RESOLVED at Council Meeting 17th July 2019

: A. That this Council notes:
 The economic system is enriching a minority while leading
humanity towards climate catastrophe.
 The Country’s political system is leaving many to feel
powerless and excluded from the key decisions that affect
them.
 In 2018, the world’s leading climate scientists—the IPCC—
warned that humanity has only 12 years left in which to cap
temperature rises at 1.5C or face a sharply higher risk of
drought, floods and heatwaves.
 The UK Parliament has approved a motion to declare an
environment and climate emergency, and all governments
(national, regional and local) have a duty to limit the
negative impacts of climate breakdown.
 Local government organisations should recognise that they
cannot wait for national government to provide more
money and support to reduce emissions, and that they
should commit to the ambition of carbon neutrality by 2030
at the latest.
 Our emissions as an organisation are a small proportion of
our area’s CO2 emissions and that we can achieve more
for our environment by working co-operatively than we do
alone.
 The UK’s Independent Committee for Climate Change
states that 18% of UK carbon emissions come from
buildings – most of them homes – with a further 15% of
emissions coming from electricity consumed in buildings
and that therefore the council’s role as a housing and
planning authority will be key in this co-operative effort.
 That large warehouses used by the likes of Amazon and
other internet retailers typically have high energy demands
requiring additional electrical sub-stations and other
infrastructure
 The UK’s independent Committee of Climate Change
estimates that 1.5bn new trees will be required for the next
30 years to increase woodland cover from 13 to 17 per
cent in this country.
 Every year, our area spends significant amounts on
energy, which goes out of the local economy to the big
energy companies, when we believe that it could be
retained through community energy, a fundamentally
important part of the national energy transition we are
undergoing right now.
B. That in light of the above, this Council will:
1. Join with other Councils in declaring a Climate Emergency,
and have a vision of, and aspire to carbon neutrality by
2030 at the latest.
2. Continue to call on Westminster to provide the necessary
powers and resources to make local action on climate
change easier.
3. Work to explore the expansion of community energy to
keep the benefits of our local energy generation in our local
economy.
4. Continue to work with partners anchored in West
Lancashire to deliver carbon reductions and grow the local
economy.
5. Encourage local councillors to take action in their
communities, with a view to establishing a Citizens
Assembly made up of a range of representatives from our
local citizens to establish the facts and make
recommendations for our council.
6. That the following comments be forwarded to the Local
Plan Cabinet Working Group for consideration:
(i) As part of the current local plan review, consider the
new housing numbers planned to reflect only the
numbers required each year for local need.
(ii) Consider, through the new local plan, all new homes
built to be built to zero carbon home design codes.
(iii) Consider, through the new local plan, all new
commercial properties including warehouses to be built
to the highest carbon reduction design codes and to
offset through, e.g. tree planting, any remaining carbon
emissions
(iv) Encourage through policies in the new local plan,
additional planting of woodland in West Lancashire
7. That the Housing Portfolio Holder be asked to consider
initiating through the council’s housing capital account, a
multi-year programme of insulation and other energy
efficiency measures to the Borough’s council housing
stock.