West of England mayoral candidates must prioritise climate, says campaign group
Friends of the Earth say the climate emergency must be prioritised by everyone
Whoever wins the West of England Mayoral election next month must prioritise the climate emergency.
That's what we've been told by the group Friends of the Earth - with voting exactly two weeks away.
The group says new data shows current policies are failing to deliver on government targets to reduce C02 emissions by 2030.
The latest figures, released today by Friends of the Earth, claim the West of England needs to cut CO2 emissions by 13 percent annually to meet the government target by 2030.
They also say 64 percent of journeys within the West of England need to be made by foot or via public transport by 2030, currently an average of only 33 percent of journeys are made by these methods.
"Metro mayors have important powers that they can use to ensure their regions are as climate and nature friendly as possible," a press release from Friends of the Earth reads.
"By taking action at a regional level they can also show the national government where the communities’ priorities lie, what can be done, and how we expect them to follow suit.
"Whoever is elected as the next mayor can’t single-handedly solve the nature and climate crises, nor the pandemic, but must use the powers they have to make as big a difference as possible.
Other points highlighted by Friends of the Earth include:
- Half (53 percent) of household waste is reused, recycled or composted in the West of England
- 32 percent of emissions come from industrial and commercial activity, 36 percent from housing and 32 percent from transport
- 540,000 people in the West of England don’t have good access to green space
- The West of England has 34,000 households stuck in fuel poverty – which means they can’t afford to heat their homes properly
As well as the metro mayor election on 6 May several other local elections are also taking place, including for the mayor of Bristol, Bristol City Council, Bath and North East Somerset Council and Avon and Somerset's Police and Crime Commissioner.
The deadline to register to vote in them all has now passed.