Agenda item

6.1

It was moved by Councillor Lewis Dagnall, and seconded by Councillor Moya O’Rourke, that this Council:-

(a)       notes that the Council recently declared a ‘climate emergency’ and regrets that the Government failed to support the successful Parliamentary resolution by the Leader of Her Majesty's Official Opposition, the Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn MP, to declare a national climate and environmental emergency;

(b)       welcomes the call by Her Majesty's Opposition for a 'Green Industrial Revolution', an appeal to the collective achievements of the past to envisage a social and economic transformation of sufficient scale to avert climate catastrophe whilst fixing the UK's deep social and economic challenges; unlike the first industrial revolution, this must be anchored in dignity at work, social justice, equality and international solidarity, and reverse the environmental degradation started by the first; and

(c)        supports policies that will kick-start the new 'Green Industrial Revolution', including:-

(i)         Labour’s plan to innovate the UK’s transport infrastructure with the railways at the forefront – investing in ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV), completing HS2, electrifying the railways, including here in Sheffield, and expanding the existing railway network;

(ii)        the introduction of a new Clean Air Act, accelerating the transition to clean, zero-emission heavy goods vehicles - such as Sheffield's electric bin lorries, refitted by MagTec in Sheffield;

(iii)       creating 400,000 new jobs in green industries – proposing a seven-fold increase in offshore wind farms by 2030, designed to create 120,000 jobs, alongside 6,000 additional onshore wind turbines, generating up to 60,000 jobs, and set an overall target of achieving 60 per cent renewable and low carbon energy by 2030;

(iv)       plans to install solar panels on 1.75 million homes, creating an additional 16,900 jobs, and just last month Labour announced that it would impose strict environmental criteria on firms bidding for public contracts regarding energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and waste disposal;

(v)        in order to move towards low-carbon steel production, the Government must invest; as such, support is given to calls to nationalise British Steel, to ensure that those jobs currently under threat are secured, and so there is the right investment to transform the steel industry to a green future; and

(vi)       a participatory approach to tackling the climate and environmental emergency, exemplified by Labour's call for evidence from trades unions, businesses, public sector bodies, party members, civil society groups and members of the public, on how to develop the idea of a Green Industrial Revolution further.

6.2

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Tim Huggan, seconded by Councillor Simon Clement-Jones, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the addition of the following words:-

(a)       notes that we are in a Climate Emergency and that the planet only has a decade to slow down global warming before it is too late;

(b)       believes that Sheffield residents feel very strongly about climate change and have held many protests across the city in the recent months;

(c)        believes we owe it to the next generation to put policies in place now that will save their future;

(d)       believes that we all have a part to play when it comes to tackling climate change and as a local authority we can have a big impact via the way we operate, educate and communicate;

(e)       believes that climate change is an international issue where artificial borders are not important and we need to work together across the whole of Europe to tackle it, which means being part of a European community and showing international solidarity as an entire continent rather than an isolated island;

(f)        believes that the Sheffield Liberal Democrat green policies are far-reaching and empower local communities to make greener changes in their local area and are best placed to make decisions that directly affect them;

(g)       supports the following policies that will help Sheffield reach its ambition of being carbon neutral by 2030 and make Sheffield a greener and environmentally friendly place to live and work: -

(i)         establish a citizen’s assembly to listen to local people and develop policies to enable us to achieve this target;

(ii)        supply schools with air quality monitors to help educate and inform students and, through them, inform their families;

(iii)       introduce a ‘Greener Sheffield Fund’ – an additional pot of money for local communities to decide how best they would like to invest in their environment, e.g. street tree retention, cycle routes, recycling;

(iv)       prioritise the use of brownfield sites for all types of housing and business development;

(v)        protect our urban parks so everyone has access to green and open space;

(vi)       promote good relationships with community groups who work to improve our open spaces;

(vii)      enable people to reduce waste by increasing recycling by providing larger blue bins for those who want them;

(viii)     extend the recycling of plastics and make it easier for residents to recycle plastic, e.g. by requiring the Council contractor to undertake more separation;

(ix)       extend the opening hours of recycling centres;

(x)        investigate reverse-vending for plastic bottle returns and encouraging water bottle re-filling points in public places & businesses;

