Councillors back review of climate emergency declaration

Bruce Sinclair, local democracy reporter

Councillors have backed a motion calling for a review of a decision to declare a climate emergency six years ago.

In May 2019 Pembrokeshire County Council declared a climate emergency following a notice of motion by Cllr Joshua Beynon, which called on the authority to back the global consensus that climate change poses a risk to the well-being of future generations.

He had urged county councillors to back a motion to take “bold, decisive action” to fight “truly, catastrophic” climate change and called on the council to commit to becoming a zero-carbon local authority by 2030.

One of those arguing against the move was Cllr Mike Stoddart, who has previously said it was “virtue signalling on stilts” adding that he led a very green life with limited travel and growing his own vegetables.

“The idea that we can de-carbonise the economy by 2030 is for people with fairies in the garden,” he said.

He added it was not possible to “de-carbonise the economy” without damage to the poorest in society.

Working group

At the meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council in May, a notice of motion by Cllr Mike Stoddart called for the establishment of a working group to review the decision made by the council to declare a climate emergency.

Cllr Stoddart’s motion said: “Given the turbulence on the global financial markets; the parlous state of the UK’s public finances; Pembrokeshire County Council’s projected funding gap; and the government’s softening of its policies on the switch to EV vehicles and heat pumps, this council establishes a seven person, politically balanced working group to review the authority’s decision to declare a climate emergency at its meeting on May 9, 2019.

“The working group will be asked to: (a) examine the effect of the emergency declaration on the level of council tax in Pembrokeshire and particularly the extent to which any such increases militate against the authority’s anti-poverty policies.

“(b) The cost of decarbonising the council’s housing stock and the effect this has had on the authority’s ability to finance the building of new housing.

“(c) The extent to which the council’s decarbonisation programme has contributed to a reduction of the risk of runaway global temperature increases, and (d) any other effects that the working group considers may have adversely impacted the wellbeing of the residents of Pembrokeshire.”

Cllr Stoddart’s notice of motion was referred to the June meeting of the council’s corporate overview and scrutiny committee, where he referred to a previous council supported notice of motion by Cllr Aaron Carey.

That motion included a bi-annual assessment of the costs involved with delivering Net Zero Council operations 2030, a similar assessment with assessment of the anticipated cost associated with delivering a Net Zero Council Housing stock, and specific decisions on Capital schemes to include Net Zero provisions over and above those mandated, include a cost benefit analysis of doing so.

Supporting statement

Cllr Stoddart’s supporting statement for the June meeting said: “By my reckoning three of these six-monthly anniversaries have now passed without any of these cost/benefit analyses being made available for inspection.

“With reference to the above, I am proposing the setting up of a working group on the terms set out in my Notice of Motion so that a degree of transparency and democratic accountability can be injected into the Authority’s net zero deliberations.

“The UK is responsible for just under one per cent of global CO2 emissions and Pembrokeshire’s population of 120,000 is roughly one five hundredth of that of the UK.  Considering that the public sector accounts for less than ten percent of emissions, and Pembrokeshire’s contribution is only a fraction of that, it can be seen that, if PCC ceased to exist, it would make no difference whatsoever to the earth’s climate.”

Supporting Cllr Stoddart’s call, Cllr Huw Murphy said: “I think it’s something we need to look at; ultimately can we afford it?”

Deputy leader Cllr Paul Miller said there was “no objection” to setting up a working group, adding that information on costs associated was “just a matter of bringing it all together in a single place.”

Members, with the exception of Cllr Beynon, agreed to recommend to council to reinstate the Net Zero Working Group to review the contents of the notice of motion and, subject to the outcome of this review, review the future delivery of the Net Zero Action Plan.