The following motion was passed unanimously by the Council of the Isles of Scilly on 11th April 2019

Climate Emergency Motion Written by Jonathan Smith, Councillor for St Martin’s.

Proposed recommendations:
1.That Members thank the petitioners for the School Strike for Climate petition, and seek
future endorsement for the four ‘demands’ to Government, as set out in paragraph 5 of this
report.
2. That the Council of the Isles of Scilly declare a ‘Climate Emergency’, in line with many
local councils in the UK. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that
there are just 12 years to keep global temperature rise to 1.5C. The Council will support this
call to action.
3. That the Council notes that:
(a) Climate change provides significant risk to the Council
(b) Climate change provides significant risk to the community and biodioversity of
the Isles of Scilly
(c) Significant value is added to the tourism ‘offer’ and perception that the Isles of
Scilly is a ‘green’ destination, when actions are taken to reduce carbon
emissions
3. Call on Westminster to provide the powers and resources necessary to achieve the target
for the Council of the Isles of Scilly to become carbon neutral by 2030.
4. Commit to, encourage and engage with the Council’s partners and other local businesses
and organisations to adopt similar ambitions to become carbon neutral.
5. Set up a Climate Working Group comprised of Members. This will hold its first meeting
before June 2019, and will discuss actions and strategies to reduce the Council’s carbon
emissions, in addition to current efforts to reduce emissions. Provide recommendations to a
report to Full Council.
6. Provide adequate staff time and leadership to prepare a report to Full Council by October
2019, based on the recommendations of the Climate Working Group. This report will outline
to Members all options for the Council of the Isles of Scilly to start reducing carbon
emissions with immediate effect, with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.
7. That the Monitoring Officer be requested to review the petition scheme and bring back to
Council in June 2019
8. That a Member lead be appointed to provide political leadership on this issue
Notes
A. ‘Climate Emergency’ describes the state of our climate, whereby the International Panel
for Climate Change have stated that we collectively have 12 years to avoid runaway climate
change, exceeding a global 1.5C temperature rise over pre-industrial levels.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed15c-warns-landmark-un-report
B. Cornwall Council declared a similar Climate Emergency motion in January 2019,
unanimously backed by all Councillors. https://democracy.cornwall.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?
ID=77298
C. To date, 51 Local Authorities have declared a Climate Emergency in the UK. There are a
total of 418 Local Authorities in the UK. https://climateemergency.org.uk/
D. ‘Carbon neutral’ means net zero carbon emissions, achieved by minimising emissions
and engaging in credible carbon offset schemes/mechanisms.
E. ‘Carbon emissions’ refers to all greenhouse gases, which are the cause of climate change.