Agenda item

To receive petitions and public questions in accordance with Procedure Rule 20.

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The Mayor invited Cliff Goodman to ask a question as follows:

“The current declaration appears to commit to reducing CO2 emissions as well as other initiatives aimed at playing a part in tackling climate and nature emergency issues locally.

A film featuring exerts from these briefings was recently screened at the    Majestic Cinema and the Corn Exchange. and is currently being screened   nationwide. The message from the briefings is clear and stark. Science backed evidence overwhelmingly shows that rising temperatures resulting in some of the medical emergencies, deaths, infrastructure damage and travel delays is    significantly influenced by human activity. The warning messages state that it's not certain doom, it's still not too late to stop temperature rise spiralling out of control but it's vital this council ensures meaningful actions to feed into combined efforts to tackle climate and nature crisis. It’s important that this council's actions take account of fairness and do not put additional financial burden on people, especially those who can least afford extra living costs.

My question is:

How does the current Climate Emergency Declaration and associated strategy take account of reporting measured progress on delivering objectives,   including reducing CO2? Do the strategies include aims to get overall medium to long term cost saving or at least not incur heavy extra spending?”

Councillor de Whalley responded by explaining that, in accordance with the Council’s Climate Change Policy and Strategy, the target date for eliminating the Council’s own carbon emissions was 2035, with a commitment to explore opportunities to bring this date forward if possible.

He advised that the Council produced and published annual reports on its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.  In considering decarbonisation measures, the Council sought to implement cost effective carbon reduction initiatives, whilst also prioritising energy conservation measures that provide protection against future energy price increases.  Where appropriate, the Council also pursued external grant funding to support the delivery of decarbonisation projects.

Councillor de Whalley noted that the procurement of zero carbon electricity had led to significant reduction of carbon emissions, whilst resulting in only a modest increase in costs.  He further explained that the Council had worked in partnership with other organisations on the installation and operation of electric vehicle charging points which had increased the availability of electric vehicle charging facilities across the Borough and supported the Council’s vehicle fleet.

He added that the Council continued to maximise the return on investment from low carbon initiatives including through the Climate Change Levy relief associated with combined heat and power units, and smart export guarantee payments received for surplus energy generation.

Councillor de Whalley referred to section 5 of the Climate Change Strategy and Action plan, which provided further detail on the range of climate related work currently being undertaken by the Council.

By way of a supplementary question, Cliff Goodman asked what plans were in place to increase green spaces to help mitigate the effects of extreme heat. In response, Councillor de Whalley explained that the Local Plan process was ongoing and would include the development of a Green Infrastructure Plan.