Matthew Chell has been appointed as the first full-time climate change co-ordinator for the East of England Climate Change Partnership. He comes to the East of England from the Greater London Authority where he was co-ordinator for London’s efforts on climate change.
Matthew’s post is jointly funded by the East of England Regional Assembly, the East of England Development Agency, the Government Office for the East of England and the Environment Agency.
Based at the East of England Development Agency, Matthew will help the Partnership as it works across the public, private and voluntary sectors to build capacity to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Climate change related topics such as water resources, coastal erosion, flooding and energy resources are increasingly important, and the aim is to assist organisations and individuals to have available the right information to allow them to plan, by making sensible decisions which are sustainable in the long-term.
Matthew Chell, Climate Change Co-ordinator,
Tel: 01223 484667
MatthewChell@eeda.org.uk
To further help tackle climate change in the region, and to highlight specifically the issues for young people, the government has chosen twelve-year-old Sarah Crudgington as the region’s young climate change champion.
Sarah, from Wickford in Essex, met Tony Blair and the Government’s Chief Scientist, Sir David King on 11th May, when she was selected as one of nine champions selected from more than 600 entries to the England Climate Change Champions 2006 competition. The competition had been open to young people between 10-18 years of age.
In her role, Sarah aims to communicate to her generation the challenges of climate change and the role young people can have in tackling them. This assignment will start with a fact-finding tour to Switzerland in July to witness the effects of recent climate change on the Gurschen glacier. After the visit, Sarah will be writing her own article for the GO-East website outlining her experiences from the visit and giving a young person’s perspective on Climate Change.
