A ‘climate change emergency’ could be redeclared on the Isle of Wight after extreme heat, torrential rain and landslides.
Some 7 years after County Hall sounded the alarm over rising greenhouse gas emissions, Liberal Democrat councillor Michael Lilley is bringing the issue back onto the agenda with a full council motion, saying action is long overdue.
He said the weather experienced by Islanders since 2019 has had a ‘dramatic and traumatic’ impact on many due to flooding, a ‘huge increase’ in sewage discharges triggered by torrential rain, landslips causing a loss of homes and heatwaves putting lives at risk.
Cllr Lilley said:
“The evidence that human created climate change is the cause of increasing extreme weather is growing”.
His party says that despite declaring a climate emergency in 2019, which stated an aim to achieve zero emissions across the Island by 2030, the Isle of Wight Council is still to finalise its Climate and Environment Strategy which will outline the pathway to net zero.
Cllr Lilley’s motion proposes County Hall reconfirm the 2019 declaration, update all climate change and environmental strategies and implement climate change adaptions as outlined in the latest report by the national Climate Change Committee (CCC).
The CCC report’s key areas for government action include protecting people from heat, managing flood risk, avoiding water shortages and keeping farming viable.
Cllr Lilley said:
“I felt it was important to bring the debate back into the council chamber and prioritise the Island strategies needed to make sure we adapt and make the changes needed to protect the well-being of residents, so we are prepared when we are hit annually by rising temperatures and extreme weather.”
He does not at this stage have a sense of how much support there is for the motion but said in 2019 he was able to build a majority of cross-party support despite opposition ‘mainly by the Conservative administration’.
He added:
“We agreed a free vote and we were successful,” the councillor said. “I hope the same can be achieved on Wednesday. The scientific evidence is clear that climate change is the cause of our increasing extreme weather.”
Full council will meet at County Hall at 18:00 tonight (Wednesday).
