Issue - meetings
PRESENTATIONS
Meeting: 16/09/2026 - Cabinet Panel on the Environment (Item 13)
PRESENTATIONS
To receive presentations from members of the public on the following topics:
1) People’s Emergency Briefing & Take the Jump
2) North & East Herts Community Resilience Group
3) Food Security and Local Preparedness
Decision:
A presentation was received from members of North and East Herts Community Resilience Group on the People’s Emergency Briefing, ‘Take the Jump’, Community Resilience and Food Security.
Minutes:
Audio recording – 13 minutes 34 seconds
Members of North and East Herts Community Resilience Group (NEHCRG) provided a presentation on the People’s Emergency Briefing (PEB), ‘Take the Jump’ (TTJ), Community Resilience and Food Security, and advised that:
· TTJ was a global science-based initiative that spread a positive message on how people could take 6 shifts to bring the impact of their lives within planetary boundaries.
· It was recognised that individuals could only influence 27% of the action required to keep temperatures within habitable limits, but this could be used to empower people.
· The 6 shifts were to eat green, travel fresh, make stuff last, change the system, stay grounded and grow community.
· There were also five key foundations which were that trying was enough, everyone was in it together, joy was gained from surroundings, everyone had the same access to TTJ but different responsibilities, and actions would impact carbon both nationally and globally.
· Community, creativity, celebration, and other values were far better than consumption.
· TTJ aligned well with the Sustainability Strategy of the Council and supporting it would mean any future climate related policies would be better received.
· The Council were asked to provide a screening of PEB, which they had already agreed to do, and adopt TTJ as a public engagement tool and make it prominent in their communications.
· Empty supermarket shelves, reservoirs running dry and forest fires were unimaginable a few months ago, but it was now possible that the UK would have food supply shortages.
· NEHCRG was set up last autumn, and five aims were established for the group which were to build community, communicate the crises, influence local decisions, influence national decisions and build resilience at home.
· Building community was about talking to others to help them understand that they were living in a climate emergency and to act responsibly together.
· Communicating the crises took place through monthly meetings, social media, community events, and working with organisations like the Council and its Cabinet Panel.
· Influencing local decisions meant encouraging councillors and officers to view the PEB and be committed to environmental issues.
· Influencing national decisions meant lobbying MPs with their concerns and ideas.
· Building resilience at home would be done through sharing ideas and providing information to help establish food and water emergency provisions.
· Professor Tim Lang had produced a report that warned how unprepared the UK food system was for geopolitical, climate and supply chain shocks.
· The report contained a seven-step framework to learn from other countries, assess public perceptions and trust, map community assets, empower local authorities, create a local food resilience committee, develop a coherent national food policy and shift from a just-in-time model to a just-in-case one.
· Mapping community assets, empowering local authorities and creating a local food resilience committee would require local authority involvement as there was no statutory or financial framework in place to do these.
· The National Security Assessment had been published by the Joint Intelligence Committee and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in January ... view the full minutes text for item 13