THE city council said it is making final preparations for its citizens assembly on climate change, which starts on Saturday.

The first weekend will be held on Saturday and Sunday. The second will be held on October 19 and 20.

They will both be held at the Said Business School.

A randomly selected and representative group of 50 residents will learn about climate change and explore, discuss and vote on what could be done to reduce it in Oxford.

All participants have been sent a pre-briefing pack to read before the weekend starts. All of the documents are available on the city council’s website.

READ MORE: Oxford Citizens Assembly on Climate Change: The selection system

The Oxford Citizens Assembly on Climate Change will discuss the topic: the UK Government has legislation to reach ‘net zero’ carbon by 2050. Should Oxford be more proactive and seek to achieve ‘net zero’ sooner than 2050 and what trade-offs are we prepared to make?

Expert speakers will discuss the topics of buildings, transport, the role for renewables, offsetting and biodiversity and how to reduce waste over the weekends.

The event is not open to the public and is by invitation only.

Tom Hayes, cabinet member for Zero Carbon Oxford, said: “Here in Oxford we are in the final stages of preparations for the Oxford Citizens Assembly on Climate Change and are looking forward to hearing from our residents.

“As the leaders in the city of Oxford, with the ability to drive change through our levers of control, influence and partnership, we will be listening to the views of our citizens at our Citizens Assembly, and we will be taking action.”