Council scraps 2030 net-zero target

North Northamptonshire Council's executive voted on the net-zero target earlier

Councillors have voted unanimously to scrap their target to be carbon neutral by 2030.

Reform UK-run North Northamptonshire Council has instead decided to push its net-zero target to 2050.

The previous Conservative administration had set the 2030 target as part of a "much longer-term commitment" to tackle climate change.

Ken Harrington, executive member for environmental service, said: "This is not about abandoning our environmental responsibilities, far from it. We will and can achieve in line with [the] national [net-zero] policy."

Cries of "shame on you" could be heard from the public gallery as the decision was made at the meeting earlier.

By law, under the Climate Change Act 2008, the UK must stop adding to the total amount of planet-warming greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by 2050.

Reaching net-zero carbon dioxide emissions worldwide is essential to limit global warming.

Net-zero is the point at which the amount of greenhouse gases we remove from the atmosphere is equal to the amount being released.

Student and Green activist Esther Hobbs was one of several speakers to oppose the changes and said "My generation is counting on the politicians of today to preserve our future.

"Net-zero is not a petty hypothetical waste of money; it's a safeguard to ensure that I and your own children and grandchildren grow up with a promise of a world to inherit."

A working group to review the council's management plan will be set up.

Leader of the Green group Emily Fedorowycz said moving the target "would shape not just the years ahead but decades to come".

"Choose to delay today and that damage cannot be undone," she said.

Council leader Martin Griffiths said: "Delaying the target doesn't mean delaying action, it means prioritising the most impactful projects first like modernising council buildings and securing external funding."

The policy follows that of other Reform UK-led councils which have already scrapped their 2030 net-zero targets, including West Northamptonshire Council.