Reform-led Kent County Council remove 'climate emergency declaration'
One councillor said his reasons for voting to rescind the declaration were "economic"
Reform-led Kent County Council has rescinded its declaration of a climate emergency, with many members seeking to minimise the impacts of global warming.
Reform UK won 57 of the 81 seats on KCC in May's local elections, and today their councillors argued they had the mandate to scrap net zero policies.
The motion was brought forward by Reform's Chris Hespe who referred to "nonsense" climate change science and ideologies, and sought to minimise the human impact of global warming.
KCC Labour group leader councillor Alister Brady said the declaration, passed in 2019, was "not a PR stunt" but a "serious response to a serious risk".
"Our leadership must be rooted in facts not fossil-funded fiction," Cllr Brady said.
He later added: "Reform UK's climate denial isn't just wrong, it's reckless, its donors profit from pollution."
Donations to Reform from fossil fuel providers were repeatedly questioned during the council debate.
Reform councillor David Wimble, who heads their local government efficiency team, said there was "no discernible benefit to the world's climate from KCC's efforts over the last seven years", adding his reasons for voting to rescind the declaration were "economic".
He asked: "Why should Kent punish itself while global emissions rise anyway?"
Green councillor Stuart Jeffery responded: "Man-made climate change is a fact, facts are not for debate. If you don't accept facts you are simply wrong."
There is overwhelming consensus among climate scientists around the world that humans are causing global warming and climate change.
This morning a group of protesters gathered outside Kent County Council to criticise the Reform-run authority for "looking away" from climate change.
Science teacher Steven Thompson told PA: "My view as a teacher is that the younger generation have got a choice to make as to whether they take the dire implications and consequences of man-made and man-exploited climate change seriously."
The protesters clashed with three climate change deniers who arrived with banners referring to a "climate hoax" declaring "the climate has always changed".