Staffordshire County Council scraps climate emergency declaration six years on

The authority was one of several across Staffordshire to declare a climate emergency in 2019. At the time it was under Conservative control.

Since then work to tackle climate change has seen the county council cut its carbon emissions by more than half. The authority had set a target to reach net zero by 2025.

In May Reform UK took over the administration of the authority, after sweeping to victory in the county council elections. At Thursday’s (October 9) full council meeting, elected members backed a motion put forward by Councillor Andrew Mynors to rescind the climate emergency declaration made in July 2019.

The Stafford Trent Valley representative, who is cabinet member for connectivity, proposed in his motion: “Rather than chasing long-term targets we will focus on protecting and enhancing our environment and the impacts we can have now, particularly if they can deliver value for money for our communities, businesses and the county council. Cabinet will produce a new Environmental Strategy, and supporting action plan, for Staffordshire.

He added: “The rhetoric around decarbonisation of the public estate and the pursuit of net zero has acted as a distraction of county council activities and taken focus away from core priorities around the economy, education, supporting our vulnerable citizens and achieving value for money across all our activities. The county council does not need a climate emergency and long-term net zero targets to fulfil our environmental responsibilities and reduce our own impact on the environment.

“We acknowledge that the county is experiencing extremes in weather conditions and that this change impacts both the services that we deliver and the communities that we serve. As custodians of large parts of the natural and the built environment we will work in partnership with others throughout the county to ensure that we consider these impacts and drive meaningful change.”

But Councillor Jack Rose, the authority’s first and only Green Party member, referred the motion to the council’s monitoring officer, highlighting Councillor Mynors’ employment at BDM Geolog UK Ltd, which “specialises in oil, gas and geothermal operations”. Councillor Rose added: “He is also on the committee of London Petrophysics Society, which advertise that BP is their gold sponsor.

“Working for a company that perpetuates climate destruction while simultaneously proposing a motion to retract the climate emergency shows a clear corporate preference and conflict of interest. I would ask that this motion is removed from the floor.”

Council officers considered the matter and concluded that Councillor Mynors had properly declared his employment and interest in other registerable interests however. Debate of the motion continued and a vote took place, with the motion being supported by the majority of council members.

Councillor Simon Tagg, the county council’s former cabinet member for environment, infrastructure and climate change under the previous Conservative administration, proposed an amendment to the motion but this failed to gain enough support to be carried. He said: “I believe we must proceed with care and clarity.

“Simply rescinding the climate change emergency declaration sends the wrong signal, not just to our residents, but to our partners and businesses, and also to the officers of the council. Instead I propose we replace it, following full scrutiny and consultation, with renewed focus and commitment that reflects the progress we have made in the past and the challenges we face ahead.”