(xi)       explore the collection of food waste for composting;

(xii)      support business to reduce their reliance on single use plastic, e.g. by schemes for retail customers to use their own containers for goods;

(xiii)     support local shops and businesses and promoting active travel by providing greater secure bicycle parking at district shopping centres; and

(xiv)     work with schools to provide and increase secure bicycle parking for students and staff across Sheffield and to develop a plan to improve cycle routes around schools;

(h)       believes that the Sheffield Liberal Democrats are the only party who can deliver a Greener Sheffield; and

(i)         directs the Chief Executive to establish a citizen’s assembly to develop policies to enable us to achieve a carbon neutral Sheffield by 2030.

6.3

It was then moved by Councillor Alison Teal, seconded by Councillor Kaltum Rivers, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.         the deletion, in paragraph (a) of all the words after the words  “notes that this Council recently declared a ‘climate emergency’ and regrets that”, and the addition of the following words thereafter:-

“the majority group voted against the proposal to bring forward the Council’s existing target to be a zero carbon city from 2050 to 2030 at the latest, which would have set out the actions the Council needs to take to meet this revised target, and entirely and actively welcomed the involvement of the cross-party scrutiny system in shaping and overseeing this vital work;”

2.         the deletion of existing paragraphs (b) and (c) and the addition of new paragraphs (b) to (i) as follows:-

(b)       regrets that, despite declaring a climate emergency, this Administration continued with unsustainable plans to widen the ring road and renegotiated the Veolia contract, which we believe fails to enable residents and businesses to recycle waste effectively;

(c)        believes that the monumental cost of HS2 would pay for substantial improvements to local rail, which would have far greater benefits to the local economy and environment;

(d)       notes that, in 2007, as a Green Party MEP, Caroline Lucas co-founded the UK's Green New Deal Group, which published its first report in July 2008 in response to the global financial crisis;

(e)       believes that the huge investment proposed by the Green New Deal in clean energy, warm homes and affordable public transport and decent jobs would have been a far better investment of the same amount of money that the Government instead paid to the banks;

(f)        notes that  US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has recently reinvigorated the idea in the United States;

(g)       notes that Labour’s Shadow Treasury Minister, Clive Lewis MP, and Caroline Lucas MP have now tabled the Decarbonisation and Economic Strategy Bill, which would place duties on ministers to introduce a radical 10-year strategy for public investment designed to decarbonise the economy and eradicate inequality; require ministers to empower communities and workers to transition from high-carbon to low and zero-carbon industries; introduce stricter environmental regulations; and protect and restore natural habitats;

(h)       resolves to write to the Leader of the House of Commons to request that the Decarbonisation and Economic Strategy Bill is given time for debate; and

(i)         asks the Administration to carry out a climate change impact assessment wherever relevant to any key decision and to add this assessment to the standard decision-making checklist.

6.4

After contributions from six other Members, and following a right of reply from Councillor Lewis Dagnall, the amendment moved by Councillor Tim Huggan was put to the vote and was negatived.

6.4.1

The votes on the amendment were ordered to be recorded and were as follows:-

(Note: The recorded vote above incorporates the alterations made at the meeting of the Council held on 3^rd July 2019 when approving the minutes of its meeting on 12^th June.)

6.5

The amendment moved by Councillor Alison Teal was then put to the vote and was also negatived.

6.5.1

(NOTE: Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Bob Pullin, Richard Shaw, Bob McCann, Tim Huggan, Mohammed Mahroof, Colin Ross, Martin Smith, Vic Bowden, Barbara Masters, Shaffaq Mohammed, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Ian Auckland, Steve Ayris, Kevin Oxley, David Baker, Penny Baker, Vickie Priestley, Alan Hooper and Mike Levery voted for part 1 and paragraphs (h) and (i) of part 2 of the amendment, and voted against paragraphs (b) to (g) of part 2 of the amendment, and asked for this to be recorded.)

6.6

The original Motion was then put to the vote and carried as follows:-

6.6.1

The votes on the Motion were ordered to be recorded and were as follows:-

(Note: The recorded vote above incorporates the alterations made at the meeting of the Council held on 3^rd July 2019 when approving the minutes of its meeting on 12^th June.)