UK puffins face oblivion
This is how (2nd June) the national press flagged a report from WWF on the consequences of global warming exceeding 1.5C. Of course many other wildlife species are listed; furthermore, WWF predicts serious problems for everyday consumer staples such as coffee.
This headline should really hit home in Pembrokeshire because our puffin islands are breeding colonies of world importance – and, bluntly, puffins bring this county much tourist revenue. So, hopefully, this is the wake-up call Pembrokeshire County Council and the National Park need: the Climate Emergency is no longer “somebody else’s problem”.
At present PCC and PCNPA only plan to make their own activities carbon neutral; many other Local Authorities (LAs) are going far further. On our sister peninsula, Cornwall, the council aims for a carbon neutral county: that’s a hugely more ambitious project, but one with enormous business benefits; Stroud in Gloucestershire now classes most areas as suitable for renewable energy. Here, we haven’t even got a rule requiring solar PV on new house roofs!
LAs like Cornwall and Stroud who have joined UK:100 (www.uk100.org) pledge to be net zero themselves by 2030, and to bring their wider communities’ emissions in line with Net Zero no later than 2045. Sadly, there aren’t any Welsh LAs on the members’ list… Or can we say, there aren’t at the moment?
Christopher Jessop Independent Energy Consultant Marloes
Blaise Bullimore Consultant Marine Biologist Tiers Cross
Charles Mason Planning Consultant Hermon