WE NEED ACTION NOW

I WRITE in response to Andrew Gwynne’s article regarding Stockport Council’s climate action strategy where he states that, ‘In Stockport, we’re very lucky to have a Labour-led council which is really leading the way on this’.

Sadly, this is far from the truth and I echo the sentiments expressed in Deborah Hind’s excellent letter, printed just above Mr Gwynne’s article, in which she highlights a number of factors which demonstrate the council’s lack of leadership in addressing the climate emergency.

Mr Gwynne cites the declaration of a climate emergency in March 2019 and the subsequent setting up of a cross-party task group as evidence of Labour’s ‘leading the way’. However, to date, 277 UK councils have declared a climate emergency and many of them have detailed ambitious plans to reduce carbon emissions and to facilitate greener and more sustainable lifestyles.

In contrast, Stockport council’s strategy, outlined in its Climate Action Now (CAN) document, lacks actual targets, time points and deadlines for reductions in emissions by which it can be held to account.

In short, since Stockport’s climate emergency declaration, there has been very little actual action and there is no sense of emergency!

To energise the process, I believe that Stockport should follow the lead of other forwardthinking councils (such as Leeds, Oxford, Camden, Brighton and Hove) and hold a climate assembly involving Stockport residents from a wide demographic, climate experts and independent facilitators.

The group would make rigorous recommendations to the council’s decision makers for which the latter would be held to account.

This strategy would take the politics out of the issue and would garner the support of the wider community. We need urgent action now as the effects of climate change are already upon us and, without our intervention, our children and grandchildren will suffer the terrible consequences. Gary Lawson Chair of Stockport Green Party