PCC joins partners for high-profile climate change summit

Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen joined emergency services partners, criminal justice experts and academics fora new summit pushing for stronger local action to address climate change.

The County Durham Decarbonisation Partnership Summit, hosted by the Durham Energy Institute, was held in response to unprecedented climate acceleration with 2015-2024 marking the warmest decade on record.

The event brought together key stakeholders including Durham Constabulary and the PCC, Durham University, Durham County Council, HM Prison Service, NHS Foundation Trust, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, and Durham Cathedral.

The partners considered the implications of increased storm severity and frequency on local infrastructure and services,and the impact of rising costs and growing demand on public services during extreme weather events.

They also examined the current limitations in addressing these issues with inadequate funding available to plug gaps incapacity and considered how they could better work together as partners to avoid duplication, share learning, pool expertise to accelerate decarbonisation timelines and attract funding and investment.

The PCC is Joint Lead for Environment and Sustainability on behalf of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC). She is also Chair of the BlueLight Commercial Board and has contributed to the development of the policing decarbonisation programme for policing in England and Wales, launched by the APCC, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and BlueLight Commercial, to create a more efficient and carbon neutral estate.

Joy Allen said: “As public organisations and employers we must strive harder to negate the challenges posed to our communities by climate change. Every small step and every milestone reached counts and clearly, as a collective, we can do much, much more.

“In policing, we have been delivering innovative and pragmatic solutions to protect our resources and our communities for some time, and I welcome the opportunity to share our learning whilst also drawing on the experience and achievements of other local institutions to improve this work. Together, we can increase resilience across the public sector in County Durham, and I wholeheartedly endorse the development of a framework to coordinate our combined efforts moving forward.

“Without action, the implications of climate change for all our services and communities could be disastrous – we must act now.”

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