Question
What is the Council doing to close the gap in the Climate Emergency Action Plan?
Minutes:
What is the Council doing to close the gap in the Climate Emergency Action Plan?
Answer
As you know, Wokingham Borough Council made a commitment to play as full a role as possible in achieving a carbon-neutral Wokingham Borough by 2030. The Council has demonstrated this commitment through developing a clear and ambitious Climate Emergency Action Plan.
In that action plan we set out a number of major commitments such as the construction of solar farms, planting 250,000 trees, developing a net-zero local plan and becoming a net zero carbon organisation. These will significantly reduce the Borough’s carbon emissions, but we accept that currently there is a gap in our plan to achieving our ambition.
The Council’s powers to reduce carbon emissions are limited; we cannot force anyone to do anything. As a result, we need to look at the wider picture and to our role as a community leader and influencer, which will be equally, if not more, critical. To reach net-zero across the suite of sectors and activities that we cannot directly control will require partnerships and collaboration as vital ingredients for success.
More than half of the emissions cuts needed will rely on people and businesses taking up low-carbon solutions - decisions that are made at a local and individual level. While we can provide the supporting infrastructure, we also require businesses, individuals and other organisations to choose to take action.
With this in mind, we are proposing an extensive and ongoing dialogue with residents, with businesses and with fellow Councillors. We have already started this process, by introducing the ongoing series of ‘Climate Conversations’ with our business community and via the newly established Youth Council focused on the climate emergency as the key topic for its first meeting and as an ongoing area of focus. I spoke with this group on Monday afternoon and have already received a number of great ideas from them.
We have also committed to an extensive deliberative engagement process with a wide range of stakeholder groups and workshops that will be independently facilitated to develop ideas and proposals for further action that address the climate emergency. This process will not only generate a series of community led propositions; it will also act as a ‘call for action’, galvanising active participation and positive behaviour change.
Supplementary Question
You mentioned an ongoing dialogue with fellow Councillors. Can you tell me how you think that will work?
Supplementary Answer
I know that a lot of the Councillors in the Chamber and elsewhere have a lot of ideas. I have repeatedly asked for those ideas to be forthcoming. When we first declared a Climate Emergency a lot of those ideas were put forward. But, recently, there has been a shift from ideas to political posturing. This has been played out in public and, frankly, we need to end that. Our residents deserve better. The Task and Finish Group facilitated and run excellently by Councillor Swaddle have shown that when we do get together, cross party, some great recommendations come out that can be added to the Climate Emergency Action Plan and benefit everybody.
So, what I am proposing is a series of independently facilitated workshops, similar to the local deliberative processes, to be held for Councillors. They will be focussed on specific topics where ideas can be worked through with the officers and approved in Council, in the same way as recommendations from the local deliberative processes.
I believe that all parties have a duty to their residents to come forward with suggestions and to share their ideas, not just their criticisms.