Agenda item

To review the Climate and Emergency Plan as part of the Cyngor Gwynedd Plan 2023-28, A Green Gwynedd.

It was resolved:

·       To accept the report, noting the observations made during the discussion.

·       That the Committee welcomed the intention to revisit the Council's ambition to be Net Zero Carbon by 2030.

·       To recommend to the Cabinet Member for Environment that:

Ø  the successes and work carried out to deliver the Plan should be communicated to the public.

Ø  the use of open questions in public consultations needed to be increased in order to receive responses that would enrich the information available to inform future direction.

Ø  consideration should be given to modifying the following wording: “... we will continue to reduce our emissions over the next few decades until we reach the net zero target ' (Page 6, Climate and Nature Emergency Plan, Version 2), in order to be more ambitious in meeting the target.

Submitted – a report by the Cabinet Member for Environment, Corporate Director and the Climate Change Programme Manager. Attention was drawn to the following main points:

It was confirmed that the revised plan had been developed following feedback from a public consultation carried out during the summer months of 2025. It was pointed out that there had been changes to the plan's projects, also noting that there was a greater number of projects.

Members were reminded that the original plan provided details of in-house Council projects only, confirming that this had now been changed to also include external projects. It was elaborated that further work had been carried out on the original projects to ensure public value and to ensure that every effort was made to ensure that all communities joined the Council to help prevent the climate emergency. However, this was recognised as having an impact on resources, and it was reported that work was being undertaken to try to estimate the costs of some projects.

It was emphasised that a number of factors in dealing with the climate and nature crisis were beyond the control of the Council, stressing that everything was being done to strive to address the crisis while other governments were more committed to the cause.

During the discussion, the following observations were made: 

Details were provided of the percentages of some of the specific questions in the public consultation and it was considered that it would be useful to include some open questions. It was felt that the inclusion of such questions would lead to suggestions that would improve future services and would be a means of seeking new ideas for development in the field. In response, the Climate Change Programme Manager confirmed that including questions of this kind would be considered in the future.

Some observations were made out of concern that the Board was not responding as effectively as it could because it did not receive specialist scientific information. It was expanded upon that the Board was made up of the Council's experienced officers along with Elected Members, highlighting the need for specialist experts within the fields of science. Similarly, there was concern that some of the plan's projects led to increased costs suggesting that a portion of this funding could be used to respond to current challenges affecting the people of Gwynedd rather than striving to solve problems that may arise in the future.

Reference was made to page 6 of the Plan, which stated: “... We will continue to reduce our emissions over the next few decades until we reach the net zero target”, considering whether reducing emissions over the next few decades is an unattainable target. The need to revise this wording to include a realistic and ambitious target for the future was discussed. In response, the Corporate Director agreed with these observations emphasising that it was key to set realistic targets as it was unlikely that the aim could be met.

It was noted that Section 10 of the Plan stated that carbon emission rates in the waste area were now zero. Given that the incineration of residual waste at Parc Adfer generated carbon emissions, it was asked how emissions from this field could be zero. In response, the Cabinet Member confirmed that further information on this matter would be shared with Members. He suggested that members visit Parc Adfer to learn more about the process.

It was reported that a pilot scheme was underway to reduce public waste through the introduction of community recycling blue boxes. It was asked whether it would be possible to receive feedback on this scheme and were there plans to extend the scheme to the County's rural areas?  In response to the query, the Climate Change Programme Manager noted that the results of the pilot were not currently available and would be shared as soon as possible to see if the plan could be expanded.

Similarly, consideration was given to whether the inclusion of some new projects within section 10 of the Plan was premature. It was detailed that projects to promote a circular economy and reduce street waste indicated that carbon savings were not measurable and the Climate Change Programme Manager confirmed that this was because they varied from case to case.

Members expressed their thanks for the report, noting that it would be beneficial to include an additional section in the Plan or create a separate document celebrating the success of the scheme to date, detailing how much money had been saved as well as detailing the progress of all the schemes and the resulting carbon savings.

RESOLVED

·       To accept the report, noting the observations made during the discussion.

·       That the Committee welcomes the intention to revisit the Council's ambition to be Net Zero Carbon by 2030.

·       To recommend to the Cabinet Member for Environment that:

Ø  successes and the work carried out to deliver the Plan should be communicated to the public.

Ø  the use of open questions in public consultations needs to be increased to receive responses that would enrich the information available to inform future direction.

Ø  consideration should be given to modifying the following wording: “... we will continue to reduce our emissions over the next decades until we reach the net zero target' (Page 6, Climate and Nature Emergency Plan, Version 2), in order to be more ambitious in meeting the target.