South Gloucestershire Council: Back the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill

We are joining with the Climate and Ecological Emergency Alliance (Bristol), to demand action from our councillors. On current trends, our children will experience an unthinkable 3 to 5 degrees of global warming within 80 years! 2020 was the joint hottest year on record and the hottest six years on record have all occurred since 2016.

The UK Government’s target is to go carbon neutral by 2050. But this is too late, because the world is set to exceed the dangerous limit of 1.5°C warming by 2040, causing irreversible harm and costing millions of lives. In fact, Government advisers also say that the UK is not on track to meet its own target.

We call on South Gloucestershire Council to show leadership, by declaring support for the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill (CEE Bill). In July 2019, South Gloucestershire Council achieved unanimous cross party cooperation and declared a Climate Emergency, setting out a strategy to be carbon neutral by 2030.

The CEE Bill is a game-changing vehicle for positive action. It is a draft law which has been introduced to Parliament and already has the support of around 100 MPs.

The Bill would ensure that the UK Government plays its fair and proper role in limiting global warming to the 1.5°C recommended by scientists. It would include our carbon emissions from aviation, shipping and international trade, which are currently ignored! It would set up a Citizens’ Assembly, representative of the people who make up UK society, to advise on the Government’s emergency strategy.

We call on our elected representatives to work together again, in the interests of our future generations, and to show climate leadership!