1st February 2007

Cllr Bernard Little said, "Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" should convince even the most sceptical that climate change is a global emergency. It will be fascinating to hear from the former vice president what other cities in the United States are doing. Where Al Gore's call for action finishes is where Sheffield must start.

"Sheffield, as one of the UK's eight largest cities, is hosting this event because we have chosen to take the lead on climate change.

"We should find out just how much carbon dioxide the city as a whole is emitting and then set an annual target to cut that volume year on year. This will give us the strong, scientific basis we need for Sheffield's policies for the century to come. The latest evidence from the UK's Hadley Centre on Climate change is that we need a 90% reduction in emissions by 2030. We should not bury our heads in the sand but do what is necessary. We can rise, as we did during two world wars, to this challenge.

"This crisis is a tremendous opportunity to create well insulated affordable homes, a world class public transport system and a stable and environmentally sustainable local economy. Thinking globally, acting locally will result in strong and healthy communities.

"The council is in the process of drawing up planning guidelines for the year 2027 and beyond. It's time to put tackling climate change at the heart of this plan. We should tell central government we need regulatory controls to ensure the plan can be enforced. The City should grasp this opportunity to show the country and region just what can be done."

Many thanks.
Cllr. Bernard Little.

For more information, contact Kathy Aston 0114 222 1795 (W), 231 1548 (H)