Councillors plan to scrap carbon neutral target

Councillors in Lincoln are planning to scrap a target for their authority to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Members of Lincolnshire County Council's environment scrutiny committee heard the Reform UK administration propose to remove the target, which they say places a financial burden on council tax payers.

Independent councillor Ashley Baxter said the plan was a backward step but the head of environment at the authority, Chris Miller, said the council would still work to reduce its carbon emissions.

The changes to the authority's environment policy will be considered by councillors at an executive meeting on 3 March.

The carbon neutral target was put in place by the previous Conservative-led administration in 2021.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the issue was discussed at a meeting on Friday.

Reform UK's executive councillor for the environment, Danny Brookes said: "Chiefly we do not recognise a need to pursue a policy of carbon neutrality by 2050 at such a pace without a funding strategy for the authority to ensure there is no further burden to local council taxpayers."

Brookes said the influences of man-made carbon output were not significant enough to warrant what he described as the crippling financial effects on households and businesses that meeting 2050 deadline would have.

Brookes went on to say that the Reform administration was against the plans for solar farms and pylons to be built in Lincolnshire.

Miller explained that their focus would still be on how the council can adapt to the changing climate.

But Baxter was against the proposal.

"You won't be surprised that I think this is a backward step. I think it's the wrong direction.

"I think that as a planet we are facing an existential crisis with climate change and we shouldn't be afraid to confront that, even if people prefer to side with the 1.5% of scientists in the world that don't believe in climate change, then this is still going backwards," he said.

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