The following Notice of Motion, on the declaration of a ‘climate emergency’, has been submitted under Procedure Rule 15 by Councillors Fail, Beavers, Raynor and Stirzaker:
“The Council notes:
· That the impacts of climate breakdown are already causing serious damage around the world.
· That the ‘Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C’, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in October 2018,
(a) describes the enormous harm that a 2°C average rise in global temperatures is likely to cause compared with a 1.5C rise, and
(b) confirms that limiting Global Warming to 1.5°C may still be possible with ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society and the private sector.
· That all governments (national, regional and local) have a duty to act, and local governments that recognise this should not wait for their national governments to change their policies;
· That strong policies to cut emissions also have associated health, wellbeing and economic benefits; and
· That, recognising this, a growing number of UK local authorities have already passed 'Climate Emergency' motions.
The Council therefore commits to:
· Declare a ‘Climate Emergency’ that requires urgent action;
· Make the Council’s activities net-zero carbon by 2030;
· Achieve 100% clean energy across the Council’s full range of functions by 2030;
· Ensure that all strategic decisions, budgets and approaches to planning decisions are in line with a shift to zero carbon by 2030;
· Support and work with all other relevant agencies towards making the entire Wyre area zero carbon within the same timescale;
· Ensure the Council take responsibility for reducing, as rapidly as possible, the carbon emissions resulting from the Council’s activities, ensuring that any recommendations are fully costed and that the Executive and Scrutiny functions review council activities taking account of production and consumption emissions and produce an action plan within 12 months, together with budget actions and a measured baseline;
· Where necessary officer reports to Cabinet and Full Council contain impact assessments on Climate Change, including presenting alternative approaches which reduce carbon emissions where possible
· Request that the Council’s Scrutiny Committee considers the impact of climate change and the environment when reviewing Council policies and strategies;
· Work with, influence and inspire partners across Wyre, Lancashire and the North West to help deliver this goal through all relevant strategies, plans and shared resources by developing a series of meetings, events and partner workshops;
· Request that the Council and partners, take steps to proactively include young people in the process, ensuring that they have a voice in shaping the future;
· Set up a Climate Change Partnership group, involving Councillors, residents, young citizens, climate science and solutions experts, businesses, and other relevant parties. Over the following four years, the Group will consider strategies and actions being developed by the Council and other partner organisations and develop a strategy in line with a target of net zero emissions by 2030;
· Report on the level of investment in the fossil fuel industry that our pensions plan and other investments have, and review the Council’s investment strategy to give due consideration to climate change impacts in the investment portfolio;
· Ensure that all reports in preparation for the 2020/ 2021 budget cycle and investment strategy will take into account the financial implications of the actions the council will take to address this emergency;
· Call on the UK Government to provide the powers, resources and help with funding to make this possible, and ask local MPs to do likewise;
· Consider other actions that could be implemented, including (but not restricted to): renewable energy generation and storage, providing electric vehicle infrastructure and encouraging alternatives to private car use, increasing the efficiency of all buildings, including housing in particular to address fuel poverty; proactively using local planning powers to accelerate the delivery of net zero carbon new developments and communities, coordinating a series of information and training events to raise awareness and share good practice;
· The Council should not allow its land to be used for fracking if that would result in the Council not meeting the target of net zero emissions by 2030; and
· Finally, via the Local Government Association, the Council will invite in a group of experts to advise on what steps can be taken quickly to have the greatest possible impact on air quality, modal shift away from private cars, increased take up on public transport, and ensure that every aspect of the Councils activities are sighted on the need to preserve Wyre’s ecological and environmental heritage.”
Minutes:
Councillors Fail, Beavers, Raynor and Stirzaker submitted a Notice of Motion under Procedure Rule 15 on the declaration of a “climate emergency”, as set out under agenda item 10. The motion was proposed by Cllr Fail and seconded by Cllr Raynor.
An amendment, to add and delete words to the motion (shown as track-changes below) was proposed by Cllr Henderson and seconded by Cllr Michael Vincent, as follows:
“The Council notes:
(a) describes the enormous harm that a 2°C average rise in global temperatures is likely to cause compared with a 1.5C rise, and
(b) confirms that limiting Global Warming to 1.5°C may still be possible with ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society and the private sector.
The Council therefore commits to:
· This Council will continue its already agreed policy to report to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee its progress towards a zero carbon emissions target;
· This Council will continue its policy of having officers and departmental groups work on a climate change action plan which will report back to Council on a regular basis as to its progress towards a target of zero emissions by 2050;
· Will request an annual investment report from our pensions administrators Lancashire County Council (LCC) on the level of investment in the fossilfuel industry, such report to go to Cabinet who will make any appropriate observations thereon reflecting our zero carbon emissions target of 2050;
Cllr Henderson, when proposing the amendment also proposed that the following additional paragraph be included in the list of commitments to be made by the Council (which he said he was aware Cllr Gerard had intended to propose as an additional amendment on behalf of the UKIP Group, but which he had accepted as an addition to the Conservative Group amendment) as follows:
“to use trees to offset carbon emissions arising from the Council’s activities and therefore to instruct our officers to report back on costings for the planting of trees and the maintenance of woodlands in the Borough, which is a matter of urgency because we need to start planting trees now.”
The amendment proposed by Cllr Henderson, including the additional wording above, was APPROVED (by 35 votes to 0, with 8 abstentions).
Cllr Fail then proposed, and Cllr Raynor seconded, a further amendment to the amended version of the original motion, to change all references to commitments by the year 2050 to 2030.That amendment was lost (by 9 votes to 35).
The following substantive motion was then approved (unanimously) and it was agreed:
That the Council notes:
(a) describes the enormous harm that a 2°C average rise in global temperatures is likely to cause compared with a 1.5C rise, and
(b) confirms that limiting Global Warming to 1.5°C may still be possible with ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society and the private sector;
The Council therefore commits to: