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19
May 2023
Harrogate councillor appointed county’s climate champion
Conservative councillor Paul Haslam was appointed as the North Yorkshire climate champion at a meeting yesterday.
His role will involve encouraging positive action over the climate crisis in North Yorkshire in the same week that an IPCC report said only drastic action can prevent “irrevocable damage to world.”
Cllr Haslam, who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge on North Yorkshire Council, has been a proponent of climate change policies and the need to protect the environment since becoming a councillor on the now-abolished Harrogate Borough Council in 2014. He was nominated for the climate champion role alongside Green Party member for Ouseburn, Arnold Warneken.
Councillors then made pitches about why they are best-suited before members voted again.
Cllr Warneken said:
Cllr Haslam said:
Councillors initially took a vote on the two councillors sharing the position, but it was narrowly defeated after many Conservative members voted against it.
When voting for who should take up the single role, councillors voted for Cllr Haslam by 46 to 38, with 3 abstentions.
Cllr Paul Haslam
Read more:
- Claim North Yorkshire Council ‘not in people’s faces’ about climate change
- North Yorkshire County Council finally declares climate emergency
What is the council doing to tackle climate change?
Nearly all council services emit carbon emissions, from street lighting to getting rid of waste, heating schools and care homes. The council is the largest employer in North Yorkshire and is a significant landowner, which means it has the power to affect change.
In January the council published a draft climate change strategy that includes ambitions such as becoming carbon neutral by 2030, increasing walking and cycling as well as planting 37,000 hectares of new woodland by 2038.
But it has been criticised for its response to the climate crisis after it finally declared a climate emergency last year, three years later than other nearby councils in Harrogate, York and Darlington.
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