Earlier this month, I attended the November meeting of Babergh’s Overiew and Scrutiny meeting (see YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyDYZcRiM7M ). The main focus was the report on the Council’s Progress towards its net zero commitment. The good news is that we are roughly halfway towards our 2019-2030 target. The bad news is that we have picked the low hanging fruit and meeting the rest of our commitment will become more difficult and more expensive.
It is accepted that UK territorial greenhouse gas emissions account for around 1% of the global gas emissions total (based on a range of estimates produced by the UN). Babergh’s population is less than one seventh of one per cent of the U.K. population So, it is a fair conclusion that we can do very little to improve the UK’s pollution position and even less to the world’ pollution problem
The presentation to the Committee contained very little information as to how we are going to meet our targets and how much it is going to cost us. (Please see the YouTube video around the 28 minute mark).
Faced with the prospect of spending more money without seeing what we are going to spend it on, the Committee resolved to recommend that the Cabinet alongside officers re-examine the financial viability of reaching the Council’s target of net-zero emissions by 2030, with due consideration being given to Babergh’s current financial situation.
And then before I could start feeling smug and thinking that we might be on the right track I learned that Babergh are recruiting a Head of Climate & Nature Recovery at a salary between £62,276 and £75,619 plus the usual extras such as pension contributions and other overheads.
We already have a Climate Change Manager so I wonder why we need a new Head of Climate & Nature Recovery
Disclaimer:
This blog/post is the sole responsibility of its author Brian Riley.
It has not been approved nor is it endorsed by Babergh District Council or South Suffolk Conservative Association.