Reform-led Staffordshire council approves environmental strategy that doesn't mention climate change
Reform UK council leaders have approved a new environmental strategy – which does not mention climate change at all.
Staffordshire County Council’s environmental strategy sets out a number of priorities in areas such as transport, energy and waste.
But the 2,600-word document does not include a single mention of the term ‘climate change’, despite talking about the need to adapt to ‘impactful weather’ and ‘changes to long-term weather patterns’.
The new strategy comes after Reform councillors voted to rescind a climate emergency declaration, made under authority’s previous Conservative administration.
It replaces the council’s climate change strategic development framework, the latest version of which was agreed in 2024.
Council leaders say they are taking a ‘broader, more practical’ approach to environmental issues, with a focus on ‘solutions that make a real difference now’.
Cabinet members voted to approve the strategy at their meeting on Wednesday.
Councillor Andrew Mynors, cabinet member for connectivity, said: “We are custodians of our rural and built environment in Staffordshire, and it’s our commitment to preserve and enhance Staffordshire for everybody to enjoy.
"We want to create a Staffordshire were communities are proud to call Staffordshire home, where nature thrives and people feel empowered to shape the future of this beautiful county.
“We’re going to reduce the county council’s overall environmental impact, ensure services in communities can adapt to impactful weather and support economic growth.
"We also want to support affordable reliable energy and assist multi-modal transport in line with economic growth.”
The strategy says that Staffordshire is already seeing the effects of impactful weather, such as increased flood risk, heat and drought, which is impacting on health and farming yields.
One of the eight priorities listed in the document talks about ensuring services and communities can adapt to these changes.
Another priority calls for the council to support access to ‘reliable, affordable and cleaner energy’.
It says the council will encourage the government to support rooftop solar panels instead of ‘damaging our countryside and compromising food security’, but there is no mention of carbon emissions or net zero.
Other priorities include achieving waste minimisation, supporting local nature recovery and reducing the council’s overall environmental impact.
The previous climate change strategic development framework talked explicitly about the link between carbon emissions and climate change, and set out the council’s target of achieving net zero by 2050.
Councillor Jack Rose, the county council’s sole Green Party representative, believes the environmental strategy needs to address climate change and its causes.
He said: “Climate denial isn’t anything new from Reform UK. I think some of it is performative – I’ve spoken to individual Reform councillors who do accept that climate change is real, even if we disagree on what needs to be done about it.
“The new environmental strategy seems a bit wishy washy. You can say that you want to reduce the council’s environmental impact but they don’t say what that will actually mean.”
A new environmental action plan, which will build on the strategy, is due to be approved by the cabinet in March.
