“Has Council considered
using the "Climate Action Plan for Councils" published by Friends
of the Earth as an aid to the Covid
recovery programme? The guide aims to create a green, fair,
equitable recovery whilst also taking into
account the Climate and Ecological Emergency. It
contains 46 recommendations relevant to Wales.
please see:-
Minutes:
“Has Council considered using the "Climate Action Plan for Councils" published by Friends of the Earth as an aid to the Covid recovery programme? The guide aims to create a green, fair, equitable recovery whilst also taking into account the Climate and Ecological Emergency. It contains 46 recommendations relevant to Wales.
please see:-
Response by Councillor Cefin Campbell, Executive Board Member for Communities and Rural Affairs:-
“Thank you Celia for your question and yes, absolutely, we are aware of the Friends of the Earth document which you refer to in your question and we are already giving this consideration but, we are also looking at other approaches as well outlined in other documents, in our own Net Zero carbon document and the COVID-19 recovery programme that we are working on at the moment and we are about to publish in the next week or two. There is another document as well which doubtless you are aware of which is the ‘Public Sector Net Zero Carbon Route Map’ which is currently being developed by the Local Government Decarbonisation Strategy Panel as a high-level thematic framework. Now, where possible, we propose to use this Route Map to help guide our approach. It should be noted that some of the Targets in this Route Map are particularly challenging for us and other local authorities as well, and appropriate Actions are currently being discussed with the relevant Lead Officers for incorporation into our Net Zero Carbon Plan.
So what we have is an array of documents, all with different route maps and ideas and what we hope to do is pick and choose some of the ideas and recommendations in there that are most appropriate to Carmarthenshire. In particular, given that we are facing huge economic challenges moving forward, social challenges, environmental challenges as well as a result of Covid, the Council are, as I mentioned about to publish a draft economic recovery and delivery plan which identifies some 30 actions to support the Carmarthenshire economy and that addresses the impacts of COVID and Brexit as well I may add. It sets out our priorities for supporting Business, People and Place. At the heart of it you will obviously understand that we are looking to create a more equal, greener, healthier, and more sustainable community within Carmarthenshire.
So that, I hope answers your question. Yes, we are aware of the document but, we’re also aware of other relevant documents as well.
Ms Strange asked the following supplementary question:-
“As suggested in my question about 46 of the 50 Friends of the Earth recommendations are relevant to Wales and I’ve picked up just two of these and combined them. Will the Council produce a Nature and Eco system restoration plan to reverse and restore habitat species and eco system quality and function to include management of council owned land and road verges?
Councillor Campbell responded as follows:-
“Yes, we are doing a lot of work on conservation and biodiversity. We have a team of officers that are doing this work on a daily basis. So, all of that which you mention is clearly important to us because having that balance between development and Biodiversity and protecting the environment is so crucial for us moving forward. There’s one thing the pandemic has highlighted is we need to look local, we need to look at the challenges that are within a close proximity of where we all live because we can all do more. So, absolutely, we are doing that already and we will be ramping that work up as we move forward.