Council motion vows to save the ocean

A ‘save the ocean motion’ has been passed by North Devon Council (NDC) to raise awareness of the need for ocean recovery to achieve vital climate change targets.

Councillor Malcolm Wilkinson (Lib Dem, Mortehoe) presented the motion to a meeting of NDC’s strategy and resources committee, describing it as ‘complementary’ to the council’s climate change efforts.

He said: “A healthy ocean goes a long way to making a healthy environment for us all.”

Cllr Wilkinson continued: “I think what concerns me is the fact there’s the excellent work that’s being done by climate emergency declarations but very few of them actually recognise the importance of the ocean.”

He stressed the importance of the motion resulting in action and not being simply “lost in the ether.”

One of the biggest problems facing the world’s marine environments is acidification. Oceans absorb a significant amount of the carbon dioxide released by the burning of fossil fuels, acidifying the water.

This process upsets the natural balance of ocean life, damaging ecosystems and devastating the world’s coral reefs.

NDC’s motion calls for a number of actions, including asking the government to put the ocean into net recovery by 2030. It also agrees to lobby Devon County Council on ocean recovery, to work with marine industries to encourage sustainability in marine industries, and to consider ocean recovery in the council’s strategic decisions where appropriate.

The motion also calls for is for the introduction of a dedicated coastal communities minister in government. Cllr Wilkinson said: “How the hell do you get representation if you haven’t got a minister that’s going to be there?” In 2019, NDC declared a climate change emergency and signed up to the Devon Climate Emergency, pledging a 45 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and to be carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest.

The council only has one climate emergency officer, who is shared Torridge District Council.

This week [commencing 4 April] the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) published its latest climate report, warning that “rapid, deep and immediate” cuts to carbon dioxide need to occur if the planet is to remain at or below the ‘safe’ 1.5-degree threshold of warming.

The report says that rises above this level will result in the total collapse of most of the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets as well extreme heat waves, severe droughts and water stress.