Minutes of Shropshire Council Meeting 13th December 2018.

Report of meeting by Councillor Andy Boddington

Councillor J Dean stated that he was pleased to accept the constructive amendment
to the Notice of Motion, the amended wording was also supported by Councillors
Harry Taylor, Nat Green and Andy Boddington.
Proposed by Councillor Jones and seconded by Councillor D Carroll:
‘The International Panel on Climate Change has recently made clear the scale of the
emergency facing us all. It is clear that current action to reduce emissions is
inadequate both globally and in the UK, and if unchecked will result in a catastrophic
3 degrees of global warming.
The Paris Agreement’s central claim is to strengthen the global response to the
threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below
2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the
temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the
agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of
climate change.
The UK Government is yet to put forward plans for partnerships with local councils to
achieve the Paris climate goals, although emissions reduction efforts at the local
level could help the UK government achieve and exceed its existing National
Determined Contribution.

In the interim before Central Government comes forward with proposals for Local
Government based on the Paris Agreement this Council resolves to:
1. Ask the Leader and Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for the
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ask when Central Government expects
to issue its proposals
2. Ask the Leader to reinforce the Council’s commitment to the environment,
including climate change, by naming a member of the Administration
responsible for the Environment to promote the work being undertaken by the
Council
3. Request the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee establish a Task
and Finish Group to do the following:
 Review Shropshire Council’s existing Environmental policies and the
effectiveness of actions already taken
 To come forward with further recommendations for Shropshire Council to
consider in the future
We encourage the Task and Finish Group to consider the following as starting points
in their considerations:
 Requiring all report risk assessments to include Carbon Emission Appraisals,
including presenting alternative approaches which reduce emissions
wherever possible.
 Clarify which Director-level officer has responsibility for promoting the
reduction, as rapidly as possible, of carbon emissions resulting from the
Council’s activities.
 Review the need for a Shropshire Council Climate Action Plan and any
related delivery bodies
 Making Environmental Impact a consideration for the inclusion within the
Council’s procurement framework’.
RESOLVED:
That the Notice of Motion be supported

Original Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor Julian Dean and supported by Councillors Harry Taylor, Nat Green and Andy Boddington:

The International Panel on Climate Change has recently made clear the scale of the emergency facing us all. It is clear that current action to reduce emissions is inadequate both globally and in the UK, and if unchecked will result in a catastrophic 3 degrees of global warming.

The UK Government is yet to put forward plans for partnerships with local councils to achieve the Paris climate goals, although emissions reduction efforts at the local level could help the UK government achieve and exceed its existing National Determined Contribution.

In the lieu of a central government lead this Council agrees to:

  • Require all report risk assessments to include Carbon Emission Appraisals, including presenting alternative approaches which reduce emissions wherever possible.
  • Establish a Task and Finish Group of members, to run for a full year, with the remit to recommend actions and challenging targets across the Council’s activities.
  • Task a director-level ‘Carbon Champion’ officer with responsibility    for promoting the reduction, as rapidly as possible, of carbon emissions resulting from the Council’s activities.
  • Produce and publish our own Climate Action Plan in order to facilitate the most rapid emissions cuts possible.
  • Establish a local Climate Action Partnership to draw in support from business, the wider public sector, the voluntary sector and the wider community.