Labour Leader of Stockport Council, Cllr Elise Wilson has written to the new Prime Minister notifying him that Stockport Council has declared a Climate Emergency. The letter seeks assurances that appropriate action will be prioritised to avoid exceeding the Paris Agreement global temperature increase of 1.5 degree centigrade, and was sent on the hottest July day on record in the United Kingdom.

 

The letter, which follows the Climate Emergency Motion passed at Stockport’s March Council meeting, notes that at present there are ‘insufficient resources’ to tackle the ‘scale of change needed’ to address the current climate emergency.

 

It further notes that Local Authorities, which have faced significant financial challenges in recent years, will require government resources to ‘shift to public and active travel options’ and make ‘huge’ changes to homes to needed make them energy efficient in the face of the climate change challenge.

 

The letter was sent on Thursday 25^th July 2019, where some parts of England temperatures approached 40C degrees, the highest July day on record.

 

Commenting, Cllr Elise Wilson said:

 

“I have written to the new Prime Minister to emphasise the urgency of the situation we are facing in relation to climate change. The world faces no greater challenge than the looming climate emergency, and as such this must be seen as a top priority for Government, whomever is in charge.

 

“Local Authorities have a huge role to play in delivering a greener, more sustainable future, but in recent years we have been deprived of resources which can allow us to take the actions that are required.

 

Cllr Sheila Bailey, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Stockport, added:

 

“Government must wake up to the fact that if we do not act now, the consequences for this planet will be irreversible. Put simply, starving Local Authorities of resources in the face of this challenge will not bring about the change we need to see.

 

“Strong actions need to be taken and urgently if we are to comply with the Paris agreement targets. We stand ready to take those actions in Stockport. However we need the government to act as a partner, not a hindrance in working towards this. “

 

 

ENDS

 

NOTES:

 

• The text of the letter follows, the Climate Emergency motion text is below this:

Dear Prime Minister,

Re: Climate Change  

I am writing to you to seek your commitment to tackling climate change and requesting that you place this agenda at the forefront of your new government’s agenda.   Stockport Council recently declared a climate emergency, having noted the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and their stark warnings about how we must act now to avoid exceeding the Paris Agreement increase of 1.5 degree centigrade.   The Council seeks to deliver a programme of change which will transform how we deliver services within the borough, support businesses and individuals reduce their carbon footprint and prepare for the expected increase in extreme weather events. We will be bringing this plan to the Council’s scrutiny in the autumn. However, there are insufficient resources to deliver the scale of change needed, with for instance the large scale shift to public and active travel options and the required huge changes to insulation and heating for all homes in the borough having to occur without the appropriate level of government investment and without the taxation fiscal framework to adequately incentivise the required behaviour change where it could be funded by the private sector.

I would urge you to consider how you can place the environment at the centre of your policy platform and how you will deliver the required funding for change. Government policy should be reviewed so that we can grab this last opportunity to prevent irreversible and catastrophic damage to the planet.

Most respectfully,

Councillor Elise Wilson

LEADER OF THE COUNCIL

 

• The text of the March 2019 Climate Emergency Motion Passed in Stockport follows:

Climate Emergency (March 2019)

This Council notes:

•  The findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report ‘Global warming of 1.5°’ published on 8 October 2018, in particular:
• That human activities are estimated to have already caused approximately 1.0°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels;
• That if we continue at the current rate, we are likely to surpass the Paris Agreement target of 1.5°C as early as 2030;
• That at the current level of commitments, the world is on course for 3°C of warming with irreversible and catastrophic consequences for humans and the natural world.

The Council believes that:

•  The impacts of global temperature rise above 1.5°C, are so severe that governments at all levels must work together and make this their top priority.
• As well as large-scale improvements in health and wellbeing around the world, bold climate action can deliver economic benefits in terms of new jobs, economic savings and market opportunities.
• As urban populations increase, greater consideration of how urban systems can develop sustainability will be required.

Therefore, this Council agrees:

•  To declare a ‘climate emergency’, and support the Greater Manchester 5 Year Environment Plan launched at 2019’s Green Summit.
• To ensure the right resources are in place within the Council to support this work,
• To establish a new task and finish group, with a remit to:

(i)       Seek advice from experts to develop 5 Year carbon budgets and set a challenging target date of 2038 for carbon neutrality;

(ii)      Consider systematically the climate change impact of each area of the Council’s activities;

(iii)     Make recommendations and set an ambitious timescale for reducing these impacts in line with wider Greater Manchester ambitions;

(iv)    To assess the feasibility of requiring all risk and procurement assessments to include Carbon Emission Appraisals, including presenting alternative approaches which reduce emissions wherever possible.

(v)     Report to Full Council with the actions the Council needs to take to address this emergency and how it will work with GMCA and other GM Districts to develop a Mission Based Approach to implementation.

• To task a director level officer with responsibility for reducing as rapidly as possible, the carbon emissions resulting from the Council’s activities.
• To equip all our staff, particularly those involved with buildings, energy and transport management and procurement of goods and service, with an awareness of the CO2 costs and impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions.
• To recognise that the Council has many competing priorities and that any actions arising from this work take account of how they impact from a financial and policy context.
• That the Leader will write to the Prime Minister to inform her that this Council has declared a climate emergency and ask her to provide the resources and powers necessary to deal with it.