RBWM Climate Strategy at the full Council meeting on 23 June

[Cookham Webmaster]

The Council plans to vote on the adoption of their Environment and Climate Strategy at the full Council meeting on 23 June.
The meeting will be live streamed on youtube and we hope you will watch proceedings to demonstrate your support.  Councillors will be able to see how many people are watching, so please join us.
To have arrived at this point 18 months after our Climate Emergency campaign started is a tribute to everyone who has got involved, signed petitions, attended rallies, spearheaded local action and engaged in consultation with our Council.
The CEC was formed to support our council to move towards carbon net zero and while we do not believe that the Environment and Climate Strategy is perfect, we recognise that it does go some way to addressing the Emergency we face. The Strategy will continue to develop through regular reviews as more information becomes available.
During the Full Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 23 June, 6.15pm, a number of members of our group alongside other residents and councillors will ask questions of Councillors; questions that we hope will highlight issues with the Strategy and allow us all to move forward positively.
One of our most significant concerns about the current strategy is that the Carbon Reduction trajectory has been calculated a straight line reduction, ignoring advice from our members and from experts. If Carbon Reduction is planned in this way we will overshoot our ‘carbon budget’ by 2028, and will not reach carbon net zero by 2050. The council have committed to review this within six months, and our team will hold them to this commitment.
Please do join us via youtube and form your own opinions about what needs to be done next in order to reach carbon net zero by 2050 at the latest, and provide your feedback through the subsequent public consultation process.
If you would like to follow the progress of this strategy:
You can read the strategy using the link below:
https://rbwm.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s32059/200623_climate_full.pdf
2. You can watch the full Council meeting at 6.15pm on 23 June via youtube
3. During the proposed public consultation,you will be able to provide your feedback
RBWM YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZNp1KmF3YnabN6enzlyelQ

[Cookham Webmaster]

(From Fiona Hewer)

Four of the local climate and environment groups asked the RBWM Council leaders to give us their Environment and Climate Emergency priorities for their area of responsibility. We did this ahead of the meeting this evening when the Council's strategic Environment and Climate plan is likely to be approved #RBWMstrategy. We asked them:

"Given your responsibilities as a Lead Member or Group Leader, what are the THREE most important things you will be doing at the Council to contribute to:

- reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including "recycling" existing buildings

- shifting more journeys away from cars and towards cycling and walking (active travel)

- adapting to inevitable climate change and its consequences, such as more heatwaves and increased flood risk

- increasing and supporting biodiversity

- improving the air quality for residents and businesses

- reducing plastic pollution"

The replies are in the file attached. It's good that they have shared these with us though we do have concerns about the lack of specific actions and ambition in their replies. What do you think?

RBWM CEC, Wild Maidenhead (representing the six local Wild groups), Plastic Free Windsor, Windsor & Maidenhead Cycling Action Group