East Cambridgeshire District Council - Declare a Climate Emergency

We are facing an unprecedented climate and ecological catastrophe. Leading scientists from the IPCC have warned that if we carry on with business as usual and don't take emergency action on climate change, we face the gravest threats to our local and global environment. This includes worsening risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people. Extreme weather events are already being seen, even in East Cambs which experienced severe drought last year. More recently, during a heatwave in July 2019 which saw extreme temperatures across Europe, the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK was reached in Cambridge.

In the light of this urgent situation, at least 230 councils in the UK have already declared a Climate Emergency, while cities including Exeter, Bristol and Edinburgh have set themselves ambitious targets of carbon neutrality by 2030.

We therefore call on the East Cambridgeshire District Council to:

1. Declare a Climate Emergency;

2. Pledge to make ECDC together with its wholly-owned companies and contractors carbon neutral by 2030, and pledge to divest Council investments including pensions from fossil fuels;

3. Call on the Government to provide the powers, resources and technical support to make the 2030 target possible;

4. Work with local stakeholders to develop a strategy in line with a target of net zero emissions by 2030, via a Council Working Group and a Citizen's Assembly. These should involve participation from as wide a range of residents, young people, businesses, and other relevant parties as possible and should report within 6 months, or at least in time for their recommendations to be funded in the next budget cycle.

Please only sign if you live or work in East Cambs, and make sure to include your postcode.