Issue - meetings

Motion

Meeting: 24/07/2019 - Council (Item 35)

A period of up to one hour is allocated to consider the motions on notice. This may only be extended with the agreement of the Council.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Playing our part in stopping climate change

Before commencement of proceedings, Councillors P. McDonald, A. Kent and S. Baxter indicated that they wished to put forward an amendment to the Motion.

The Chairman reminded Members that it was important that this matter was debated properly and that Members concentrated on the facts and evidence based discussions.

Members considered the following Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor S. Hughes:

“Climate change is already causing serious damage to our community in Bromsgrove and communities around the world. The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5?C calls for urgent action within 12 years to protect people from the consequences of irreversible climate change. All governments: national, regional, and local have a duty to act.

Council declares a climate emergency that requires urgent action. Bromsgrove Council Cabinet will therefore commit to doing the following:

· Work with our partner authorities to review and update the Worcestershire County Climate Change Strategy, which is about to expire, ensuring ambitious targets for improvement.

· Establish a working group to engage with the community, develop an action plan and report regularly on actions taken.

· Explore areas where our services can be delivered in a way that reduces the Council’s carbon emissions and look at ways in which the Council’s energy supplies can be from 100% renewable sources.

· Set an aspiration for Bromsgrove to become carbon neutral.”

The Motion was proposed by Councillor Hughes and seconded by Councillor R. Hunter.

In proposing the Motion Councillor Hughes explained that it was an area which impacted on everyone and something which people came across every day, whether it be through air pollution from excess traffic or the impact of single use plastics, which had been well documented. Councillor Hughes highlighted to Members that, should no action be taken, then the damage caused by global warming would become irreversible in 12 years’ time. The work that was already being done was recognised but it was imperative that it be acknowledged that much more needed to be done at a faster pace. Direct action needed to be taken to ensure that everyone played their part in making those necessary changes. The importance of educating the young was also highlighted. A working group would be able to co-ordinate and evaluate the best way forward and engage with local partners and other groups to ensure that Bromsgrove played its part in this global issue. There were already over 90 other local authorities who had signed up to such an agreement and it was felt that Bromsgrove must also take action as a matter of urgency.

Councillor A. Kent proposed some small amendments to the motion, which were seconded by Councillor K. May and accepted by Councillor Hughes.

The amended Motion is detailed below:

Council declares a climate emergency. Bromsgrove Council will look to do the following:

· Work with our partner authorities to review and update the Worcestershire County Climate Change Strategy, which is about to expire, ensuring ambitious targets for ... view the full minutes text for item 35