The Isle of Wight Council has declared a climate emergency in an effort to tackle climate change on a local level.
At a meeting of the Full Council on Wednesday (24th July), councillors backed an amended motion for the authority to declare a climate emergency and aim for the Island to become carbon neutral by 2030.
The amended motion — agreed between Councillors Steve Hastings and Michael Lilley — laid out 6 actions the council should take to achieve this goal. It included setting up a task and finish group to draw up a costed action plan and report back to the council’s Environment and Sustainability Forum within 6 months.
Councillor Hastings, who is also the council’s Cabinet member for waste services, said:
“There is not much we can do on the global scale, but what we can do is lead and encourage Island residents to do their bit to help and show the next generation the way forward.
“By declaring a climate emergency, perhaps the message will get through to everybody to think more of their actions on a daily basis.”
Councillor Lilley said:
“I was thrilled the Isle of Wight Council declared a climate emergency through cross-party working.
Article continues below this advertisement “Whatever our beliefs, we are all Island residents that wish to live in harmony with our environment.
“We are now a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and a local authority/county that has declared a climate emergency, we now need to act.”
The council is already playing its part in helping to reduce carbon emissions by:
• increasing waste recycling;
• building a new, environmentally efficient plant to convert waste into energy at Forest Road;
• using the most energy efficient heating and lighting systems whenever council buildings are refurbished;
• supporting free insulation of homes on the Island with the Warm Front initiative;
• looking to purchase electric vehicles; and
• supporting FYTBus in the West West in its endeavours to go completely electric with their fleet.
Councillor Hastings added:
“There are many other local authorities that have declared a climate emergency so, through the Local Government Association (LGA), we can lobby for more help from government.
“The Environmental and Sustainability Forum will be the main mechanism by which we will draw experts, officers, members and residents together to progress actions to reduce our carbon footprint on the Island to make it a wonderful place to live, work and enjoy now and for generations to come.”
Council leader, Dave Stewart, added:
“My personal views on the whole climate change debate have been well publicised and I have even expressed my views at the national LGA conference.
“As leader of the council, with the motion having been passed, it is my duty to ensure we meet the aspirations expressed at Full Council.”
Complete and utter nonsense .this is just a ruse to charge more tax .
Another band wagon to jump on, but a money spinner!
Supporting FYT bus and free insulation for homes are just sound bites, how are they supporting? Purchase electrical vehicles more than likely charged with power generated by fossil fuel else where, total nonsense. Purchase the most efficient heating and lighting system? They should be doing this as a matter of course. The IOW Council should really concentrate on improving services.
Great idea’s may I suggest that electric vehicles sounds good While at the same time creating grid lock at St Mary’s roundabout while everything is changed to a traffic light system “all those cars just sitting in a line pumping noxious gasses into the air” And just down the road there is Coppins Bridge doing the same. What of the air quality in Newport ???
Firstly, I live in Newport. It is possibly the worst town in the un-united kingdom for pedestrians, no room for the people actually walking with narrow pavements and even that space is shared with car parking ticket machines, bloody great pot plants outside Hongkong express, and mobility scooters some the size of smart cars! Green Island….. Dont make me laugh.
As for politics, it’s easy for governments or local councils to promise the earth, as they say “a week in politics is a long time” ie we’ Be carbon neutral by 2030 or whatever because by then you demonstrater types will have forgotten (they hope!)
it is not an emergency – the climate on the planet has been changing continually since its inception billions of years ago. The north of the uk still rises up a fraction of an inch every year as the downward pressure from the last ice age is still felt and it is still returning to normal levels.
These idiots are just virtue signalling.
The idea that we have such an impact on this planet over nature is laughable.
As for experts – the weather services struggle to get the weather right for the next day, let alone 50 year forecasts.
All these people are still driving around in polluting cars, cranking up the air con in summer, cranking up the heating in winter
and going on nice holidays by air travel – hypocrites.
The real problem is over population and nothing else – reduce the population and levels of pollution drop as well.
Well for a start they can keep the tip open for longer and make it free to get rid of waste to prevent fly tipping.