental targets in law, and enable local councils’ plans to align with those targets.”

That’s why Devon County Council is a supporter of the Climate and Ecology Bill, which was devised by leading UK climate scientists, lawyers and MPs. As supporters of the Bill, Cllr John Hart calls on MPs “to work with Government colleagues and bring about the legislative reform and additional resources we need to facilitate the behavioural changes, skills development, technology deployment and investment to meet the Paris Agreement commitments.”

“Now is the time for all of us to work together on climate & nature,” says Nick Slape, CEO of The Co-operative Bank.  The Co-op Bank is just one organisation in a coalition of more than 500 backing the  Bill, including Devon Wildlife Trust, Westcountry Rivers Trust, the Devon Federation of Women’s Institutes, Oxfam, The Climate Coalition and the National Education Union. Nick argues that the new legislation “will make the UK a standard-bearer for serious climate and ecological action, leading the way for other developed nations to step and accept our shared responsibilities towards protecting the planet.”

Local community organisations are the key to conserving our green and pleasant land through climate and nature restoration, acting as a bridge between policy and community. “A clear mandate would allow grassroots groups to push home projects,” asserts Dan Stathers of Wild About Kingsbridge, “we know the lay of the land and can help fast track changes. We want to see Kingsbridge at the cutting edge of the Bill, an exemplar, a town buzzing with wildlife, woven with green corridors and a community living and working in harmony with nature.”

Join us next Friday to help weave all these strands together, with the help of our MP Anthony Mangnall.

As Harry Barton of Devon Wildlife Trust says, “We can’t solve the climate and ecological crisis alone but with the support of people who love Devon and its wildlife we can make a real difference.”

The talks will take place at Kingsbridge Community College tomorrow July 22 at 6.20pm - All welcome.