Cllr Mary Mears

Brighton & Hove’s cabinet have formally agreed that the council will join the national 10:10 campaign to cut carbon emissions by 10% in 2010/11.
 
Leader of the council Mary Mears will also write to the Local Strategic Partnership with a view to persuading as many organisations as possible to sign up to the campaign. The Local Strategic Partnership is made up of organisations and businesses across the city, including the Primary Care Trust, Sussex Police, the city’s Economic Partnership, community and voluntary organisations.
 
Councillor Mears said:
“This is a big challenge but one we think is achievable.

“A low carbon Brighton & Hove is our top sustainability priority and this is a real opportunity to re-energise our staff, be bold, and inspire others across the city to do the same.

“We’ve already made efficiencies right across our own buildings, vehicle fleet and even our street lighting, achieving savings of about £145,000 and nearly 400 tonnes of CO2.  Now we need to go further, and by saving energy and CO2, we will also be saving council taxpayers’ money.”
 
Before this agreement, the council’s target carbon reduction was 4% per year for the next five years.
 
A report will be brought to the January meeting of the Sustainability Cabinet Committee outlining the measures which will be taken.
 
Council initiatives to reduce carbon emissions include:
·      Launching a £6 million energy efficiency grant scheme over three years to help householders cut costs and carbon emissions
·      Installing a network of electric car charging points in the city
·      Committing the council and the city to tough, short-term targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions – by 12% over three years
·      Helping secure £180,000 from the Department for International Development for Climate Connections, a three year city-wide public engagement project
·      Playing an integral part in helping the city’s Food Partnership secure a grant of £500,000 over four years
·      Running the Be Local Buy Local campaign to support local jobs and the environment.

Cllr Paul Elgood, leader of the Lib Dems said:
"The Liberal Democrats were the first political party to make this pledge at our September Party Conference. We are pleased that the city council has finally got round to formally making this commitment.

"It is vital that these targets are met and that Brighton and Hove does all it can to tackle climate change."

Leader of the Labour Group Cllr Gill Mitchell said,
“Labour Councillors are fully behind any programme to help reduce carbon emissions in the council and across the city.  But it is not enough to just pay lip service to these campaigns – they have to be implemented. The Conservatives have just ditched the city-wide ‘One Planet Living’ carbon reduction programme and have now taken up with this one.  Meanwhile, their actual policy to increase the amount of traffic coming into the city will worsen air pollution and demonstrate that their professed support for reducing the city’s carbon footprint is merely window dressing.”
 
Brighton & Hove is among the first councils to sign up to the campaign. The others are Camden, Eastleigh, Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Kirklees, Manchester, Oxford, Richmond, Slough, Stroud and West Sussex .
 
To sign up to the 10:10 campaign visit:
www.1010uk.org

For more information about Brighton and Hove Council view:
www.brighton-hove.gov.uk