The Zero Carbon petition is due to be presented to the West Midlands mayor and the West Midlands Combined Authority at its board meeting on Friday 19th November. It will be our reply to their “Net Zero by 2041” plan. The petition also notes the lack of democracy and public representation on the WMCA and Environment and Energy Boards and calls for inclusion.
The meeting takes place at 11am at the Civic Centre in Wolverhampton, and if those that are able could gather outside at 10.30am, it would be appreciated. The hard copies of the petition will be handed over. The threshold for the WMCA to take the petition more seriously is 250 and we have passed that, but of course the more names the better.
St Peter's Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1SH
The online version of the Regional Petition is still gathering names. Please sign if you have not already done so.
If you have hard copies already filled in, you can scan and email them back to westmidlands@cop26coalition.org, or a physical address can be provided. Please return them well before 19th November.
Remember,
The WMCA net-zero plan talks about insulating tens of thousands of homes. Very good, but we have well over a million to insulate in the region.
Their plan has measures to encourage people out of their cars, again very good, but the best measure, free, accessible public transport, is not mentioned.
Their plan will not fully phase out incineration of waste until 2036. Note that in Birmingham the Tyseley plant emits 300,000 tons of CO2 per year.
Divestment from fossil fuels is not to be completed for another 15 years, and the mayor is against it altogether, as ‘A good return on investments is more important’ (FoE hustings in April).
There is mention of net zero airports, but unless you use balloons, gliders, or broomsticks, how can this be done? Why not at least discourage rich frequent flyers and call for no airport expansion?
We have the £160 billion, environment-destroying white elephant being built – a mega-toy for the rich (while simultaneously cutting taxes for short haul flights!) It goes without saying that the WMCA supports HS2.
These are a few of the reasons why the net zero by 2041 plan is inadequate. As the COP26 declaration has just said, 'we need more urgent measures to rapidly de-carbonise'. The 'we' in this case includes the West Midlands.
Bob Whitehead
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