Councillor calls on mayor to declare climate emergency

The motion, put forward by Green party councillor, Sarah Sharp also calls for the city council to make a pledge to make Chichester carbon neutral by 2030.

Cllr Sharp, said: "We all have a role in reducing climate change and reducing our use of single-use plastics. We can't leave this to other people or other countries. We know the dangers to our oceans and marine life from plastics.

"We can all get involved in re-filling our water bottles, buying from The Refillery in Draper's Yard, or join the #returntheplastic campaign and give back excess packaging to the supermarkets ourselves.

"I hope that the city council can get further behind this cause with small changes to look at the way it is working, but also put its weight behind a deposit scheme to eliminate the waste and reduce litter.

"We also can't turn a blind eye to the danger from rising temperatures as this is being clearly set out by scientists and the recent announcement from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which gave us a 12 year deadline to radically change the way we function as a society and reduce our emissions. We live in a low-lying area at risk of rising sea levels.

"As individuals we need to consider what impact our actions are having on climate change, by considering our reliance on fossil fuels for travel, can we take the bus or cycle or have a meet free day or two a week?

"We as city councillors owe it to the future generations to carefully consider all plans and developments and matter we are consulted on and ask ourselves the simple question 'Will this decision have a negative impact on climate change?' We can't afford to be too complacent or to leave this to other councils.

"We need to put pressure on West Sussex and Chichester District from below. Our focus needs to be away from short-term growth to long term sustainability to avoid massive crop failures, mass migration, the death of millions of people and displacement of one in nine people in the UK due to the climate crisis."

"Bristol City Council has passed a motion on climate change recently. (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/14/bristol-plans-to-become-carbon-neutral-by-

2030)

"Can Chichester be the second city to follow suit?"