Next week I will be attending COP26 representing both the Local Government Association (LGA) and our own council at one of the most important global conferences of our time.

As you will no doubt have already seen from the widespread media coverage, the climate talks will bring campaigners, heads of state and environmental experts together to agree coordinated action to tackle climate change.

I am hopeful countries across the world will come together at what is a pivotal point for our planet and unite in pledging to cut their emissions and to present tangible plans for carrying that out.

The big headline targets and commitments will help achieve the ultimate goal, but it is important we don’t lose sight of the part we can all play to reduce global warming.

As chairman of the LGA’s Environment, Economy, Housing and Transport Board I know just what an important role councils can play in setting the direction locally. Delegates from the LGA, including myself, will be lobbying for the final COP26 international agreement to include a specific reference to the significance of local government in tackling climate change.

I will also be speaking at a panel event about the role local authorities can play in achieving net zero carbon emissions.

Locally here in Swindon we have outlined our own commitment to reducing our own emissions through our Net Zero Action Plan and our Barnfield solar farm features in a short video, which will be shown by the LGA to delegates to highlight how councils are playing their part in using renewable energy.

Ultimately, the policies set by the countries worldwide will have a significant impact on how we cut our emissions over the coming years, but we can still do our bit in our everyday lives, no matter how small, when it comes to making the right choices to help the environment.

You may have visited one of our electric vehicle roadshows over the past few weeks where local people had the chance to find out more about owning an electric vehicle.

Electric vehicles now have a 9.5 per cent share of the UK new car market, up from 5.4 per cent last year. If this growth continues, we could see a million electric vehicles on our roads by 2025 and projections estimate this could rise to anything between 2.7m and 10.6m by 2030.

This week we announced that we had installed our first on-street electric vehicle charging points in Swindon. The 11 charging points, which have the capacity to charge two cars each, were installed at key locations chosen by local residents.

We know we have much more to do in ensuring we have many more charging points across the borough but our Electric Vehicle Charging Point Strategy sets out how we will increase the availability of EV infrastructure over the next decade.

Owning an electric vehicle is just one step we can take to reduce our carbon footprint and our Be the Change website at www.swindon.gov.uk/bethechange has lots of handy tips and advice on how we can all make our own small changes to tackle climate change such as turning your heating down by just a single degree this winter.

If we all take small actions now, it will help bring about significant positive change for the future of our planet.