Motion #07

Reaffirm the UK’s Commitment to Timely Climate Action

Proposers

Climate Emergency PWG: Phil Horton*, Tony Cooke, Tony Firkins, Nadine Storey, John McClintock, Pamela Harling

Synopsis

Current climate policy aligns with the Paris Agreement and United Nations processes. This motion proposes loosening our policy links to those agreements and states that the UK will accelerate climate action independently. This does not negate our internationalist view but recognises that current approaches will not deliver quickly enough.

Motion

Changes to The Climate Emergency, Local Planning and the Built Environment, and Food and Agriculture chapters of Policies for a Sustainable Society (PSS) as follows:

CC013: Delete “and can only be tackled by global action. Such action must be based on the work of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and especially on the Paris Agreement of 2015 (which the UK has ratified) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”

Insert “continue to” after “We” in the second sentence.

Insert additional sentences “However, we recognise the failure of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process to deliver the required rapid reductions in emissions to achieve those aims. GPEW would therefore seek to work with willing partners to ensure the UK takes a lead in demonstrating the technical and societal changes required to face this existential threat.”

So that CC013 reads:

CC013: The Climate Emergency is a global problem. We continue to support the aims of the Paris Agreement to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above preindustrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels”. However, we recognise the failure of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process to deliver the required rapid reductions in emissions to achieve those aims. GPEW would therefore seek to work with willing partners to ensure the UK takes a lead in demonstrating the technical and societal changes required to face this existential threat.

CC014: Delete the list of actions and replace with the following so that CC014 reads:

CC014: As a rich country that was the first to industrialise and a major emitter of greenhouse gases over many decades the UK bears a particular responsibility. It should:

1. Recognise that, regardless of international targets being missed, every fraction of a degree temperature increase matters, and legislate accordingly.
2. Work sector by sector to deliver against its Paris Agreement commitments through ambitious policies on emissions reductions, climate finance, capacity building and technology transfer that focus on the need to act immediately.
3. Pay compensation for climate-related loss and damage, making this a key element of delivering international action and equity.
4. Advocate an emergency international agreement to conserve and enhance carbon sinks and reservoirs including forests, peatfields and coastal and estuarine areas, and demonstrate real action within the UK.
5. Reduce, the emissions associated with its imports by restricting the import of high carbon goods.
6. Support the Sustainable Development Goals with the exception of Goal 8 that we do not support in its entirety due to its emphasis on economic growth (see PB106).

CC016: for clarity, insert “on a consumption basis” at the end of the first sentence so that CC016 reads:

CC016: The UK should target eliminating all carbon dioxide emissions within 10 years on a consumption basis. The Green Party of England and Wales will continue to develop a policy package that will reduce the UK’s production and consumption greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible. Updates on targets and forecasts will be recorded in Record of Policy Statements, Green Party manifestos and reports to conference

CC110: to ensure there is deliverable oversight of climate policies, alter the list of actions in CC110 to move from a Climate Change Agency to a Wellbeing of Future Generations approach, as successfully delivered in Wales as follows:

In Item (1) delete “need to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C, respect for” and replace with “latest”

In item (1) delete “equity” and replace with “global equity, and the principles included in (CC014)”

In Item (1) replace “Committee on Climate Change” with “Climate Change Committee”

Delete item (2) and replace with “Require all Government policies to take account of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act and to ensure impacts on the environment, society and intergenerational equity are considered.”

In item (3) insert “, industrial sectors” after “public bodies”

Add to the end of Item (3) “, with sectoral limits set by the Climate Change Committee.”

Insert item (1) “Introduce a UK equivalent to the Welsh Wellbeing of Future Generations Act, to enshrine in law the need to make decisions for the long-term benefit of humanity.” and renumber.

so that CC110 reads:

CC110: For clear accountability the UK should:

1.     Introduce a UK equivalent to the Welsh Wellbeing of Future Generations Act, to enshrine in law the need to make decisions for the long-term benefit of humanity.

2.     Strengthen the Climate Change Act to require the Climate Change Committee to set budgets on the basis of the latest climate science and global equity, and the principles included in (CC014).

3.     Require all Government policies to take account of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act and to ensure impacts on the environment, society and intergenerational equity are considered.

4.     Require all public bodies, industrial sectors and businesses to define their own adaptation plans and Locally- Determined Contributions (LDCs) to climate change mitigation, with sectoral limits set by the Climate Change Committee.

LP403 and FA301, replace “net zero” with “zero” for clarity so that they read:

LP403: A sustainable built environment will be achieved through planning by creating places that facilitate a zero carbon, circular economy, with actions to mitigate and adapt to the climate emergency, to reduce our ecological footprint to a ‘one planet’ level, and to address more localised problems such as flooding, severe weather events, and heat islands. Local plans should integrate with national and bioregional/regional energy plans.

FA301:  Food, Agriculture and Climate Change – climate change is the most profound challenge facing the planet. Agriculture and food production account for some 10% of UK greenhouse gas emissions. Soil is the most important carbon store in the UK.

• All farmers will be supported through advice and guidance to manage their farms to reduce GHG emissions to zero as set out in CC015. Carbon sequestration will be one of the outcomes to attract payment under the revised farming support scheme.
• We will set rigorous targets for GHG reductions, to reduce emissions to zero as set out in CC015 across the Food and Agriculture System to cover farms and the whole supply, manufacturing and distribution system including imports.

Background

Download File