Agenda item

In April 2019, Medway Council declared a climate emergency. Like many others, I looked forward to positive steps being taken by the Council urgently to reduce emissions and to adapt to the changes that we can already see happening.

However, in the two years since, very little seems to have been achieved. I appreciate there have been studies, reports and an ‘action plan’, but it is not clear what has actually been done. The strong words of the Climate Emergency Declaration have been superseded by an ‘advisory group’ which meets occasionally and has no power. You cannot find any reference to the Emergency on the Council’s website without using the ‘search’ function.

In October 2018 the UN warned we had 12 years to avert catastrophe. Two and a half years on, why is your administration still not taking the climate crisis seriously?

“In April 2019, Medway Council declared a climate emergency. Like many others, I looked forward to positive steps being taken by the Council urgently to reduce emissions and to adapt to the changes that we can already see happening.

However, in the two years since, very little seems to have been achieved. I appreciate there have been studies, reports and an ‘action plan’, but it is not clear what has actually been done. The strong words of the Climate Emergency Declaration have been superseded by an ‘advisory group’ which meets occasionally and has no power. You cannot find any reference to the Emergency on the Council’s website without using the ‘search’ function.

In October 2018 the UN warned we had 12 years to avert catastrophe. Two and a half years on, why is your administration still not taking the climate crisis seriously?”

Councillor Jarrett thanked Mr Dyke for his question. He said that the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee had considered, on 28 January 2021, a detailed report of action taken to date in support of the climate emergency. This report was available on the Council website.

The Kent and Medway Energy and Low Emission Strategy had been approved by Medway’s Cabinet on 12 January 2021 and committed to a net zero carbon target by 2050. Medway’s ambitious street lighting LED replacement programme had continued.

A new online form for residents and businesses to support tree planting across Medway, by donating an amount of their choice, had recently gone live and a successful bid had been made to the Forestry Commission’s Urban Tree Challenge Fund. This had resulted in the planting of nearly 14,000 small trees across ten sites in Medway during February and March 2021.

30 miles of wildflower verges had been created during 2020 allowing a wider diversity of wildflowers and grasses to thrive. Work was underway to develop and implement Re:fit, a programme to improve energy performance across the Council’s estate, which would result in both environmental and financial  savings. Electric vehicle charging points were being installed to support the trial of six electric vehicles for staff business use.

In summer 2020, Medway had been awarded £242,000 by the Department for Transport to deliver measures to create an environment that would be safer for walking and cycling.

Councillor Jarrett said that the Council had supported Medway residents and small businesses to apply for rooftop solar panels via the collective buying scheme, Solar Together Kent.

On 20 April 2021, a draft Climate Change Action Plan was presented to the Climate Change Advisory Board. The Plan set out a wider range of actions that would be required over the coming years to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. This document would be reviewed annually, with the Action Plan being due to be presented to Cabinet on 8 June 2021 for approval.

A cross party climate change Member Advisory Board had been instrumental in steering the development of the Action Plan and would continue to receive quarterly updates on progress in delivering the Action Plan.

A climate change webpage had been added to Medway’s website to highlight projects that supported the climate emergency and a new social media presence, Medway Climate Change, was on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These had been established to further promote the Council’s work and to support others to make changes.