Climate activists demand Cornwall Council sticks to 'carbon neutral by 2030' promise
Protestors have been staging action outside County Hall in Truro
Last updated 28th Sep 2021
Climate activists have been protesting in Truro as they demand Cornwall Council sticks to its promise of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
Groups including Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion, the Green Party and local environmentalists have been staging action outside County Hall.
They are collectively calling on councillors to take urgent action and move forward with plans, as members of staff arrived for their first full council meeting since lockdown.
Campaigners with warning signs sat at the busy roundabout during rush hour, with car horns honking and cheers from windows.
Action was also held outside County Hall's main entrance with further signage and warning messages about the impact climate change could have on our planet.
One of those taking part was campaigner and mum-of-two Nicola Andersen. She told us how it is vital that we protect the planet for our children.
She said: "There are families in the global south who are being ripped apart already, people losing children through drought and fire and flooding, and that's going to happen here soon.
"Everyone in the world needs to do something, I'm surprised more people are not protesting. I don't get it, I don't get why people are happy to go about their normal lives and pretend it's not happening. The kids really understand that and that's why I'm doing it, I've got a 16 and a 17 year old at home and I feel such massive grief for what they're facing."
An Extinction Rebellion spokesperson said: "This summer has seen unprecedented climate events including destructive fires, floods, storms and soaring temperatures. The warning from scientists is crystal clear: emergency action is needed to reduce emissions, and needed now.
"We are unclear whether the Council intends to hold to the commitment made by the previous administration, to achieve net zero emissions by 2030. It has voted against the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill, which was committed to zero emissions by 2030, for (and against) the Environment Bill which used the Government’s 2050 target. It has supported the airport and spaceport, and the road building programme, all sources of huge emissions. It is allowing massive new housing developments without any carbon budget. It has a large agricultural estate of its own but no emergency plan for reducing the substantial emissions from conventional agriculture. It has failed to advance plans for retrofitting its housing stock, or for helping those most vulnerable to the climate crisis.
"If the Council confirms its ongoing commitment to net zero emissions by 2030, it must explain how this will be achieved in the light of the contradictions in its policies. This is not a debating point: our future and our children’s future depend on us acting decisively, now.
"We undertake to work closely with the Council if it honestly reaffirms its commitment to a zero carbon Cornwall by 2030."
Another campaigner taking part was Mat Osmond, who is an art lecturer at Falmouth University.
He told us: "Every point of a degree over the one point five target is hundreds of thousands of deaths, every degree means millions of deaths. Climate change doesn't mean heatwaves and discomfort, it means a collapse in agriculture with no food in the supermarkets.
"The Arctic's on fire, the Amazon's on fire, Australia's on fire, California's on fire, this is not climate change, this is like the first murmur in your chest that signals an approaching heart attack, climate change is non-linear and unpredictable."
We have asked Cornwall Council for a statement on the protest and their commitment to the net zero emissions by 2030 pledge and we are waiting to hear back.