Agenda item

Notice of Motion – Reduction of Council’s Own Emissions by 2030

The following motion had been submitted by Councillor Ed Gemmell and seconded by Councillor Adam Poland-Goodyer:

“The Council notes:

1.                  On page one of the Council’s Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy it states:

a.                  The Council has ‘the objective to achieve net carbon zero for Buckinghamshire as a whole by 2050’; and

b.                  ‘The council should also evaluate reaching ‘net zero’ for its own emissions no later than 2050 and possibly before this, potentially by 2030, subject to resources”

The Council believes:

1.                  In order to have the possibility to reach net zero for its own carbon emissions by 2030 and to understand if it has the resources to do this, the council needs firstly to understand what needs to be done, and when, in order to reach net zero for its own carbon emissions by 2030 and what this is projected to cost.

The Council resolves:

1.                  To require council officers to establish what steps need to be taken for the council to reach net zero for its own carbon emissions.

2.                  To require council officers to provide a comparison identifying when each of the established steps would need to be completed to reach net zero for each target (2030 and 2050) for the council’s own emissions.

3.                  To require council officers to estimate the cost of reaching each target, as established in 1. and 2. of the above resolutions, on a gross basis and on an annual basis.

4.                  The information required in 1, 2, 3 of the above resolutions of this motion to be presented to the Transport Environment and Climate Change Committee at the planned meeting on 8 September 2022.

5.                  Thereafter updates on progress against the targets to be provided to the Transport Environment and Climate Change Committee in each meeting and an annual update provided to full Council.”

Councillor Gemmell briefly explained the rationale behind the Motion, highlighting the past 48 hours which had seen extreme heat temperatures, resulting in fires, transport disruption and increased pressure on emergency services. Councillor Gemmell explained why he believed the Council needed to assess the costs involved to make it possible to reach net zero on carbon emissions by 2030 and set targets of where the Council expected to be at certain stages, for example in six and twelve months and to identify the practical steps that could be taken to shape the future, after which it was opened up to debate.

During the debate, Members raised a number of issues as follows:

-          The Buckinghamshire Climate Change Strategy was already committed to reducing carbon emissions, with £75k spent on a carbon audit and 60 actions to be implemented noted within the strategy, which had significant investment behind it.

-          Other local authorities who had set earlier net zero targets may need to utilise taxpayers’ money to purchase carbon offset credits.

-          The Council contributed to 0.3% of carbon emissions in Buckinghamshire, with 31% from domestic sources and 20% from businesses, and there was an intention for officers to focus on addressing these levels rather than producing numerous reports. The Council had already reduced carbon emissions by 61%.

-          The need to keep the net zero target on the local and global agenda, and through carrying this motion, it would allow the Council to keep on top of costs, allow officers to innovate and keep targets under regular review.

-          Concerns over the cost of climate change on residents, particularly if the net zero target was brought forward to 2030, this would affect those who were already affected by cost of living rises, inflation pressures and energy price hikes. The importance of bringing residents on the journey to net zero was highlighted.

-          Technology was not yet in a position to really push the net zero target forward.

-          The Transport, Environment and Climate Change Select Committee was the right place for Members to scrutinise the progress made against the Climate Change Strategy.

-          Whilst it was important to lead by example, changes within Buckinghamshire, would have little impact on national and global carbon emissions.

In seconding the motion, Councillor Poland-Goodyer spoke of the importance of ensuring the Council had all the information it needed to assess whether 2030 was a reachable target and what the associated costs would be compared with other targets such as 2040 and 2050.

Following the debate, the motion was voted on by a show of hands, following which, it was declared to be LOST. 

RESOLVED –

That the Motion was not carried.