A CLIMATE emergency has been declared by Warwick District Council.
Council bosses have committed to working with businesses, organisations and residents to get carbon emissions to ‘as close to zero as possible’ by 2030.
The motion, which went through unanimously last night (Wednesday), included a commitment for the Conservative-lead council to become a carbon neutral organisation by 2025. It also pledged to work with other authorities to lobby the government to address the emergency.
Green party councillor Will Roberts welcomed the agreement. He said: “This is an excellent first step for the council. I particularly welcome the clear commitment to be carbon neutral by 2025 including all the council’s many contractors. We’d have liked specific pledges on carbon neutral housing and reducing traffic emissions and will push hard for investment and policy change in these areas in the future.
“Thank you to all those from other parties who have engaged with us to reach agreement. It wasn’t always easy but we got there! A huge thank you to everyone who signed the petition to keep the pressure on.
“I now hope that this will provide a foundation for us to work together to turn words into the urgent action we need to tackle the climate crisis that will affect the way we all live our lives.”
The council now has six months to put together an action plan to implement the details of the agreement.
Labour coun Mini Mangat said: “We are delighted the council has taken this step in the right direction. We are looking forward to bringing forward positive actions to halt the ticking time bomb and crisis of climate change.”
The move comes ahead of a heatwave – which has already claimed lives in France – forecast over the weekend. In Warwickshire temperatures are expected to reach highs of over 30 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
Climate scientists warn the extreme temperature is a result of global warming and such heatwaves are likely to become more frequent unless the situation is addressed.
They say if the planet’s average temperature rises above 1.5 degrees Celsius it could greatly increase climate change risks such as extreme weather, the spreading of disease, species extinction and poverty in Africa and Asia.
