{"id":31633,"date":"2019-02-12T12:56:24","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T12:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=31633"},"modified":"2019-02-12T12:56:24","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T12:56:24","slug":"welsh-greens-want-cardiff-to-declare-a-state-of-climate-emergency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2019\/02\/12\/welsh-greens-want-cardiff-to-declare-a-state-of-climate-emergency\/","title":{"rendered":"Welsh Greens want Cardiff to declare a state of climate emergency"},"content":{"rendered":"

RECENTLY elected leader of Wales Green Party, Anthony Slaughter, is campaigning for councils to declare a state of climate emergency.
\nSince his election last month, Mr Slaughter, from Penarth, has been busy trying to convince Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan and RCT councils to declare a state of climate emergency.
\nWhen asked what it was like to be the new leader, Mr Slaughter jokingly remarked, \u201cOh the giddy heights of power\u201d before saying, \u201cit\u2019s challenging but exciting because there is so much potential in Wales, there is a lot of agreement with us.”
\nThe party is drafting a motion asking councils to factor in the state of the climate into their decision-making and follow in the footsteps Machynlleth and Powys councils in declaring a state of climate emergency.
\nMr Slaughter said the time is right to put the pressure on councillors and the Assembly to declare a state of climate emergency because there is a growing appetite in Wales for stronger environmental policies.
\nCampaigners in London have taken part in events like Extinction Rebellion, in which five major bridges over the Thames were blocked off last November and several people were arrested.
\nMr Slaughter said such acts of civil disobedience had sound logic because the situation is critical but doing such acts in Cardiff was tricky because if you were to simply stop traffic you would only disillusion people.
\nMr Slaughter said: \u201cThe Green Party\u2019s call for climate emergency goes further than Extinction Rebellion, as calling for climate emergency and calling for something to be done is good but it\u2019s actually giving the council things they can do.”
\nWales has already led the way with their green initiatives being the first country in the UK to have a 5p charge for plastic bags since 2011 resulting in a 71% reduction of bags being bought.
\nSomething that Mr Slaughter wants the council to do is improve public transport and the Green Party has written a motion on how it can be improved \u2013 he hopes to see electric buses become the norm and electric taxes finance a better service but most importantly he said all public transport should be free.
\nThe Green Party has released a paper recommending electric options for transport in the effort to reduce air pollution and the carbon footprint of transport.
\nUK Health Alliance on Climate Change estimates there are 40,000 deaths caused by air pollution each year in the UK and costs the economy an estimated \u00a322 billion annually.
\nThe Welsh Greens have made several recommendations including electric buses, taxis and water taxis and that all car parks should have electric charging points.
\nCardiff is getting 36 electric buses to help improve air quality in the city over the next two years, Mr Slaughter said it’s a good initiative but the scale needs to be upped to see a real difference.
\nWhen asked how likely it would be for the council to declare the climate emergency he said: \u201cI think they will, I think almost every council in the next year will.
\n\u201cClimate emergency and Extinction Rebellion is good because it gives the elected politicians that little bit more backbone as they know people care about it more\u201d.
\n\u201cThere are some really good councillors who have got the right idea about things but there is an institutional block in their mindset and it\u2019s the same in the Assembly.\u201d
\nYet Mr Slaughter did acknowledge that with the growing appetite for civil disobedience in Wales he wouldn\u2019t be too surprised if the contentious M4 relief project found trouble with going ahead.
\nHe said the contentious issue points to the bigger picture in Wales as there is a disparity between what the government says and actually does.
\nThe government has the Well Being of Future Generations Act which came into force in April 2016, which is meant to draw public bodies together to improve the long-term living standards of people living in Wales and provide long term solutions to issues affecting communities, health, transport and the environment yet the relief road is a direct contradiction to that act and if they do it they \u201cmay as well tear up that act\u201d.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a real test of whether we are going to build Wales for the future, we can\u2019t keep doing these patching up ideas.\u201d
\n\u201cThe reality is and this is what having a climate emergency highlights is \u2013 we have to change the way we do things now.\u201d
\nHe explained that we have to start measuring success differently and not focusing it on purely economic parameters but on environmental impact.
\nOur conversation turned to the issue facing the Green Party, primarily low member numbers which are currently sitting around the 1,500 number in Wales but has been up to 3,000 at its peak.
\nYet the issue is while many agree with Green policies they are worried that they won\u2019t win an election.
\nMr Slaughter said the problem is that whilst we are seeing more cases of extreme weather happening all over the world, they aren\u2019t happening here, they are happening on the other side of the world which makes it hard for people to connect with.
\nHe pointed out \u2018the biggest injustice of all\u2019 is that the people who are being affected by extreme weather aren\u2019t those responsible for it and that when food becomes disrupted people will start to care more.
\nMr Slaughter thinks Brexit would have a disastrous effect on the Welsh environment and wished it could be stopped. Under the EU, Welsh beaches are cleaner and we can challenge councils over air quality, he said,<\/p>\n