Extinction Rebellion Havering lobbies the council for new climate strategy.
On world Earth Day, members of Havering’s Extinction Rebellion today write in the Havering Daily:
Climate Strategies should be issued within Boroughs to set out targets and best practice throughout the Council for all sorts of issues such as minimising our carbon emissions, protecting our environment, and minimising air pollution. The last Climate Strategy our Borough saw was issued in 2014 and was supposed to last us until 2017. This Plan sets out that ‘Progress on the Climate Change Action Plan will be reported regularly to the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee’. However, as far as we have found, progress has never been reported. In fact, when we first started discussing this outdated Plan with the Council, they didn’t know it existed. We don’t know whether Havering hit any targets or if theydid any of what it had set out to do, because Havering has refused to publish any sort of document to show the results.
Havering Council have now agreed to set up a Topic Group to draw up a new Climate Strategy document, and the Topic Group have now presumably begun to work on this new document. XR Havering have tried to find out how the Topic Group will function, if they will ask for views of residents of Havering, how transparent the process will be, and what sort of timeline they will be working to. Unfortunately we have been informed that there are no minutes of Topic Group meetings, they will not be broadcast as other Council meetings are, and we do not know when the public will get to have a look at any proposed strategy.
We believe it is time for Havering residents to voice their opinions and ideas – if you are concerned about climate change, the environment, air quality, floodingor wildlife in Havering, we would love for you to share your views with the Environmental Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee whose details can be found here: Environmental Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee
You might also like to consider joining us to help protect our local environment here in Havering – within XR Havering you can give as little or as much as you like, we appreciate any time that volunteers can give to save our Borough.
Havering council really need to const with residents about the risks due to the climate and ecological emergency and allow us the opportunity to have a say on what changes we want. It’s our borough and our future after all.
Thank you Councillor David Durant for showing us exactly how serious Havering Councillors are taking climate change….children are having to learn about it in schools, our top global scientists are distraught trying to work out solutions to it, but apparently it is all fallacy and we need to open more coal mines 🤦🏻♀️
This is not ‘preaching’ and ‘end of days’ this is ‘we have a massive problem, let’s get together and work out a solution to fix it’. These are actual facts that nobody can get away from, so it’s time our Council start listening and taking some action.
Havering council really need to inform the residents about the risks of the climate and ecological emergency. Also we need consultation so we can decide what changes we want to make in Havering. It is our borough and our future after all. Why aren’t the council publishing minutes and asking what we think?
Thank you for highlighting the council’s lack of action and transparency. Residents should be able to have a say in their future! I’m worried for my children and the council’s attitude is not helping!
Of actual real concern is the impending Grand Solar Minimum? This involves extreme weather and a cooler planet due to the Sun, that giant ball of gas in the sky, burning at a lower temperature, as has often happened over billions of years, hence earlier ice ages, but sorry there’s nothing humanity can do about, apart from, with cool heads, prepare for the downturn and reopen the coal mines to cope!
Alternatively we can get diverted, by hot heads, and worry about the man made global warming fallacy instead, there’s nothing humans can do to stop changes in climate, and go unprepared for a colder planet, with climate folly’s like wind turbines (only work if wind blows, and at a certain speed) and solar panels (only work if the Sun shines and often take up acres of arable land, needed for food).
Alas humanity has always been drawn to those preaching an end of days message, but whereas the message used to be “repent your sins, the end of the world is nigh”, its now, “recycle your waste, the end of the world is nigh”, whilst the rich grow fatter on carbon credits aka new taxes on the poor.