Transparency
Declaration of Climate Emergency
Documents relating to the council declaring a climate emergency.
Climate and Wildlife Emergency Declaration – Autumn 2019
(This proposal addresses the interrelated impacts of global heating and the 6th mass extinction and will be referred to in this declaration as the Climate Emergency)
Georgeham Parish Council declares a Climate Emergency in recognition of the clear evidence that climate change represents a threat to the life opportunities and well-being of future generations, and needs to be addressed at all levels of government.
It further declares that all its future actions and decisions will take account of the need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reach net-zero carbon by 2030.
The Council also recognises that addressing the challenges of climate change will result in many benefits in terms of health, wellbeing, and community resilience.
As a major tourist destination the parish has a special opportunity to show leadership on this issue and to engage with the many thousands of visitors who come here to enjoy our beaches and coastal scenery.
The Council invites interested members of the public to join a new Working Party of the Parish Council to consider and propose actions to tackle climate change that can be undertaken by the Council and within the community. The Working Party should be asked to consider possible activities including, but not limited to, the following:
- Work with North Devon District Council, Devon County Council and other local and national agencies to ensure resources are directed towards projects in the parish directed to achieving net-zero carbon by 2030
- Engage with proposals for a citizen’s assembly being developed by Devon County Council to consider the actions needed to meet the climate emergency.
- Communicate regularly with our community through an inclusive, impartial process that works well in hearing views and ideas for action from all sectors of the community. Through this process help people understand the seriousness of the challenge facing humanity, and the actions individuals, businesses, community groups, the school, local churches, farmers, and landowners can take to help address climate change and biodiversity loss.
- Develop short, medium, and long term plans aligned with the 4-year Parish Council cycle aimed at achieving zero carbon by 2030 as well as major enhancement to the biodiversity of the parish and measures to mitigate the impact of severe weather events.
- Commission initial audits of energy use, biodiversity and resilience in the parish to inform these plans
- Undertake regular reviews of progress through annual monitoring of energy use, biodiversity, and resilience.
- Support actions to reduce our community’s carbon emissions by improvements to buildings’ energy efficiency, improving public transport, reducing the use of private cars, encouraging walking and cycling, and greater local production of food
This support to include, but not be limited to, financial backing for appropriate schemes;
- Work with local businesses and services to enable them to play an effective part in the battle against climate change;
- Encourage natural approaches to carbon capture such as tree planting;
- Promote schemes to increase biodiversity (for example by reducing the use of pesticides in gardens, creating wildflower rich verges and other public spaces)
- Support farmers and landowners to achieve the transition to net-zero carbon.
- Support the development of renewable energy systems in our area, both politically and by promoting schemes such as solar streets and community owned renewables.
Approved by Georgeham Parish Council at their meeting on 26/9/2019