Saffron Walden is set to host 18 Great Big Green Week events to celebrate action on climate change.

The events are part of a week-long national "festival" run by The Climate Change Coalition between Saturday, September 18 and Sunday, September 26.

The week will begin with a flagship Eco Market on The Common between 9am and 3pm on Saturday before a Music in the Pub session at the Railway Arms.

Events include Sunday church services, 'eco chats', a visit from The Hedgehog Hospital in Shepreth on Thursday, and apple pressing on Saturday, September 25.

Saffron Walden Reporter: A hedgehogA hedgehog (Image: PA / Ben Birchall)

Edward Gildea, who is organising the week in Saffron Walden, said he hopes to get more people to connect with nature ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow this November.

Edward said: "The International Panel on Climate Change report, signalling Code Red for humanity, made frightening reading.

"Personally, I am concerned that we may already have lost control and that extreme weather events are now spiralling out of our hands."

Think tank Chatham House released a report today claiming 10 million lives could be lost due to "heat stress" if progress stalls on tackling rising temperatures worldwide.

The think tank's research also found that crop harvest could decline by
30% without "dramatic emission reductions".

Saffron Walden Reporter: A wind turbineA wind turbine (Image: Nick Ansell/PA Wire)

Edward hopes that the week will generate more interest in the environment around Saffron Walden, in turn creating political pressure to tackle the climate crisis.

Edward said: "Great Big Green Week will raise interest, awareness and political pressure in advance of COP26 - a festival rather than a protest.

"It is a way of getting people feeling connected with the natural world so that COP26 feels more meaningful when it comes around."

He said there will be opportunities to learn about small steps to live more sustainably which residents can take at home.

Fiona Dear, The Climate Coalition's Head of Campaigns, said: "Action against climate change is the fight that unites people across the East of England.

"Hundreds of us are getting together to stand up against its awful effects."

A full events list is online: https://greatbiggreenweek.com/find-an-event/