County Council officials planning to scrap target to become carbon neutral by 2050

Members of Lincolnshire County Council’s environment scrutiny committee heard that the Reform UK administration is planning to scrap the carbon neutral target, which it says is a bid to reduce costs on taxpayers.

The county council is currently updating its environmental policy to reflect the viewpoints of the Reform administration around the environment.

Under the plans, the authority is planning to remove the carbon neutral target which was put in place by the previous Conservative-led administration in 2021.

At a meeting on Friday, February 13, executive councillor for the environment, Danny Brookes (Reform UK – Ingoldmells Rural) said: “Chiefly we do not recognise a need to pursue a policy of carbon neutrality by 2050 at such a pace without a funding strategy for the authority to ensure there is no further burden to local council taxpayers.

“Whilst it is clear the climate is changing, we do not believe that the influences of man-made carbon output in this country is significant enough to warrant the crippling financial effects of the pace of change on households and businesses.

“We shouldn’t have to pay for Whitehall’s ambitions that they won’t fund. We do recognise the need to manage our energy consumption appropriately to drive down costs for this council, as well as delivering local environments that our residents and visitors can enjoy whilst seeking to better protect them from the effects of adverse weather and flooding.

“You don’t protect people by declaring emergencies, you protect them by fixing problems.”

Coun Brookes went on to say that the Reform administration was against the plans for solar farms and pylons to be built in Lincolnshire.

He added: “We are also strongly opposed to the industrialisation of our countryside and agricultural land and believe that for this county, food security remains a high priority over the cost of the infrastructure projects that will blight our landscapes in years to come.”

But Coun Ashley Baxter (Independent – Deepings West and Rural) was against the proposal.

He said: “You won’t be surprised that I think this is a backward step. I think it’s the wrong direction.

“I think that as a planet we are facing an existential crisis with climate change and we shouldn’t be afraid to confront that, even if people prefer to side with the one and a half per cent of scientists in the world that don’t believe in climate change, then this is still going backwards.”

But the head of environment at the county council, Chris Miller, said that the authority would still be working to reduce its carbon emissions, despite no longer having a target.

He added: “The focus going forward won’t necessarily be on that wholesale drive towards climate neutrality in 2050, but we will be looking at adapting to the obviously changing climate.

“We will ensure that we minimise our waste, making sure that in our council operations we continue to investigate opportunities to ensure we’re efficient in our energy use and to drive down costs for the authority.

“We will continue to work with our waste management authority partners such as the Environment Agency, the Internal Drainage Boards and Anglian Water to improve community resilience to flooding and to deliver opportunities to better protect residents where possible.”

The proposed changes to the county council’s environment policy will be considered by councillors at an executive meeting on March 3.