Climate debate held in Market Harborough

About 70 enthusiasts fired questions at a panel which included Harborough District Council leader Phil King, Prof Heiko Balzter, of Leicester University, and locally-based chair Canon Brian

Davis.

Held at the Congregational Church’s Jubilee Hall, the event featured questions ranging from melting ice caps to air pollution and public transport costs.

Staged by Churches Together Eco Teams, Prof Balzter warned at the meeting: “The icecaps are melting faster than estimated.

“We are not prepared for the rises in sea level expected.

“It is never too late to act – but we need to have taken radical action by 2035.”

Cllr King was heckled as he told the unimpressed audience that battling climate change would take time.

“Our climate emergency working group has just met for the first time and we expect a report back in about six months.

“This is a massive challenge.

“We will need resources and expertise from central government,” he said.

“But doing drastic things at the click of a finger just isn’t possible.”

Angry Zuffar Haq, Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Harborough, said: “We have hospitals in Leicester spewing out CO2 because their heating systems are 40 to 50 years old.

“People are dying because of air pollution.

“Areas such as Kibworth have air pollution in excess of European standards.

“We have a global duty to people around the world to make a real difference.”