[Chellce] There's a lot to listen to, a lot to take in. So I will now hand you over to Councillor Elise Wilson, who has excitingly been in Glasgow at COP26 which is incredibly cool! Hello to you, Elise. [Cllr Wilson] Hi! Can you hear me OK? Thank you, and thanks for having me. Thank you, Sheila, for opening this event, as you said Chellce, so passionately, and for everybody joining us today to discuss this important topic and also big thank you to everybody who's done the work to make it happen. So, officers, thank you very much for helping coordinate this. Welcome everybody to today's event. Following on from Sheila's words, which I thought, I agree with Chellce completely, were passionate, and showed not just the scale of the challenge, but the positive steps that we're taking to play our part here in Stockport. And I believe that Stockport, as part of Greater Manchester, is in an excellent position to lead on some of this big change that's needed. I, along with other leaders across Greater Manchester, are aiming to remove a million tonnes of carbon from the Greater Manchester economy. But my worry is that people will see this as something that threatens them, their livelihoods maybe, or that it will deliver a negative change on their life to them. And what's more, it's something that's potentially so vast and huge that people see it as possibly unrealistic or not able to really effect change. And I think people are understandably worried about their jobs, that they may go, that there might not be those jobs in the future, that their livelihoods might disappear and that their heating bills are rising and the cost of living is increasing. And again, these concerns are completely understandable. I think that's, for me, why we must make the case that change benefits the planet, but that change will also benefit people. And as Chellce said earlier, I've been at COP last week and I'm returning again this week and it's been an incredibly positive experience. I've met mayors and leaders of cities and towns, and heard of the work that they've been doing and the changes that they've made happen, and the next steps that they're planning. I met the mayor of Paris and she was talking to us about the work that she's done, not least around cycling and walking and pedestrianising roads, and really making a big step change in active travel and the challenges that she's faced in doing that which I think those of us in Stockport will recognise what some of those challenges are, and how she's overcome that in Paris. It was a very positive conversation with ideas about how we might do that in the future and what we could bring here and learn from Paris and bring to Stockport. I have to say, one of the most enthusiastic and interesting conversations I had was with the mayor of Montpellier. And one of the reasons why this was so interesting, I think, is because Montpellier is relatively a similar size to Stockport, a relatively similar population. To hear about the work that he's been doing about around public transport, they obviously have a different system than we do over here, but what they're currently doing is that the bus services in Montpellier are free for everybody up to the age of 18 and for everybody over 65, and by 2020 for the mayor of Montpellier will have made the entire system free, for everybody in Montpellier. This offers an absolute modal shift, a huge change in how people move around the region and how they will be able to remove cars from the roads. Huge, massive. And this is already taking place in Montpellier. So again, lots of ideas as to what we can do in a real positivity around how people, business, organisations, local government, national government and the different elements that make up a place can work together to really make a difference and COP for me has been very much about that so far. It's very much about meeting other people, having those ideas, encouraging higher aspirations, focusing on delivery, and really sharing learning on how we can make the changes together. I firmly believe, even before I went to COP, but even more so now, that our success rests on having a collaborative approach. Now, I am absolutely passionate about public transport and together with the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, and leaders across Greater Manchester, we are franchising the buses here in Greater Manchester and our aim is to deliver a London-style transport system with London-level fares. But as part of this, we intend to decarbonise and electrify the fleet. As some of you may know, Metrolink is currently net zero at street level, and I've committed to bringing Metrolink to Stockport. So adding in additional public transport, mass transport options for the people of Stockport into their daily commute. And I can confirm that work on the outline business case is starting, for bringing Metrolink to Stockport. We're also building Stockport's new interchange for our new buses and Metrolink in an integrated transport system that offers a genuine alternative to the car that's affordable, will not only help deliver on the removal of a million tonnes of carbon from the GM economy, but it will also make opportunities more accessible for people. There are opportunity for new and other jobs in emerging markets or new business and training opportunities to learn new skills to get the new jobs, become realistic. Also, meeting friends and family becomes something we can do more often. For many people, it's a huge cost to them to be able to get across the city region and to visit friends and family and meet with others. Now we've all seen reports of increasing energy bills and coupled with the general rise of cost of living, this is a real worry for many as we head into winter. Our reliance on fossil fuels must end, and the two, I believe, can be addressed for the benefit of the planet and for the benefit of the people. So today I can announce that work is starting on Stockport's first large-scale shared heating network as part of our Town Centre Regeneration and Mayoral Development Corporation. Initially, this will be pursuing the feasibility work necessary, and whilst this is really early days, I'm delighted that we're now taking these first steps on this journey. My hope is that not only will it mean new future homes in the town centre will not rely on fossil fuels, it will also help to insulate residents from some of the worst extremes of the rising costs of living. Some of you here today may know that Stockport was a founding member of the UK100's 100% clean energy pledge. And today I can also announce that we intend to continue with our relationship with UK100 by developing a net zero target for Stockport Council's own carbon emissions. And as Sheila pointed out earlier, we already have work underway. Not just ensuring that we've secured the funding, but together with partners in retrofitting buildings and moving and adopting more renewable energy. But for me, and I'm sure it's not escaped anybody else, the golden thread that has made all of this possible has to be collaboration and joint working. I strongly believe that to meet the challenges that we face, we all need to work together. I guess my ask of you today is let this summit be a catalyst for collaboration and the building and strengthening of people, organisations, into climate networks to encourage each other to have high aspirations on this agenda, but also have an unwavering commitment to delivery. As Sheila pointed out, the delivery is going to be absolutely key and for me, a laser focus as well on ensuring that we're bringing everybody with us, that we don't see that tackling the climate emergency is something that is at the detriment of the people but actually completely interlinked. And the government talks of levelling up and my belief that if we are genuinely going to level up, tackle inequalities that we face in society, that we need to ensure that we marry the two together, that tackling the climate emergency is tackling inequality. It is about making people's lives better. And so, let's bring everybody with us on this journey. I really wish all of you, all of us, all the very best for what I hope to be an incredibly successful summit, and like Sheila says I, too, absolutely believe that Stockport CAN. Thank you, Chellce.