Henley MP and Mayor Both Back Greener Henley’s ‘Spread the Word’ Pledge

Freddie van Mierlo, MP for Henley and Thame, and Mayor of Henley, Cllr Ian Reissmann, have both signed Greener Henley’s ‘Spread the Word’ pledge, committing to champion local climate and nature action and encourage wider participation across the constituency.

Part of Greener Henley’s ‘Pledge for the Planet’ initiative, the pledge invites people and organisations to share information about the platform with their networks, helping to inspire others to take action and reach a far wider audience than any of us could achieve alone.

Pledge for the Planet is a community-wide campaign that invites residents, schools, businesses and organisations to make simple, practical commitments that benefit both the local area and the environment. By bringing together thousands of individual actions across areas such as nature, energy, travel and food, the initiative aims to create lasting positive change for people and planet.

One of the campaign’s key themes is community resilience, captured in the ‘Henley Prepared’ category of pledges, which encourages individuals and organisations to take practical steps to help the town and its surrounding areas adapt to the growing impacts of a changing climate, such as extreme heat and flash flooding.

Freddie van Mierlo said:

“Building resilience within our community is one of the most important things we can do right now, and I’m proud to commit to raising awareness of the ‘Henley Prepared’ pledges across the constituency. The recent heatwave has only underlined the urgent need to better prepare our communities for the many challenges of a changing climate. While we should not let governments and major industries off the hook, individual actions can combine to create the collective momentum needed to drive positive change. I encourage other individuals and organisations to join the collective effort by taking one of the Greener Henley pledges and helping to build a more resilient future.”

Mayor of Henley Ian Reissman said:

“As Mayor, I meet an enormous range of people and groups throughout the year, and I’ll be using every one of those opportunities to spread the word about Greener Henley’s pledges - and in particular to encourage individuals and organisations to take one of the ‘Henley Prepared’ pledges. Building a more resilient town has never felt more urgent, and I’d encourage everyone to play their part.”

Van Mierlo and Mayor Reissman recently attended Greener Henley’s Community Resilience Briefing, which brought together more than 100 leaders and decision-makers from over 80 local organisations to watch the ‘People’s Emergency Briefing’ film and discuss how Henley and the surrounding area can prepare for the growing impacts of climate change.

The MP’s and Mayor’s support adds momentum to Greener Henley’s efforts to encourage practical local action to help ensure the town and its surrounding areas are greener, healthier and better prepared for the challenges ahead.