Three and a half years on from Birmingham City Council’s Climate Emergency declaration, City Councillors are set to debate the latest climate change progress report at Tuesday’s meeting of the City Council.
The Green Party Group have criticised the Labour-run Council’s lack of urgency and piecemeal response to the climate emergency, and demanded a step change in how it tackles the climate emergency
Councillor Julien Pritchard Green Party Group Leader said:
“While there have been some positive developments, we’re still not seeing the sort of urgency and priority we need on the climate from this Council.”
“It feels rather piecemeal, a collection of pilots, projects, and things the Council would have done anyway. We haven’t seen the big step changes from the Council we need to see.
“The fact this Council meeting only has 30 minutes allocated to discuss the Council’s climate work, speaks volumes about the lack of priority. You wouldn’t know it was an Emergency from the Council’s response.”
The Green Party highlighted three areas where the Council could make significant changes:
Warmer Homes – All New Homes Should be Zero Carbon
The Council is proposing one Passiv Haus (zero carbon) housing development. The Council should commit to ALL new council built homes being Passiv Haus or equivalent zero carbon standard. Helping residents keep warm and saving them money on their fuel bills.
The Council only has plans to retrofit 2,300 of its own 60,000 existing homes, and even this only to EPC C standard. The Council needs a plan that retrofits all its properties to a high standard.
Solar Panels on all Council Buildings
Making all Council buildings, including libraries and community centres, more energy efficient and installing solar panels. Making the buildings cheaper to run, saving the Council money and keeping them running for communities across the city.
Developing a Waste System Without Incineration
Birmingham City Council looks poised to sign another 10 year contract locking it into burning the city’s waste in the incinerator until 2034, The incinerator is one of the city’s largest single emitters of Carbon Dioxide. The Council needs to develop a waste system that doesn’t involve burning rubbish in the incinerator, and look at alternatives like food waste collections.