We have been undertaking a ‘People’s Inquiry’. Over the past three months an independent group of thirty ordinary members of the public have come together to address the issues of climate change in Warwick District.

What is a people's inquiry?

Our People's Inquiry has been a way of involving members of the public to help make important decisions, to talk about an important issue and share ideas over a number of separate sessions (in our case there have been 10 online sessions). The overall aim has been for the group to come up with a set of recommendations to inform our future Climate Change Action Plan to be adopted by the Council by May 2021.

How was the inquiry panel selected?

A random selection of 5,000 residents were sent letters asking whether they would like to take part in our inquiry. We received more than 500 responses from which we selected a thirty people who reflected the district’s population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, geography and attitude to climate change.

Why we decided to do it?

We declared a Climate Emergency in June 2019 and did not want the declaration to be empty words. Instead, along with many others in the District, we have been keen to do what we can to combat climate change and reduce our carbon footprint. Although work is progressing on a number of projects, the People’s Inquiry has been an important part of helping to shape our current work and future plans. 

By involving ordinary people from all walks of life in advising local politicians and decision making has really helped to pull down barriers and increase our understanding from all viewpoints and perspectives.

People's inquiry sessions

During a period of three months, the group have participated in a series of ten sessions led by independent facilitators, Shared Future to discuss topics ranging from the science behind climate change and practical options for how we can make a difference locally to home energy and the impact of industry, business and transport.

The 30 members of the Jury heard from a series of expert commentators to help them answer the question "What do we need to do in Warwick district to help address climate change by 2030." 

Introduction to the Warwick District People's Climate Change Inquiry

Watch the sessions on YouTube

• Session 1 - Introduction from Councillor Andrew Day and Dave Barber
• Session 2 - The Science and Climate Change (Dr James Dyke)
• Session 3 - The Impacts of Climate Change (Dr Ollie Lawton and Chris Holt)
• Session 4 - District Carbon Emissions (Matt Rooney)
• Session 5 - Transport
• Session 6 - Housing
• Session 7 (part 1) - Waste & Recycling
• Session 7 (part 2) - Finance and Integrated Approach
• Recommendations launch event

To ensure the process has been fair and balanced, the inquiry has been planned and overseen by a group from organisations from across the District. The group have included representatives from:

• University of Warwick
• Extinction Rebellion
• Warwickshire County Council
• Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action (WCAVA)
• Warwick University Students Union
• Leamington Chamber of Trade
• Leamington Town Council
• Barford Parish Council
• Matt Western MP
• National Grid
• National Farmers Union (NFU)
• Kenilworth Climate Change Group
•  Action 21

People's inquiry recommendations

A virtual public event took place on 25 February 2021 to present the recommendations of the People's inquiry. Watch the people's climate change inquiry recommendations launch event on YouTube.

District of Warwick people's inquiry on climate change recommendations

The question considered by the Inquiry was ‘What do we need to do in the Warwick district to help address climate change by 2030?’  The detailed recommendations can be viewed in the district of Warwick people’s inquiry on climate change 2021/22 report.