Including the closely related terms climate change, climate change, and climate.
… ..................................................................................................................... 32 Our Communities ............................................................................................................ 35 1 Introduction Background to this plan In July 2019 North Devon Council (NDC) declared a ‘Climate Emergency’. This was in recognition of the science and evidence of the impacts that climate change is having on our environment…
…, population and communities and to acknowledge that we are committed to assisting in the response to this threat. This declaration committed North Devon Council to reach net carbon neutrality by 2030. This plan will outline how we have aligned our organisation with this goal and will work towards meeting the commitment against climate change. We recognise that climate change is a long-term…
… planet’s climate is changing and warming is accelerating. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that we have 10 years to limit climate change to avoid a catastrophe. In response to the Paris Agreement, a special report on Global Warming1 was published in October 2018. This describes the risks that a 2ºC rise in temperature is likely to cause compared to 1.5ºC, including…
… communities, it may still be possible to limit warming to 1.5ºC. In addition, a recent Intergovernmental Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)2 stated that around 25% of the world’s species are now at threat of extinction due to habitat loss and the effects of climate change. Global temperatures have already increased by 1ºC from pre-industrial levels. Atmospheric CO₂ levels…
… are above 400 parts per million (ppm). This far exceeds the 350ppm deemed to be a safe level for humanity. The latest generation of national climate projections, the UKCP18 resource from the Met Office3, provides up to date and robust scientific evidence on projected climate changes. The general climate trend predicted by UKCP18 for the UK is an increased chance of warmer, wetter winters…