A PUBLIC meeting to discuss climate change will take place in Wem later this month.

In recent months Wem Town Council has made strides to improving the carbon footprint of the town.

Members also previously met in July to put forward plans on how to reduce the town’s carbon footprint and discuss the prospect of becoming a ‘green town’.

At a climate change working party meeting, held on July 22, an action plan was drawn up on how best to tackle Wem’s carbon footprint, with the help of independent specialists Marches Energy Trust.

And at the town council meeting last week, councillors were asked to consider the council’s climate change commitment.

The Wem Climate Change Commitment is a major initiative spearheaded by Wem Town Council to encourage organisations and individuals in the Wem area to commit to do all they can to tackle climate change.

As part of the commitment, councillors were asked to be signatories on a form to acknowledge that climate change will profoundly influence environmental, social and economic conditions in the Wem area.

On this form, the council members say the are committed to taking action to mitigate and adapt to climate change and acknowledging that action must take place at all levels.

The commitment is also aimed at helping the area to achieve the national goal of reducing Co2 emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.

Other strategies put forward by Wem Town Council involve the improvement of ways to co-ordinate action on climate change across the region.

Councillors say they agree to put climate change at the heart of their internal decision-making process, take all practical steps to limit CO2 emissions and respond to the challenges imposed by the impacts of climate change.

As well as this, councillors will work with others to share progress, challenges and successes and encourage others to take action to ensure that Wem becomes a champion for climate change activity.

The meeting, which will take at place at 7pm on Wednesday, October 16 at the Butler Sports Centre, will include relevant speakers and public questions in an effort to discuss ways the town can do its bit to tackle climate change.