Mike Calvert writes ‘climate breakdown is the most important challenge we will face in our lifetimes. It threatens our security and the very foundations of our society. Don’t take my word for it – David Attenborough warned recently: “If we continue on our current path, we will face the collapse of everything that gives us our security”.
We need local, as well as national, leadership that is up to the challenge.
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 and has adopted a target of reaching net zero carbon emissions for its own operations by 2030. Their recommended pathway required emissions to be reduced to around 2,500 tonnes by 2022, but according to their own report, emissions were at 3,700 tonnes, barely down from the do nothing “business as usual” position. Without more determined leadership, they are going to miss their net zero target by a very long way.
There is so much that could be done.
The Council’s Action Plan for 2021-22 discounted investing in large scale renewable generation projects, like solar parks, partly because of the “low rating of political acceptability”. Other councils made more far-sighted decisions: Cambridgeshire County Council invested in a solar farm which is reducing its carbon footprint and provides over £350,000 every year to support council services and keep council taxes down. They are now looking at building a solar park with twice the capacity. Why is TWBC so far behind the curve? This is not about party politics – in Cambridgeshire, the Conservatives are the largest party on the council. It’s about a lack of vision, a lack of ambition.
Planning powers should be used to the utmost to promote sustainable development. Incredibly, the Government has not made it a requirement for new developments to have solar panels on their roofs. But there is still much that councils can do. Bristol City Council, which now has 25 Green councillors, makes clear to developers that it will assess their planning applications against sustainability criteria which include securing a 20% saving in CO2 emissions from energy use through on-site generation of renewable energy.
Our Council also needs to follow the example of Lewes District Council (8 Green councillors). They have teamed up with six other local councils in their area to create a programme for insulating and installing renewable energy for 40,000 social homes across the region, one of the largest retrofit programmes in the country. This uses the purchasing power of councils working together to achieve economies of scale to secure funding and commission work at favourable rates, while also generating local jobs.
This is just scratching the surface. There is so much more that could be done.
Climate breakdown is not going to wait for us to get our act together. Now, more than ever, we need a Green in the room: a Green councillor to hold the Council to account for failing to meet its own targets, a Green councillor to propose the solutions.
And now you have the opportunity to do something about it; for the first time, the Green party is putting up candidates in every ward in May’s elections. Together we can make it happen.’