Green Cllrs Rachel Smith and Eva Ward, working with other political parties have called for an extraordinary meeting of Gloucestershire County Council to put a motion requesting a new Cabinet Member for Climate Change.
The chair of county council, Cllr Andrew Gravells, has granted the request and the extraordinary meeting will follow the full council meeting, which begins at 10am, on Wednesday 12 September.
Rachel Smith said “increasing extreme weather events impact on every area of GCC’s responsibility. It makes it more difficult to maintain our transport, our highways or to look after our vulnerable residents. We need a Cabinet Member to raise Climate with our partners, at Cabinet, at Council, at Government, we need the spirit of 1940’s Britain when a government of national unity was inspired to work together to protect and defend its citizen”
Cllr Smith continued “right now we are feeling the impact of a changing climate, a global heatwave which brought transport chaos, winter rates of A&E admissions, loss of beautiful plants and animals. There is a need for visible leadership to defend our countryside, our cherished wildlife and to protect those we love. A Cabinet Member with responsibility for Climate Change can start to take action across Gloucestershire’s networks.”
Eva Ward added “We have called for an extraordinary meeting because, quite simply, climate change is an extraordinary event. This summer we have seen temperatures break world records across the globe, and only this week we learnt that the Arctic’s oldest, most dense ice has begun to melt. This is not business as usual and as a responsible public sector body the county council must show leadership.”