The twelve-strong Green Group on Mid Suffolk District Council have accepted the warning from the Government's Committee on Climate Change that the Government is failing to implement policy to cut carbon emissions fast enough to avoid a climate change catastrophe. Greens argue that the council, controlled by Conservatives on the chair's casting vote, has also failed to take swift and pragmatic actions to curb its own emissions and those generated by the district's residents and economy.
Councillor Dan Pratt, Green Group shadow for Environment, said:
"It has been one year since MSDC declared a Climate Change Emergency in July 2019 with targets to become zero-carbon by 2030. Since then, we have held task group meetings and drafted some proposals for cutting the councils' own emissions. We now need to ensure that these measures are swiftly implemented."
"Climate Change is not a new problem. Had we acted on reducing our emissions when the crisis was first brought to prominence in Time Magazine in 1988 a "gently-does-it" approach may have been enough to get us through."
"With only a decade remaining to avert catastrophic climate change, the measures needed to meet our 2030 target becomes more vast with every year that passes without emissions reductions."
Green Party Councillor Andy Mellen, a member of the Council's climate task force, agreed:
“We welcome these initial proposals from the climate working group which are going to cabinet shortly, but we need to go further. One of the 11 years left to achieve steeply declining carbon emissions has been spent talking. For every year of inaction that passes, the level of effort and measures needed to meet this target become more challenging.”
Green Group Leader Rachel Eburne said:
"The council must also show leadership in identifying the pathway to zero emissions for the wider district as a whole. To drive this, we would convene a Citizens Assembly, which would engage local people in addressing climate change. Membership to include both citizens and businesses who would make proposals to galvanise reducing carbon emissions, with the council enabling changes with partners and public.”
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Notes
Citizens' assemblies
A Citizens' Assembly is a representative group of citizens who are selected at random from the population to learn about, deliberate upon, and make recommendations in relation to a particular issue or set of issues.
12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report
