Given the limited coverage given to the process, it's easy to assume the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) are the negotiation point for international action on climate change. However, the IPCC is about to enter the Seventh Assessment Cycle where the latest science and knowledge base on climate change, adaptation and mitigation will be formally updated by the world's scientists and reviewed by policymakers. The latest briefings provide some idea of the complexity behind the process and a hint as to why pressure from the ground up must be maintained...

Following May's council elections, Dorset Council has launched ‘A Big Conversation’ and want to hear from residents on what you think the council should focus on over the next 5 years, across 4 main areas: 

• growing our economy
• providing high quality housing
• responding to the climate crisis 
• supporting communities for all

Campaigners at Warm This Winter have called for greater government action after reporting that nearly 1 in 10 UK residents have suffered from 'Hot House Syndrome', a situation where during recent heat waves people have been ill even when sheltering indoors. The research from Opinium was backed up by health professionals who noted “The complications arising from being too warm [can make] summer being as dangerous to health as the winter...(w)ithout action, high temperatures in the future will herald health fears for millions.”