North Yorkshire Council has defended the progress it has made in the two years since it declared a climate emergency following criticism that it regards tackling carbon emissions as “an inconvenience”.
A meeting of the authority’s executive heard both North Yorkshire Climate Coalition and a leading Green Party councillor press the authority to set a range of clear targets as it approved a blueprint outlining activities required to
deliver the climate change strategy it set more than a year ago.
The council’s executive, which has consistently faced pressure from opposition councillors to accelerate its climate change efforts, was told the Climate Change Strategy Delivery Pathway would promote the council’s carbon-cutting response at both operational and regional levels to reach net zero in 2030 and 2040 respectively.
An officer’s report to the meeting underlined how nationally, local authorities are directly responsible for around two per cent of total UK emissions, but they could influence up to 40 per cent of emissions through their activities and powers.
The report stated a key challenge facing the council was the availability of data required to accurately plot progress over its operational carbon footprint and therefore to successfully plan action needed to reach the 2030 ambition.
It stated: “Whilst a lot of activity is being undertaken to decarbonise key drivers of fleet and property, it is not currently possible to provide verifiable data on carbon emissions at this time and consequently to set targets and milestones for reduction…”
Bridget Holmstrom, of North Yorkshire Climate Coalition, which includes 25 environmental groups, welcomed the authority’s commitment to playing a net zero leadership role.
She told the meeting the coalition remained “most concerned” over the lack of targets the council had set by which progress could be measured.
Green Party councillor Arnold Warneken then told the meeting Delivery Pathway, which fails to set out a pathway to net zero and delivers very little by way of concrete action.
He said: “I think we are not treating this an emergency, and in many respects I feel we are treating it as an inconvenience. You refer to this an important issue – it is far more than an important issue.
“We are not starting with data to know how we are making progress. It’s been quite a long time since we adopted a climate emergency and I don’t think we’ve made progress.”
The authority’s executive member for managing our environment, Councillor Greg White said while there had been competing calls on the council’s resources during the challenge of launching a unitary authority, he was “pleased” with the progress officers had made.
He agreed the authority needed stronger data and emission reporting, while some actions required a greater focus on dates by which they should be achieved by.
Coun White said: “We cannot claim to be tackling an issue if we cannot track our progress.”
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