Latest news with #citizenspanel
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Elmbridge invites residents to climate panel
People living in a Surrey district will be invited to shape their local authority's policy on climate change. Elmbridge Borough Council in Esher is setting up a climate change citizens' panel, after declaring a climate emergency in 2019. Letters will be sent to randomly selected households representing the area's demographics. The board will be made up of 22 people selected from those who respond. The panel will meet five times between June and October, discussing ideas and hearing from climate experts, before coming up with a series of recommendations for the council. Ashley Tilling, portfolio holder for climate change, environmental services, and sustainability, said: "The panel will complement other climate action engagement work across the borough, including community conferences, school engagement, and events. "This is a great opportunity to hear from our diverse community and will play an instrumental role in shaping our local response to climate change, creating a healthier and more sustainable future for all." Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, on X. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Up to £5,000 available for environmental projects Action fund launched to help tackle climate change Tree planting event aims to create new habitats Council to deter wood burning after Defra funding Solar panel buying scheme deadline extended Funding extended to help with rising cost of living Elmbridge Borough Council
BBC News
24-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Elmbridge Borough Council invites residents for climate panel
People living in a Surrey district will be invited to shape their local authority's policy on climate Borough Council in Esher is setting up a climate change citizens' panel, after declaring a climate emergency in will be sent to randomly selected households representing the area's board will be made up of 22 people selected from those who respond. The panel will meet five times between June and October, discussing ideas and hearing from climate experts, before coming up with a series of recommendations for the Tilling, portfolio holder for climate change, environmental services, and sustainability, said: "The panel will complement other climate action engagement work across the borough, including community conferences, school engagement, and events."This is a great opportunity to hear from our diverse community and will play an instrumental role in shaping our local response to climate change, creating a healthier and more sustainable future for all."
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How should Norway spend its cash? Solve global problems, says citizen panel
By Gwladys Fouche OSLO (Reuters) -Norway's $1.8 trillion wealth fund, the world's largest, should invest more money in sectors addressing global challenges such as climate change and health and accept it may get lower returns on these investments, a citizens' panel said on Tuesday. The initiative, a nationwide consultation on what the country should do with its wealth, was the brainchild of seven non-governmental organisations who wanted to bring into the public debate voices from society that are not usually heard. The 56 Norwegians selected to represent the population - based on age, gender, place of residence, education and attitude towards climate change - met between January and May to create recommendations for lawmakers. They discussed how to spend the cash from the fund, which pools state oil and gas revenue and has a current value equivalent to each man, woman and child owning $326,000. "A specific percentage of the oil fund should be set aside for sustainable investments where we accept higher risk and lower returns to promote social and economic development in developing countries," said the panel's report, seen by Reuters. Other advice included having guidelines on how the fund should be spent in times of crises, such as pandemics and wars, and having new guidelines on how the fund should be used in the national budget. Currently up to 3% of the fund's value can be used in the budget without specifying what it should be spent on. The panel said it should be spent on "fundamental social structures" such as education, research and innovation, and not on "administrative expenses". The fund should also move faster to invest the 2% of its value earmarked for direct stakes in renewable projects abroad, like wind and solar farms. It has spent just 0.1% of its value on such investments. "The idea was that we were different people from different parts of the country. My experience is that we had all the same fundamental values," panellist Lill Synnoeve Ludvigsen, a 17-year-old high school student, told Reuters in a phone interview from her home in Trondheim, Norway's third-largest city. The fund divests from companies deemed in breach of its ethical guidelines adopted by parliament. On Sunday, it divested from Israel's Paz Retail and Energy for supplying fuel to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as well as from Mexico's Pemex for what it called an unacceptable risk that it is involved in corruption.
Reuters
13-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
How should Norway spend its cash? Solve global problems, says citizen panel
OSLO, May 13 (Reuters) - Norway's $1.8 trillion wealth fund, the world's largest, should invest more money in sectors addressing global challenges such as climate change and health and accept it may get lower returns on these investments, a citizens' panel said on Tuesday. The initiative, a nationwide consultation on what the country should do with its wealth, was the brainchild of seven non-governmental organisations who wanted to bring into the public debate voices from society that are not usually heard. The 56 Norwegians selected to represent the population - based on age, gender, place of residence, education and attitude towards climate change - met between January and May to create recommendations for lawmakers. They discussed how to spend the cash from the fund, which pools state oil and gas revenue and has a current value equivalent to each man, woman and child owning $326,000. "A specific percentage of the oil fund should be set aside for sustainable investments where we accept higher risk and lower returns to promote social and economic development in developing countries," said the panel's report, seen by Reuters. Other advice included having guidelines on how the fund should be spent in times of crises, such as pandemics and wars, and having new guidelines on how the fund should be used in the national budget. Currently up to 3% of the fund's value can be used in the budget without specifying what it should be spent on. The panel said it should be spent on "fundamental social structures" such as education, research and innovation, and not on "administrative expenses". The fund should also move faster to invest the 2% of its value earmarked for direct stakes in renewable projects abroad, like wind and solar farms. It has spent just 0.1% of its value on such investments. "The idea was that we were different people from different parts of the country. My experience is that we had all the same fundamental values," panellist Lill Synnoeve Ludvigsen, a 17-year-old high school student, told Reuters in a phone interview from her home in Trondheim, Norway's third-largest city. The fund divests from companies deemed in breach of its ethical guidelines adopted by parliament. On Sunday, it divested from Israel's Paz Retail and Energy ( opens new tab for supplying fuel to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as well as from Mexico's Pemex for what it called an unacceptable risk that it is involved in corruption.
