Newport City Council declared an ecological and climate emergency at its full council meeting yesterday evening.
A motion declaring an emergency, which was unanimously approved was proposed by Councillor Jane Mudd, leader of the council, and seconded by Councillor Jason Hughes, cabinet member for sustainable development.
In passing the motion, the council recognised that climate change is one of the defining issues of our generation, one that needs all of us working together to tackle it.
As well as declaring an ecological and climate emergency, the motion commits the council to:
- continue the good work that we have started and reduce our carbon emissions to net zero by 2030.
- develop a clear climate change plan, in consultation with our citizens, for the next five years that will set out the actions we need to take to achieve this.
- develop a city-wide local area energy plan
- review the services we provide to ensure they support the city’s journey to both net zero carbon and adapting to the impacts of climate change by 2050.
- work with One Newport partners and the public to develop a city-wide climate strategy to enable city-wide net zero carbon and adaptation to climate change by 2050
- support and influence action by partners through partnerships
- support and enable action by citizens to reduce their own carbon emissions.
Councillor Mudd said: “There is an urgent need for us all to come together to limit global temperature rises and build a sustainable world for future generations.
“We have made good progress on lowering our carbon emissions over the last few years, and we will continue that work to ensure we reach our net zero target by 2030.
“By declaring this emergency, we recognise the severity of the issue as well as the need for us to do everything we can to tackle it.”
