One of the moments I remember best from university was standing on the blustery West Sands Beach in St Andrews with a megaphone, speaking to a crowd of several hundred university and school students.
The beach (famous for Chariots of Fire) was playing host to a climate demonstration a few weeks before the 2019 General Election, and representatives of the parties had been invited to set out their policies tackling climate change and the environment. It was a chance to see the concern for the future.
Since 2019, plenty has changed. We are on our fourth prime minister, have suffered Covid-19, difficult years for the cost-of-living, and crises abroad. We now face a different political climate, with Norfolk County Council one of many Reform-led administrations to take aim at net zero spending.
A waste of money, they say, although another thing that has changed since 2019 is that we have continued getting warmer.
The last four years have seen 2025, 2023 and 2022 become the three hottest years on record for the UK. YouGov polling this month had 63% of people believing that concerns over climate change have not been exaggerated, compared to only 25% who believed they had.
Not all that vast a swathe of the population will agree with every proposed measure, but the public do still care deeply about the issue, even if the economy understandably leads concerns.
In April, I accepted an invitation to a screening of The People’s Emergency Briefing in Lynn, which sets out some of the latest scientific evidence on the climate and biodiversity crisis.
I thought the film, in less than an hour, covered a lot of ground and provided a lot of detail on the threats we face from increasingly regular extreme weather, food insecurity, and the potential tipping points.
While acknowledging the great challenges, there was some grounds for hope, with the success of renewables so far and their future potential.
Some might ask whether we can do anything meaningful. Internationally, it will be vital that countries like China continue their vast recent growth in renewables, but for our own national security, and our national prosperity, the UK must continue to build our sustainable economy. The Labour Government is making substantial steps forward.
Locally, the borough council’s own emissions fell from 7,366 to 2,537 tons of CO2 emitted between 2009/10 and 2023/24.
Policies like solar panel installations have made a difference, and can also provide value for money, and EV charging infrastructure is becoming more pivotal, with 27% of new cars sold in May being electric.
Earlier this year I met with the council’s biodiversity ranger at the Willows Nature Reserve in Downham and am pleased we have a position like this to help protect the environment, working with volunteers and other partners for funding.
At the Willows, some of the reed beds are being restored to help make them a more valuable site for wildlife, improving on an area where residents already enjoy nature.
There are those who consider any green policy as symbolic and wasteful, but the evidence points to action.
There is more that could be done, such as exploring solar panels above some of the borough council car parks as seen elsewhere.
College of West Anglia opening their Green Skills Centre last year helps make clear the economic benefits that are there locally for workers.
From efficient new housing to air conditioning, and EV charging to updating our flood defences, there is plenty that we must adapt in the coming years, but I think it is a challenge we can rise to.