Author: Sally Perry
Isle of Wight Council Urged to Join 10:10 Campaign
Tuesday, 20th October, 2009 at 3:50 pm, Isle of Wight
Green Issues, Island-wide, Isle of Wight Council, News
As last month’s full council meeting ended up lasting a mammoth six hours, a couple of items were deferred to the next meeting.
That meeting takes place on 28th October and one item that will be heard is the motion from Cllr Geoff Lumley that
“The Council resolves to sign up to the 10:10 campaign, committing itself to cutting the Council’s carbon emissions by 10% by the end of 2010. We also encourage Island residents, businesses and organisations to do the same.”
We were surprised that the Isle of Wight Council had not already made their pledge, so it’s great to see Cllr Lumley proposing this motion.
Apparently at least 50 Councils across the country and a third of all London Authorities have made the commitment and signed up to 10:10.
With IW Radio reporting today that the Council’s carbon emissions on waste have increased over the last three years, we expect that Cllr Pugh and his colleagues will be falling over themselves to agree to sign up to the 10:10 agreement.
What’s it all about
So what is this 10:10 agreement about, you might ask.
By all accounts, this project seems to be turning into a national movement. The aim is to bring every sector of British society together to unite on one simple idea: that by working together it’s possible to achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010.
Now, we realise that a 10% cut isn’t going to ‘save the planet’ from the effects of climate change, but it’s a good step towards it as well as raising awareness and hopefully changing people’s habits.
You can sign up as an individual or business by visiting the 10:10 Website.
Parliament to debate signing 10:10 agreement
At the weekend, the Liberal Democrats tabled a special Opposition Day debate in Parliament for tomorrow (Wednesday).
It also proposes signing up Parliament, government and all of the
public sector to 10:10.
We’ll let you know how the debate goes and whether this motion is passed.
Related posts:
- Isle of Wight Council Urged to Sign Up to Every Disabled Child Matters Charter
Parents of disabled children urge IWC to sign up to... - 10:10 Carbon Reduction Agreement Rejected by Isle of Wight Council Again
Tories reject 10:10 Agreement for the fourth time... - Isle of Wight Council Reject 10:10 Carbon Reduction Agreement (UPDATE 2)
IW Council decides not to sign up for a plan... - Roger Mazillius To Join Isle of Wight Council Cabinet
Mazillius joins the Cabinet... - Plain English Campaign Slam Isle of Wight Council
Those tasked with producing reports for the IWC get slammed...
And then there will be all those extra buses taking kids to and from their big, distant secondary schools. That will add a few % to emissions nevermind reducing it.
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The Council could save a great deal by having a small front office in Newport and allowing distance/ home working enabled by IT. Some areas were working in this way prior to the 2005 election and a plan existed to spead it out across the Council. That was quietly lost. There are still far too many meetings which are overlong and make no progress.
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Well done Geoff Lumley (again!).
’10:10′ is an excellent idea. We’ll only make it to the cuts of 80% or more we need by starting with a smaller cut first.
I agree with Steephill Jack about the extra school buses. What we need are small local schools.
And renewable energy…
But there’s plenty the Council could do right away. One example – turn down the thermostats at County Hall in the winter. Sick people in hospitals may need to be above 20 degrees Celsius, but everybody else can keep it down between 16 and 20 degrees. If people are going around in winter just in shirts or blouses with no jumpers, it’s too hot!
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It’s a pity Geoff Lumleys Labour colleagues in Parliament didn’t support the 10:10 debate.I’m very pleased our M.P. Andrew Turner did and I hope he encourages our Council likewise.
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