Chesham Town Guide 2023/4

Climate Change – Do Your Bit
Human activities are estimated to have caused
approximately 1.0°C of global warming above preindustrial
levels to date. This warming will persist for
centuries to millennia, and will continue to cause
further long-term changes in the climate system, such as
sea level rises.
In September 2018, the UN Secretary General stated
that humanity had to start making radical cuts in fossil
fuel emissions within two years, to avoid facing potential
extinction. In the same year, a report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that
carbon emissions need to be cut by nearly half by 2030,
to have a two thirds chance of avoiding temperatures
catastrophically rising above 1.5C.
In 2019, Chesham Town Council decided to act too and
declared a climate emergency. It committed to reducing the
negative impact of council services on the environment,
with an aspiration to be carbon neutral by 2030. To help us
achieve this aim we commissioned an Eco Audit and have
been implementing the recommendations.
Motion sensitive lighting and separately controlled
heating zones have been installed in the Town Hall to
better manage room temperatures and reduce heating
and lighting waste. The majority of our lighting across
our buildings has been switched to LEDs, with staff
encouraged to make maximum use of natural light when
practical. We have swapped to a green energy tariff for
the majority of our buildings with plans to switch the
remaining buildings over. We use 100% recycled paper
in all parts of the council and where possible have
paper-free offices.
To help manage our green waste, we have invested in
a mobile biochipper. This rapidly produces compost for
use around the town’s green spaces. We also use this in
January each year when residents can bring their
Christmas trees to us for bio-composting. We have
changed our mowing regime for many of our grass
verges and open spaces, enabling the grass and wild
flowers to grow and set seed, providing pollen for
insects and a good habitat for wildlife. Planting of
native tree saplings has taken place in Lowndes Park and
Codmore Field and invertebrate habitats created at Coop
and Nashleigh Fields. A full ecological survey and
eDNA analysis was done on Skottowes Pond, with a
chemical and volume analysis of the silt. These will
inform a restoration project for the pond and we are
working on a strategic masterplan for the whole of
Lowndes Park. This will be the basis for its ecological
management in the future.
We are keen for residents to join us in working
towards making Chesham as a whole carbon neutral.
As an example, there are thousands of private gardens in
Chesham where we as owners/gardeners can help to
make a huge difference. Gardening organically, using
peat-free compost, planting trees and looking after
hedgehogs are just a few ways to combat the climate and
ecological emergency. There are many more tips and
ideas on our website, ranging from reducing food waste
to saving water to help you make environmentally
sustainable choices both outdoors and in.
https://www.chesham.gov.uk/Footprint.aspx
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