(1) MOTION 573 – (COUNCILLORS MISS E WAINWRIGHT and C R SLADE– 11 MAY 2021)
The Council has before it a MOTION submitted for the first time
Motion to Support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill
Preamble
The impacts of climate change are being felt in the UK and around the world. Global temperatures have increased by 1 degree Celsius from pre-industrial levels. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are above 400 parts per million (ppm) and continue to rise. This far exceeds the 350 ppm deemed to be a safe level for humanity.
Without more significant and sustained action, the world is set to exceed the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit between 2030 and 2040. The current UK target of net zero by 2050 is therefore not satisfactory. We are not set to meet our future targets and the targets themselves do not properly account for our consumption emissions.
The increase in harm caused by a rise of 2°C rather than 1.5°C is significant. This is described by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C published in October 2018. According to the IPCC, limiting heating to 1.5°C may still be possible with ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society, the private sector and local communities. The costs of failing to address this crisis will far outstrip the investments required to prevent it. Investing now will bring many benefits in the form of good jobs, breathable cities and thriving communities.And in the year that the UK co-hosts COP26, our responsibility to show bold global leadership on climate and nature could not be greater.
Council notes that
1. This council has signed up to the Devon Climate Declaration.
2. There is a Bill before Parliament -- the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill (published as the “Climate and Ecology Bill”) -- according to which the Government must develop an emergency strategy that:
a. requires that the UK plays its fair and proper role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions consistent with limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures;
b. ensures that all the UK’s consumption emissions are accounted for;
c. includes emissions from aviation and shipping;
d. protects and restores biodiverse habitats along overseas supply chains;
e. restores and regenerates the UK’s depleted soils, wildlife habitats and species populations to healthy and robust states, maximising their capacity to absorb CO2 and their resistance to climate heating;
f. sets up an independent Citizens’ Assembly, representative of the UK’s population, to engage with Parliament and Government and help develop the emergency strategy.
This Council therefore resolves to:
1. Support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill
2. Inform the local media of this decision;
3. Write to local MPs, asking them to support or thanking them for supporting the Bill; and
4. Write to the CEE Bill Alliance, the organisers of the campaign for the Bill, expressing its support.
In accordance with Procedure Rule 14.4, the Chairman of the Council has decided that this Motion (if moved and seconded) will be referred without discussion to the Environment Policy Development Group unless there is an alternative proposition.
(2) MOTION 574 – (COUNCILLOR B A MOORE – 8 JUNE 2021)
The Council has before it a MOTION submitted for the first time
That this Council resolves to ask the Standards Committee to convene a working group to review the procedural rules relating to Scrutiny, Audit and the Policy Development Groups (Part 4 Section 5 of the Constitution). The purpose of the review is to make recommendations on those procedural rules, with particular regard to ensuring that items included on meeting agendas, notably at short notice, including duplication, are democratically determined by Members of that committee.
In accordance with Procedure Rule 14.4, the Chairman of the Council has decided that this Motion (if moved and seconded) be dealt with at this meeting.
Minutes:
(1) MOTION 573 – (COUNCILLORS MISS E WAINWRIGHT and C R SLADE– 11 MAY 2021)
The Council had before it a MOTION submitted for the first time
Motion to Support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill
Preamble
The impacts of climate change are being felt in the UK and around the world. Global temperatures have increased by 1 degree Celsius from pre-industrial levels. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are above 400 parts per million (ppm) and continue to rise. This far exceeds the 350 ppm deemed to be a safe level for humanity.
Without more significant and sustained action, the world is set to exceed the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit between 2030 and 2040. The current UK target of net zero by 2050 is therefore not satisfactory. We are not set to meet our future targets and the targets themselves do not properly account for our consumption emissions.
The increase in harm caused by a rise of 2°C rather than 1.5°C is significant. This is described by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C published in October 2018. According to the IPCC, limiting heating to 1.5°C may still be possible with ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society, the private sector and local communities. The costs of failing to address this crisis will far outstrip the investments required to prevent it. Investing now will bring many benefits in the form of good jobs, breathable cities and thriving communities.And in the year that the UK co-hosts COP26, our responsibility to show bold global leadership on climate and nature could not be greater.
Council notes that
1. This council has signed up to the Devon Climate Declaration.
2. There is a Bill before Parliament -- the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill (published as the “Climate and Ecology Bill”) -- according to which the Government must develop an emergency strategy that:
a. requires that the UK plays its fair and proper role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions consistent with limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures;
b. ensures that all the UK’s consumption emissions are accounted for;
c. includes emissions from aviation and shipping;
d. protects and restores biodiverse habitats along overseas supply chains;
e. restores and regenerates the UK’s depleted soils, wildlife habitats and species populations to healthy and robust states, maximising their capacity to absorb CO2 and their resistance to climate heating;
f. sets up an independent Citizens’ Assembly, representative of the UK’s population, to engage with Parliament and Government and help develop the emergency strategy.
This Council therefore resolves to:
1. Support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill
2. Inform the local media of this decision;
3. Write to local MPs, asking them to support or thanking them for supporting the Bill; and
4. Write to the CEE Bill Alliance, the organisers of the campaign for the Bill, expressing its support.
The MOTION was MOVED by Councillor Miss J Norton and seconded by Councillor C R Slade and they both requested that the motion be discussed at this meeting – this was supported.
Consideration was given to:
· The timing of Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill through Parliament and the need to encourage MP’s to support the Bill at the second reading
· The contents of the Bill which related to the Devon Climate Plan and provided tools and levers to act further locally
· The fact that contents of the Bill had already been supported by neighbouring local authorities
Upon a vote being taken, the MOTION was declared to have been CARRIED.
(2) MOTION 574 – (COUNCILLOR B A MOORE – 8 JUNE 2021)
The Council had before it a MOTION submitted for the first time
That this Council resolves to ask the Standards Committee to convene a working group to review the procedural rules relating to Scrutiny, Audit and the Policy Development Groups (Part 4 Section 5 of the Constitution). The purpose of the review is to make recommendations on those procedural rules, with particular regard to ensuring that items included on meeting agendas, notably at short notice, including duplication, are democratically determined by Members of that committee.
In accordance with Procedure Rule 14.4, the Chairman of the Council has decided that this Motion (if moved and seconded) be dealt with at this meeting.
The MOTION was NOT MOVED.