Warwickshire’s European pledge to tackle climate change
Warwickshire County Council is to become one of the first local authorities in the UK to join a Europe-wide push to save energy and help tackle climate change.
Today will see Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, sign a declaration to the European Regions for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources.
Cllr Heatley is one of just five West Midlands councillors on the Committee of the Regions – the European Union advisory body on matters affecting regional and local government.
The European Commission has just published an action plan on energy efficiency containing 70 measures designed to make buildings, transport and energy generation more efficient and to save 20 per cent of energy used by 2020.
The action plan, which will be implemented over the next six years, is in response to an urgent call from EU Heads of State and Government for a new energy efficiency strategy.
Cllr Heatley said: “The declaration I am to sign today is designed to increase the visibility of the commitment and actions of regional and local authorities already active in the energy field in front of some of the main EU and national players and to encourage other regional and local authorities to take similar action.
“In July Warwickshire County Council committed to the Warwickshire Climate Change Partnership’s unified approach to reducing carbon dioxide through targeted actions in five key areas: energy; transport; resource efficiency; adaptation; and communications and education.
“We aim to reduce green-house emission levels in Warwickshire by 15-18 per cent by 2010, and by 60 per cent by 2050 against 1990 levels. This means we would reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions in the county from 4.9 million tonnes in 1990 to 1.9 million tonnes in 2050.”
The new action plan will affect local authorities as major consumers of energy, but it should also make it easier for them to promote energy efficiency in their area.
It is estimated that 70 per cent of new policy and legislation affecting local government has its origins at EU level – and this figure is even higher in areas such as the environment.