Leaders in Newcastle have been accused of not acting fast enough to hit an ambitious target of reaching net zero by 2030.
It is more than three years since Newcastle City Council set itself a goal of making the city carbon neutral by the end of this decade, 20 years ahead of the government’s national target for the UK. But the city’s Liberal Democrats have claimed that, while Newcastle’s carbon reduction plans have gained international acclaim, tangible progress on boosting Tyneside’s environmental credentials has been “too slow” and a panel tasked with overseeing the drive to reach net zero has “no teeth”.
Labour insisted that combating climate change was “one of the council’s top priorities” and that decarbonisation of public buildings had already saved thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. The criticism came during a council meeting last week, where Ouseburn councillor Gareth Kane hit out at the local authority's record on the climate crisis.
Proposing that the council’s climate change committee be turned into a scrutiny committee to give it greater power to ensure the 2030 aim can be achieved, he said: “What is the purpose of so much councillor and officer time if the committee has no teeth? If it is just a talking shop?
“We are a third of the way through the period of the target of net zero by 2030, from when Coun Taylor brought her motion to council [proposing the target in April 2019]. Progress has been incremental at best. If we are serious about the climate crisis is it not time to give this committee some teeth?”
Fellow Lib Dem Wendy Taylor added that the existing committee is simply told what actions have been taken by the council rather than discussing how further progress on cutting emissions can be made.
She said: “We have declared a climate emergency and even before that we had a Newcastle declaration on climate change. And yet, progress has been too slow. It is a top priority of the new administration, it makes sense to me that we should have a scrutiny committee.”
Coun Jane Byrne, the council’s cabinet member responsible for climate change, said she had “no problem” with the Lib Dems’ proposals and welcomed scrutiny, with the council agreeing that the matter be referred back to its constitutional committee for consideration. Defending the council’s climate record, the Labour councillor said: “Tackling climate change is one of the council’s top priorities.
“Newcastle is a leading city nationally and internationally in the fight against climate change and we’ve made good progress this year towards our ambition to be Net Zero by 2030. The council reduced its own emissions by 14% in 2020/21 from the previous year – a 52% reduction from our base year of 2009/10.
“The first two phases of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme have delivered £27m worth of fabric improvements, energy efficiency measures, low or zero carbon heating systems, and renewable electricity systems at 30 sites across the city. These include leisure centres and libraries, schools, cultural facilities, car parks, business enterprise centres and properties which form part of the Council’s office and depot estate. The works are estimated to save 2,763 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year or 46,830 tonnes over their lifetime.
“We are focussing efforts on reducing our own emissions through switching to electric vehicles and decarbonising our buildings. We are also supporting residents to reduce their own emissions through better home energy efficiency, low carbon heating systems and Active Travel projects which encourage people to swap their cars for public transport.
“Our Active Travel projects have delivered two School Streets this year with more to follow, and our Safer, Cleaner and Greener Neighbourhood proposals were implemented as a trial in Fenham in March 2022. The e-scooter trial is currently operating in the city. We will be implementing an extension to the Heaton Road Cycle Route and funding has been obtained for additional walking and cycling schemes in the city.”
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