Agenda item

Climate Change

It was moved by Councillor Andrew Sangar, seconded by Councillor Richard Shaw, that this Council:-

(a)       notes the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) is scheduled to take place in Paris, France from 30 November to 11 December 2015;

(b)       believes this will be a crucial conference, as it needs to achieve a new international agreement on the climate, applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming within 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels;

(c)        notes the achievements of Liberal Democrats in government from 2010 to 2015 in maintaining momentum towards a new global treaty on climate change, working constructively with other EU member states for more ambitious action on green growth and making progress towards decarbonising the UK economy;

(d)       condemns the Government for what this Council believes is an ideologically-motivated decision to end support for onshore wind power, which can only serve to increase the cost of the low-carbon transition while at the same time losing jobs and investment and harming the UK's international competitiveness;

(e)       therefore calls upon the Government to:-

(i)         play a leading political and diplomatic role as part of the EU negotiating effort to secure agreement on a fair, effective and legally binding new global climate treaty at the conference; and

(ii)        ensure that the UK meets its own targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and plays a leadership role within Europe and internationally on efforts to combat climate change; and

(f)        requests that a copy of this motion be sent to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Terry Fox, seconded by Councillor Tony Downing, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:

1.          the deletion of paragraph (c) and the addition of a new paragraph (c) as follows:-

(c)         notes the achievements of the previous Labour government on climate change, including:

(i)       introducing the Climate Change Act, which legislated for an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050, making the UK the first country to legislate for deep, long-term cuts in emissions; and

(ii)      helping to broker the Kyoto Treaty – the world’s first legally binding climate treaty.

2.          the addition of a new paragraph (f) as follows, and the re-lettering of original paragraph (f) as a new paragraph (g):-

(f)          is alarmed by the Government’s decision to cut spending on home energy efficiency by 83% and break its election pledge to commit £1bn for carbon capture and storage technology in the recent Comprehensive Spending Review;

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

(Note: Councillors Aodan Marken, Brian Webster and Robert Murphy voted for    Paragraph 2 and abstained on Paragraph 1 of the above amendment and asked for this to be recorded.)

It was then moved by Councillor Brian Webster, seconded by Councillor Aodan Marken, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the addition of a new paragraph (f) as follows, and the relettering of original paragraph (f) as a new paragraph (g):-

(f)        welcomes the 'Time for the Climate' event which was held in Sheffield on 28th November 2015 by Sheffield Climate Alliance as part of the Global People’s Climate March;

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

It was then moved by Councillor John Booker, seconded by Councillor Keith Davis, 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)       believes the relentless push to create an international agreement on climate change is anything but international;

(b)       is concerned that the consequences of our drive to an ever lower carbon economy means Britain's capacity to generate power is dangerously low;

(c)       notes that figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change show spare capacity in electrical generation will be perilously close to zero this winter and could fall even further, leaving Britain short of power by the winter of 2016-17;

(d)       believes that Great Britain should invest in renewable energy where it can deliver electricity at competitive prices, and that, at the moment, only hydro can achieve this;

(e)       notes that wind power is hopelessly inefficient and that wind farms rely heavily on reserve back-up from conventional power sources, and believes that they spoil our landscapes and put money into the pockets of wealthy landowners and investors, while pushing up bills for the rest of the population; and

(f)        further believes that closing perfectly good coal-fired power stations to meet unattainable targets for renewable capacity is a seriously flawed policy.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived.