Don't mention the climate emergency!

This week, Cornwall Council should have been debating my motion to mark the fifth anniversary of our Climate Emergency declaration: In 2019, we set a goal for Cornwall to be “carbon neutral” by 2030. We knew that this would only be possible with significant new powers and resources from the Government, but Councillors of all parties agreed to campaign together for this change. Sadly the Conservative Government has totally ignored us, and now I believe it’s time to tell the truth: whether it’s Rishi Sunak or Keir Starmer in Downing Street, neither of them will make the drastic changes which would be required to reach net zero by 2030. The goal we set five years ago is now totally impossible.

It’s important for Councillors to be held accountable for the policies of the parties they represent, but my motion was blocked by an unexpected technicality: As well as calling for Councillors to acknowledge that net zero by 2030 is now impossible, I called for officers to publish an updated plan with a “challenging but realistic” target date. After all, a target without a plan is meaningless! After five years of working on the issue, the Council ought to be able to spell out the key steps to electrifying our homes, vehicles and industry and producing our food and energy from sustainable sources. So the response to my motion was rather shocking: Apparently the Council has no plan for Cornwall to reach net zero. It does not even have a plan to write a plan within twelve months. And if Councillors voted to ask officers to create such a plan, they do not have the resources to write it! So, because Full Council can’t vote to make spending commitments outside of our annual budget debate, my motion was deemed ineligible for debate in Full Council… 

The Conservatives on Cornwall Council don’t want to face the truth about Climate Change. The Prime Minister has decided that there are more votes to be won in attacking Labour’s 2021 pledge to invest £28 billion per year in sustainable energy, rather than trying to match it with a bold commitment of their own. Even more depressingly, Starmer seems to think Sunak is correct: Every time he is asked about the £28 billion per year plan, he tries to distance himself from it. Last year, Labour’s plan evolved to “in the second half of the next Parliament” and now they say it will only happen “when fiscal rules allow”.

An emergency is “a serious and dangerous situation requiring immediate action”. The evidence of this serious danger becomes clearer every day: With global average temperatures 1.48 degrees above pre-industrial levels, 2023 saw wildfires, floods, droughts and heatwaves destroy property, ruin crops and kill thousands of people around the world. Whilst Labour and the Conservatives run away from the problem, the Liberal Democrats are committed to taking real action.