A 'climate emergency' could be declared in a town.

Bridport Town Council will consider a motion which would see it declare a climate emergency and take action against climate change.

If agreed, the motion, recommended by the council's environment and social wellbeing committee, will see the town council pledge to become carbon neutral by 2030, taking into account both production and consumption emissions.

It will call upon the Government and Dorset Council to provide the powers and resources to make the 2030 target possible, and work with other local councils to determine and implement best practice methods to limit global warming to less than 1.5C.

The council, should it agree the motion, will continue to work with partners across the Bridport area, via its One Planet Living Working Group, to deliver this new goal through all relevant strategies and plans and arrange, through the group, to review the town council’s progress and work already accomplished since it signed the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change in 2008; review the progress of the town council’s own climate change strategy as part of its review of the town plan; and explore how all of the above can be integrated within the Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan.

Cllr Kelvin Clayton, who put forward the motion, said: “Council’s up and down the country are doing this and there is growing momentum. It is important to put pressure on Dorset Council and increase pressure across the country so all councils take this seriously.”

If agreed at a meeting of full council tonight (Thursday), the council will prepare a report within six months with the actions it will take to address the emergency.