by Paul O'Brien
Wednesday 12 September 2007
Went to a private dinner tonight to celebrate the opening of the new Eversheds offices in Leeds following an invite from a good friend, the Head of the Public Sector there, Steve Cirell.
The Chief Executives of 17 local authorities are there to discuss 'climate change' and we get a tour of the new building before returning to the boardroom for the dinner.
Councillor Robert Light of Kirklees Council and a Commissioner on the National Climate Change Commission is the guest speaker. I think I know a bit about this topic but his knowledge was first class and his views sprinkled with some damning statistics made for quite a good debate around the room over dinner.
One thing he said which I wasn't fully aware of is that whatever we do now on climate change will have no effect on improving the situation until after 2050. The next 40 years are set because of the way we live our lives today, we need to change now to ensure a sustainable future beyond this timescale.
On a more positive note everyone present appeared to be recognising that it is a key priority for their authorities at present and that those of us in the public sector need to take a lead role by setting an example.
Didn't want to ask Steve if this new 30 storey office block had been built using sustainable construction practices, it wouldn't have been polite after getting such a nice meal.
