Since May 2019, more than 200 local authorities across the UK, from Devon to Dundee, have declared a climate emergency. It is time for Dudley Council to do the same.

A motion which called for Dudley Council to declare a climate emergency was submitted for debate on 26th June 2019  but has yet to reach the chamber floor. Please sign this petition if you want to see this motion debated at the earliest opportunity.

If passed, the motion will commit the council to the following:

• Take actions to ensure that the Council’s activities achieve a net-zero carbon footprint by 2030.
• Take actions to ensure that 100% of energy consumed by the Council’s full range of functions is derived from renewable or sustainable sources by 2030.
• Ensure that all strategic decisions, budgets and approaches to planning decisions are developed mindful of a target of a net-zero carbon footprint by 2030.
• Encourage all partners to set a target of a net-zero carbon footprint across the Dudley Borough by 2030 and provide the support and guidance they need to achieve that target;
• Support the Strategic Executive Board in creating short, medium and long-term action plans, goals and budgets that support this motion within an agreed timeframe
• Support Scrutiny Committees in understanding how to incorporate the impact of climate change and the target of a net-zero carbon footprint into all future scrutiny work;
• Request that the Place Scrutiny Committee set up a Climate Change Action Group, involving Council stakeholders and representative groups from across the Dudley Borough.
• The Group should seek advice from appropriate climate science and solutions experts, businesses and other relevant parties;
• The Climate Change Action Group will scrutinise the strategies and actions being developed by the Council in line with the target of net-zero carbon footprint by 2030 and develop any necessary recommendations;
• Ensure that preparations for the 2020/21 budget cycle account for any immediate actions the Council will take to address this emergency and to implement this motion;
• Call on the UK Government to provide the powers, resources and additional funding to make the target of a zero-carbon footprint by 2030 achievable.

Please sign and share this petition to demonstrate to Dudley Councillors that there is broad support for taking real action on climate change.