United Kingdom: 60 per cent of Councils have declared a climate emergency

Climateemergency.uk have registered 245 local authorities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have declared a climate emergency.

149 of these have set a target of reaching zero emissions by 2030 or earlier.

“It is a cross-party movement, illustrated by taking a look at the political control of the councils that have declared a climate emergency,” wrote Climateemergency.uk in their newsletter. They found that 80 Councils had no overall political control, 75 Labour, 60 Conservative, 22 Libebral Democrats, 4 Independent, and 1 Plaid Cymru. (SNP are minority lead on some of the NOC Councils).

 

In other news from the UK, Climateemergency.uk wrote in their October 2019 newsletter:


Citizen’s Assemblies/Juries

Camden Council have just published a report having completed their Citizen’s Assembly process. Read all about assemblies & juries in Camden, Oxford, Leeds, Cambridge and general information here.
 

A local Green New Deal

The Green New Deal has the potential to be much more than a programme of centralised economic planning. With effective community wealth building policy, a just transition can help to empower the towns and villages of the UK, offering economic autonomy and stability for local communities. Read more
 

Passivhaus

Many Councils and Housing Associations have built to this highest standard of energy efficiency. Goldsmith Street, Norwich City’s ground-breaking development of eco-efficient council homes, was awarded the RIBA Stirling Prize at a ceremony in London on Wednesday. Browse some of the UK Passivhaus developments here and register for the Mainstreaming Passivhaus by 2030 Conference in Salford on October 29th.
 

Event

Climate Emergency: From declarations to action
Organised by the Low Carbon Communities Network. Institute of Education, London on Saturday 16th November.
 

Town & Parish

Mike Childs from Friends of the Earth has worked with Simon Pickering (Green councillor, Stroud), Robert Vint (Extinction Rebellion, Totnes) and Chris Gittins (Timsbury Parish Council) to produce a guide on what Parish and Town Councils can do.
 

Green Electricity

Some Councils, having declared a climate emergency, are switching to Green Electricity tariffs. Find out whether this is a useful step by reading Do Green Energy Tariffs make a difference? from Ethical Consumer.

Councils could get together, as Universities have, to set up a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) directly with wind or solar farms.

Warrington Council have bought 2 large solar farms and a 50% share in an Energy Company.

Did you know that more than half of the UK’s offshore wind farms are owned bu public bodies, but none of them are from the UK. Read “Who Owns the Wind” from the Labour Energy Forum for inspiration on how we could change that.
 

The House is on Fire!

“The original idea for climate emergency declarations at the council level is that councils would mobilise after acknowledging and declaring the climate emergency. While some local governments have shifted their approach to climate mitigation and resilience significantly, none have ‘acted like the house is on fire’.

Read More

 

New Friends of the Earth tool to check

How Climate friendly is your area?
 

Keeping up to date with Climate Emergency UK

If you want to keep up to date with what’s happening with Climate Emergency declarations and actions in the UK, join their Basecamp group.

If you are a Councillor or Council Officer in the UK, then they have a group just for you as part of the Climate Emergency Network, a Special Interest Group of the LGA. Email network@climateemergency.uk for an invitation. Climate Emergency UK can set up Basecamp groups for your Council area or region, or if you have a special interest.
 


Source: Climate Emergency UK Ltd, Halton, United Kingdomwww.climateemergency.uk