15.11.18
Bristol City Council declares ‘climate emergency’ and backs total carbon neutrality by 2030
Bristol City Council has declared a “climate emergency” and has unanimously backed a commitment to make the city carbon neutral by 2030.
In its latest Full Council meeting, Green councillor Carla Denyer put forward the motion to “declare a climate emergency,” and received backing from the full council to making Bristol a carbon-neutral city by 2030.
The local authority will call on the city’s mayor to action this, and wants a report in six months’ time on how the emergency will be dealt with.
The proposals come as a UN report last month said there are only 12 years left to reverse the effects of irreversible climate damage ad breakdown.
The target is much more ambitious than the UK Government’s target of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050, and Bristol “has already shown foresight and leadership when it comes to addressing the issue of Climate Breakdown, having met its corporate carbon reduction target three years early, published the City Leap prospectus and committed to making the city carbon neutral by 2050.”
Cllr Denyer said: “This is a fantastic day for Bristol and I’m delighted the council will be bringing forward its target for carbon neutrality to 2030. We can’t wait for the UN or national governments to negotiate when we have just 12 years to act – we have to show how it’s done and commit to ambitious action at the level of cities, which we did this evening.
“I’m grateful to my colleagues in the Green Group, who supported me in bringing this motion to council and leading the other political groups in the right direction, to those councillors from other parties who saw the importance of taking action, and to the public who did a fantastic job submitting statements and emailing their councillors in support of this motion.”
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