In keeping with COP26, the Zero Carbon Tour visited two of South Lanarkshire’s community groups who work to help improve the climate and environment of the world around us and the health and well-being of the people within it.

The 100%-electric coach has been travelling around the UK to invite local innovators and solution creators to showcase their efforts and to capture inspiring carbon stories from all those it encounters.

In South Lanarkshire, it met up in Rutherglen with CamGlen Bike Town before dropping into Whitelee Wind Farm’s visitor centre – holder of the Green Award for Green Tourism – on its way to visit the Climate Action Strathaven group.

Experts on the bus have spoken to local people the length and breadth of the country, with workshops provided by Planet Mark – a leading sustainability and net zero certification group – to form part of the UN-backed Race to Zero and Together for Our Planet campaigns.

Race to Zero is the UN-backed, global campaign to rally leadership and support from all non-government groups and organisations for a healthy, resilient, zero-carbon recovery. All members are credibly committed to halving global emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions as soon as possible, and by 2050 at the very latest. Planet Mark is one of the campaign’s 11 formal partners for businesses.

In the UK, the Race to Zero effort is being coordinated by Kwasi Kwarteng’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department working with local authorities, Planet Mark, the Institute of Directors and others. It is the Government’s flagship campaign to raise awareness among the business community about the urgent need for firms to cut their carbon emissions. 

In Rutherglen, Councillor John Anderson, who is the Chair of Community and Enterprise and is also a member of the council’s Climate Change and Sustainability Committee, caught up with the Zero Carbon bus as it visited CamGlen Bike Town, a local not-for-profit cycling initiative and social enterprise.

Based in Cambuslang and Rutherglen, it is part of Healthy n Happy Community Development Trust, a charity set up to improve the lives and communities within the two towns, encouraging greater interaction with neighbours, encouraging communities to shop local, improving the local economy and reducing the carbon monoxide levels.

It aims to make cycling available to all in Cambuslang and Rutherglen for both transport and recreation through providing affordable cycling products and services.

Bike Town also works with local governing bodies to improve local cycle ways, making it safer to cycle on the roads, and liaises with local community groups to forge mutually beneficial relationships.

Councillor Anderson said: “Never has it been more urgent for us all to do whatever we can to help address the massive dangers created by the harm we have done to the planet and its climate.

“It was fascinating to hear from the experts on the coach about the work that can be done to move towards zero carbon and encouraging to hear also what is already underway locally, and I hope many more groups and organisations can ‘get on board’ with the message brought by the coach tour.”

Councillor Isobel Dorman, Chair of Planning and also serving on the Climate Change and Sustainability Committee, met up with the Zero Carbon Tour as it arrived in Strathaven to spread its message and hear from Climate Action Strathaven.

The community-led charity was formed in September 2019 to raise awareness about the reality of the impacts of climate breakdown and work towards a more sustainable future for the people of Strathaven and surrounding areas.

The young and enthusiastic charity is fast developing a profile for local action to reduce environmental harms and has published Sustainable Strathaven - A Manifesto, which sets out their ambitions for Strathaven to become a leader in environmental sustainability.

Councillor Dorman said: “I agree with Climate Action Strathaven in that Strathaven may be a small town but it is very proactive in terms of climate, with a strong mission to effect positive change. A great deal of amazing work is being done here and by many groups right across South Lanarkshire, but it was incredibly helpful to hear from the Zero Carbon Tour what more can be done, because we all need to look at how we can constantly improve to take this last chance to save our planet.”

Planet Mark is an internationally recognised sustainability certification which recognises continuous progress, encourages action, and builds an empowered community of like-minded individuals. It is awarded to businesses, properties, new developments and projects that are committed to reducing their carbon emissions.  

Steve Malkin, founder and CEO of Planet Mark, said: “We have been delighted to support the Zero Carbon Tour as part of the Together for Our Planet campaign in the build up to COP26.

“We have been able to speak in person and online with communities in all parts of the UK to talk about how all businesses and organisations, no matter their size, can contribute to the fight against climate change by committing to net zero carbon.

“Through the critical Race to Zero we can all play a part in our planet’s future.”

More information is available by visiting Planet Mark's website or the dedicated website for the Zero Carbon Tour, or by emailing Planet Mark.