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Declaring a Climate Emergency. Councillor Blackburn to propose.
The Council notes:
 That that the impacts of climate breakdown are already causing serious damage
around the world.
 That the ‘Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C’, published by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in October 2018, (a) describes the
enormous harm that a 2°C average rise in global temperatures is likely to cause
compared with a 1.5°C rise, and (b) confirms that limiting Global Warming to 1.5°C
may still be possible with ambitious action from national and sub-national
authorities, civil society and the private sector.
 That all governments (national, regional and local) have a duty to act, and local
governments that recognise this should not wait for their national governments to
change their policies;
 That strong policies to cut emissions also have associated health, wellbeing and
economic benefits; and
 That, recognising this, a growing number of UK local authorities have already passed
‘Climate Emergency’ motions.
The Council therefore commits to:
 Declare a ‘Climate Emergency’ that requires urgent action;
 Make the Council’s activities net-zero carbon by 2030;
 Achieve 100% clean energy across the Council’s full range of functions by 2030;
 Ensure that all strategic decisions, budgets and approaches to planning decisions are
in line with a shift to zero carbon by 2030;
 Support and work with all other relevant agencies towards making the entire area
zero carbon within the same timescale;
 Ensure that all Council led leadership teams embed this work in all areas and take
responsibility for reducing, as rapidly as possible, the carbon emissions resulting
from the Council’s activities, ensuring that any recommendations are fully costed
and that the Executive and Scrutiny functions review council activities taking account
of production and consumption emissions and produce an action plan within 12
months, together with budget actions and a measured baseline;
 Request that Council Scrutiny Committees consider the impact of climate change and
the environment when reviewing Council policies and strategies;
 Work with, influence and inspire partners across Blackpool, Lancashire and the North
West to help deliver this goal through all relevant strategies, plans and shared
resources by developing a series of meetings, events and partner workshops;
 Request that the Council and partners – not least the Council’s wholly owned
companies, take steps to proactively include young people in the process, ensuring
that they have a voice in shaping the future;
 Request that the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Climate Change convene a
Citizens’ Assembly before the end of the calendar year, in order to involve the wider
population in this process. This group would help develop its own role, identify how
the Council’s activities might be made net-zero carbon by 2030, consider the latest
climate science and expert advice on solutions and to consider systematically the
climate change impact of each area of the Council’s activities;
 Set up a Climate Change Partnership group, involving Councillors, residents, young
citizens, climate science and solutions experts, businesses, Citizens Assembly
representatives and other relevant parties. Over the following four years, the Group
will consider strategies and actions being developed by the Council and other
partner organisations and develop a strategy in line with a target of net zero
emissions by 2030. It will also recommend ways to maximise local benefits of these
actions in other sectors such as employment, health, agriculture, transport and the
economy;
 Report on the level of investment in the fossil fuel industry that our pensions plan
and other investments have, and review the Council’s investment strategy to give
due consideration to climate change impacts in the investment portfolio;
 Ensure that all reports in preparation for the 2020/ 2021 budget cycle and
investment strategy will take into account the actions the council will take to address
this emergency;
 Call on the UK Government to provide the powers, resources and help with funding
to make this possible, and ask local MPs to do likewise;
 Consider other actions that could be implemented, including (but not restricted to):
renewable energy generation and storage, providing electric vehicle infrastructure
and encouraging alternatives to private car use, increasing the efficiency of buildings,
in particular to address fuel poverty; proactively using local planning powers to
accelerate the delivery of net carbon new developments and communities,
coordinating a series of information and training events to raise awareness and
share good practice;
 Furthermore, this Council makes clear its fundamental opposition to the practice of
fracking. The Council will not allow its land to be used for fracking; and
 Finally, via the Local Government Association, the Council will invite in a group of
experts to advise on what steps can be taken quickly to have the greatest possible
impact on air quality, modal shift away from private cars, increased take up on public
transport, and ensure that every aspect of the Councils activities are sighted on the
need to preserve Blackpool’s ecological and environmental heritage.