Thread by @1MollyWilliams

Here at the Town Hall ready for full council to start! On today’s agenda is a special debate on the climate emergency with some huge targets to hit - more on that later...
And there are pride flags on every councillor desk! 🌈

Meeting details here democracy.sheffield.gov.uk/ieListDocument…

Green Party councillor @PeterG4NES2019 wearing one of @MagicMagid’s t shirts highlighting the climate emergency

Lots of young people in the public gallery

Julie Pearn chair of Sheffield Labour Friends of Palestine presents their petition with more than 14,000 signatures (it was not able to trigger a full debate as many who signed lived outside of Sheffield) thestar.co.uk/news/politics/…

Councillor @_OliviaBlake announces they will table a motion on this and says she hopes Sheffield will become the first council to recognise Palestine as a state

Young person asks if the council will consider living and playing streets and @Bob_of_Hills announces they will be piloting these as part of their green strategy

Very impressed with these new speakers @SheffCouncil! Makes journos’ jobs much easier

Petition to change to a committee system is debated. @ItsOurCitySheff say it has become the biggest petition ever submitted for a change of government in the country sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/…

It’s been decided the issue will be referred back to Coun Blake and a cross-party consultation and scrutiny will lead to a report in six months (@ItsOurCitySheff say they will have already triggered a referendum by then)

A special debate on the climate emergency has now started with a detailed report by the Tyndall Centre outlining what targets Sheffield Council needs to hit

Key sectors of Sheffield’s emissions. Road transport (green) and domestic gas (light blue) are the biggest areas to tackle

These are the recommendations (these are a minimum):

Most striking is the first of those points - that at 2016 levels Sheffield would use up an 80 year carbon dioxide budget in just six years

They also say the council’s zero carbon target should be at least 2038 and that this is achievable. (Opposition and campaigners have called for it to be 2030 and Labour put a 2030 target in their manifesto)

Dr Jaise Kuriakose, who presented the report, said “from a science point of view these are the targets Sheffield needs to hit. But how to do that needs local knowledge”

Councillor Richard Shaw says cycling targets are too low (4 per cent in Sheffield compared to a possible 24 per cent) and asks what it should be to help hit the 2038 carbon zero target

Green Party Cllr Peter Garbutt says the council is not being ambitious enough and needs to make other environmental crisis part of its decision making too including soil and species depletion