This week has seen another environmental victory as Greenwich Council has decided to declare a climate emergency.
Our co-ordinator, Caolán Byrne, requested that a climate emergency be declared at the February 2019 council meeting and this was met at the time with a blank refusal as the Labour administration argued that the existing strategy was sufficient.
You say you take best practice from other councils, and you’re a planning authority that delivers zero-carbon objectives. How is this possible that large retail outlets people drive to are being approved and that this council still backs the Silvertown Tunnel project which will put more vehicles on the roads? How can my two-year-old’s nursery do more to combat climate change than this council?
– Caolán Byrne, Co-ordinator, Greenwich and Bexley Green Party
We are glad that Greenwich Council has now come to understand how serious the issue of climate change is and has resolved to declare a climate emergency.
A big thank you to everyone – whether a Green Party member or not – who signed and shared our petition and who wrote to their local councillors to press them on this issue.
Bexley Council must follow suit and we are encouraging all residents to apply pressure to Conservative councillors in the borough to declare a climate emergency in Bexley. We are encouraged by evidence of local community action towards this in the area.
This is just the start
However, declaring a climate emergency is just the beginning. We must apply pressure to ensure that the policies enacted under this climate emergency are commensurate to the scale of change needed.
Greenwich and Bexley Green Party stands ready to collaborate and cooperate across political party lines to achieve this.
We will continue to work with our allies in Extinction Rebellion Greenwich to build on the emerging success of blending traditional political campaigning together with direct action to increase pressure towards creating a green economy and social justice for all.
Currently, we are putting in place the mechanisms required for a citizens’ assembly to oversee the climate emergency, which will help to ensure that the council’s declaration does not lapse into a simple publicity stunt.
Get involved
If you are able to contribute your expertise and energy to any of the initiatives referred to above – or simply would like to get more involved in advancing the Green Party in Greenwich and Bexley – please don’t hesitate to get in touch via coordinator@greenwich.greenparty.org.uk.