If the extreme weather this year hasn’t brought home the urgency of the need to recognise and adapt to climate change, then not much will.
As the National Emergency Briefings being screened in Teams calls, village halls and council offices across Dorset and well beyond make absolutely clear:
· Climate change and extreme weather events caused by burning fossil fuels are here and can only get worse
· This year’s weather extremes – the most winter rainfall; surface, groundwater and fluvial flooding; the most significant five consecutive heatwaves known in the UK; drought; water shortages; and failing harvests – could be the best we’ll experience for a couple of decades
· Natural ecosystems are on the brink of collapse – the UK is in the bottom 10% globally for biodiversity; 1 in 6 species is at risk of going extinct and only 14% of our rivers are in good condition
· The solutions are there – nature should be recognised as critical infrastructure, vital for life and wellbeing; stop funding harms; redirect finance to protect, not exploit nature
· Losers lobby government; vested interests have the deepest pockets (for now) and the loudest voices yet the costs of reaching Net Zero are 73% cheaper than we thought 3 years ago. A fast transition to clean energy could be worth £12 trillion and would cost £4 billion – just 0.02% of GDP and be paid back by 2031.
However, while we do need to counter the myths and disinformation with facts and evidence in our village hall meetings, in pub banter and council debates, we also need to tell the ‘good news’ stories of the everyday, grassroots, volunteer-led action growing stronger everywhere across Dorset.
We all know groups working in their communities to support the vulnerable and look out for them during cold snaps and heatwaves; to provide fresh, locally grown fruit and veg at community cafes and social supermarkets; to co-ordinate skilled volunteers to run Repair Cafes and Libraries of Things; to open their homes to help others learn the benefits and pitfalls of installing heat pumps, solar panels and batteries or any combination of green, cost-saving, emissions-reducing actions; to plant wildflower gardens and make bird and bird boxes; to survey and replant hedges to help farmers and landowners wanting to improve biodiversity but struggling with limited resources; to raise funding for ambitious community energy projects; to monitor the water quality of the rivers and restore habitats and ecosystems; to offer solace to those suffering fear of the future and climate anxiety; and to inspire the next generation to love and cherish the natural world and to fight for our survival.
Dorset is blessed with political stability, two ambitious councils determined to achieve the best climate mitigation and adaptation alongside the recovery and enhancement of our natural environments and MPs working collaboratively across party boundaries for the interests of Dorset.
We must make the most of this opportunity – the urgency to act is not just to prevent runaway climate chaos but to seize the positive political moment we have here now.
DCAN is very excited to be invited to join the Dorset Climate Adaptation Steering Group and would like members in all our network to consider putting themselves forward to join a DCAN working group on climate adaptation and developing community resilience, ready to support working groups on:
1. Build environment and communities
2. Land, nature and food
3. Infrastructure
4. Economy
5. Health
Contact us with some background on your skills, experience and interests so we can begin to support our representatives on the Climate Adaptation Steering Group.
There are various other initiatives and opportunities to get involved.
Among other inspiring and practical workshops at the Dorset COP on Saturday 14 November, Dorset Council’s Climate Adaptation team and the Risk Assurance team developing Community Emergency Resilience Plans with town and parish councils, with DAPTC support, will be presenting a workshop on:
‘Climate ready communities: Building Dorset’s resilience together’.
DCAN’s Carbon Literacy workshops on 3 and 11 November to coincide with the international Carbon Literacy Action Day will cover climate adaptation, what local resilience could look like in your community and how you could shape and develop it. You might choose your pledge to gain Carbon Literacy accreditation to be on identifying who might be most at risk in your town and what steps you could take to reduce the risks of extreme weather damaging people, nature or the places we love.
The National Emergency Briefings are being seen by more and more people across Dorset and all over the UK. Local groups and town and parish councils hosting the screenings are seeing more and more engagement from the general public. The message is clear – “Bad Business As Usual” is not an option!
Local groups and wider networks like DCAN, Sustainable Dorset, Zero Carbon Dorset, Friends of the Earth and many more besides are working together not only to make change happen but make it the normal, easiest and most fun thing to do in your spare time or retirement. Who knows, getting involved could lead to new career opportunities!
Get in touch, come to COP, join the fun and let’s change Dorset and the world together to create a better future.
Belinda Bawden
1 October 2026