WHO WE ARE
We are an expanding coalition of residents, academics, local community groups, charities and organisations putting collaboration and community building at the centre of a climate action plan.
We welcome - in fact we need - people from every walk of Woodbridge life, from right across the political spectrum, to join us in mapping out our future as a town. It doesn’t matter what skills or experience you have, there are hundreds of ways you can get involved to help Woodbridge build a better future.
We are faced with the certainty of a rapidly changing planet. Rather than wait for someone else to do something, we can immediately begin the process of building a strong, resilient, local economy and community, giving ourselves a chance to avoid the worst of the climate crisis through mitigation, whilst prudently planning for the worst through adaptation and resilience building.
Governance
Woodbridge Climate Action Centre is a Community Benefit Society, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
WHAT IS THE WOODBRIDGE CLIMATE ACTION CENTRE?
Our objective is to help the people of Woodbridge and the Deben reach carbon neutrality by 2030, through the development of a community-led climate action plan.
Only around 30% of our emissions can be directly tackled by our District and County Councils. The remaining 60-70% must be addressed through strategies aimed at reducing consumption, better energy management, and waste reduction.
We recognise that we can only succeed against existential threats - such as climate change and ecological collapse - if we work across political divides, viewing threats of an existential nature as a shared problem, which must be faced together, as a community.
HOW WILL WE DO THIS?
We have launched our Climate Centre. This is a new hub, which will act as the focal point for building the community led climate action plan. We will host a wide range of events, installations and exhibitions, talks and workshops, and lots more, to help drive engagement in climate action.
Our strategy, based on extensive community consultation and discussion, is made up of three complimentary parts:
1. Climate change and environmental education and engagement
2. Practical solutions which help residents and businesses cut waste and emissions, remove confusion and misinformation on how to make a difference, and provide local solutions to a global crisis
3. Mental health and wellbeing support, to empower individuals to take action, rather than letting overwhelming emotions of anxiety shut down our response to the climate crisis
The government's Climate Change Commission has laid out several factors which are crucial for mitigation and adaptation to the Climate and ecological crisis. These include:
Environmental protection and restoration
Clean energy - with our focus particularly on community energy, support for renewables and smart energy systems
Active travel infrastructure and behavioural change
A circular economy and community re-use schemes
Low carbon solutions, retrofitting, and energy efficiency
Central to this plan is community cohesion; we aim to bring together individuals, projects and organisations and offer resources and platforms for collaboration to amplify the effect of each individual project. Strength in numbers!