Perth and Kinross Council officially declares climate emergency as environmental action plan is agreed

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Perth and Kinross Council has officially declared a 'Climate and Biodiversity Emergency'. Councillors declared the emergency and approved PKC's Climate Action Annual Report and action plans for 2023/24 at a meeting on Wednesday, November 9.The report warned of a financial shortfall which led one councillor to condemn the SNP council for allocating over 14 times the amount needed to fulfil climate pledges - "including vital work to prevent flooding" - on additional funding for the Cross Tay Link Road.

Over the past 12 months PKC has created the Perth and Kinross Climate Change Commission, expanded its home energy advice services and reduced CO2 emissions from council buildings by 347 tonnes.

And PKC's Stick to the Six campaign for household recycling bins - which saw some residents have their bins confiscated - has seen ‘contamination’ from non-recyclable materials reduced by 7.2 per cent.But the report said more support was needed from external funders - including national governments - to help local authorities meet their net zero targets.It stated that "in line with all local authorities, compared to the scale of investment required with the looming statutory intermediate targets, in or around 2030, council resources will not be sufficient to change the pace of action."Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey slammed the SNP administration's decision to allocate £32.5 million extra funding to the Cross Tay Link Road and "put their money where their mouth is on climate change".He said: "£2.3 million is the extra funding needed to deliver the council’s existing pledges on climate change - including vital work to prevent flooding - which we’ll only consider for allocation in February due to this council’s current financial