Committee supports Lib Dem calls on Climate Change (Surrey Heath Liberal Democrats

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Committee supports Lib Dem calls on Climate Change

October 5, 2005 12:00 AM

Climate Change threatens people worldwide

Surrey Heath's Leisure & Environment Committee last week called for Surrey Heath Council to play its part in helping to reduce carbon emissions in the local area. The Committee endorsed a course of action originally put forward by Liberal Democrat Councillors Judy Douch & Bob Smith in a motion in December, 2004 which urged the Council to sign up to the "Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change".

The Committee was considering a report that described a range of actions which various parts of the Council were already carrying out under the general heading of action on climate change. The report concluded, however, that such actions were currently fragmented and uncoordinated, and that signing up to the Nottingham Declaration would help to focus efforts and make them more effective.

This declaration (the text of which can be found on www.surreyheathlibdems.org.uk ) is purely voluntary but has already been signed up to by some 80 local authorities of all political affiliations, ranging from rural districts to metropolitan boroughs.

The recommendation of the Committee will now go to a full meeting of the Council for consideration. If approved, it would commit the Council to improving its own environmental performance, publishing targets and monitoring progress; and to work with other local bodies, to consider the effects of climate change locally, identifying ways to adapt.

Cllr Bob Smith said: "Climate Change is not someone else's problem. Local authorities can and should act as leaders in their areas to promote environmentally-sensible behaviour, and they need to start with a public commitment to reduce emissions in activities under their direct control. In Surrey Heath that means: enhancing recycling provision; utilising "green" energy sources; promoting environmental measures through the planning system; and taking environmental aspects into account when making purchasing decisions".

Cllr Judy Douch said: "This sort of action is very relevant to Surrey Heath. Locally, I have worked with Woking Borough Council, which has already committed to the Nottingham Declaration. I should like to see Surrey Heath follow the lead of Woking who are recognised as a leader in action on climate change, and have already reduced their CO2 emissions by 72% from a 1990/1 baseline. Much advice is available for local authorities on what can be done, for example at the website of the Energy Saving Trust. "