Sir David Attenborough recently broke the World Record for the shortest time to reach one million followers on Instagram.

He used his first post to warn of the damaging effects of climate change. Effects that we are already starting to see today, from the terrible forest fires that swept Australia and California to the flooding which affected thousands of families in the north of England. But he also had a message of hope.

We know what to do about it.

As with the fight against Covid-19, tackling the climate emergency needs everyone. This was something that members of the Brent Climate Assembly stressed as they learnt more about the scale of the challenge.

Making a difference is as simple as walking or cycling short trips, swapping to low-energy lightbulbs or recycling food waste in the small green caddies. And while we shouldn’t pretend that the path to carbon zero will be easy - some changes will be bigger and take more time - if we get this right, we will all reap the rewards. Warmer homes, cleaner air, greener spaces and a thriving local economy.

Next month, we will publish our Draft Climate Emergency Strategy, setting out our proposed pathway to carbon zero. It is the culmination of a year of research, review and engagement.

We will be asking for feedback and I look forward to deepening these conversations with our communities.

Like Sir David Attenborough, I’m hopeful. Over the past six months, our communities have shown up for each other. The people of Brent are tremendously resourceful when confronted with a challenge. Let’s pull together once more in the face of the climate emergency.