21 July 2021
Brentwood and Chelmsford Green Party is happy to support a Labour Party motion being put before next week’s Brentwood Borough Council meeting calling on the Council to ‘Declare a Climate Emergency’.
The motion has been put forward by Cllr Dr Tim Barrett and seconded by Cllr Gareth Barrett, both Labour councillors in the Brentwood South ward.
Brentwood & Chelmsford Green Party have been campaigning for Brentwood Borough Council to declare a Climate Emergency for some time now, and follow the move of others across Essex. Chelmsford City Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2019, while councils in Epping Forest, Harlow, Thurrock, Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge, Southend, Braintree and Colchester have done the same. So why not in Brentwood?
In fact more than two thirds of councils across the country have now declared a climate emergency, and Brentwood Greens have been calling on Brentwood Borough Council to follow suit - and set an ambitious target for reducing carbon emissions here to zero.
Local Green Party campaigner Paul Jeater said: “Brentwood Green Party fully supports this motion proposed by the Borough’s Labour councillors.
“This is no time to engage in tribal party politics. The recent floods in Germany, Belgium & Austria, France & Luxembourg, and China & India, intense record-breaking heat in the USA and Canada, and fires raging in Siberia show that we are in the midst of a climate emergency.
“The motion submitted deserves the support of all Councillors. Brentwood Council needs to step up its efforts, working with others, to make net zero by 2030 an achievable target.”
The motion, which details the current climate science and need for urgent action, points out that: “Councils and Parliaments around the world are responding by declaring a ‘Climate Emergency’ and committing resources to address this emergency.”
It would commit the Council - which doesn’t mention climate or the climate emergency once in its Corporate Strategy 2020-2025 - to do the following:
You can read full details and agenda for the Council’s Ordinary Meeting here - and you can also watch a live broadcast on Wednesday, July 28 at 7.00 pm. A recording is added to the page afterwards.
The Brentwood council motion on the Climate Emergency is also timely after the publication on July 20 of the Essex Climate Action Commission report - ‘Net Zero: Making Essex Carbon Neutral' - which can be download here.
As Greens in Essex we will be examining and challenging the recommendations made by the Essex Climate Action Commission, ahead of Essex County Council’s deliberations - and pressing them to move ahead swiftly with the urgent and far-reaching Climate Action required for Essex.
