Newcastle's Climate Emergency

On 3 April 2019, Newcastle City Council declared a Climate Emergency.

The Climate Emergency declaration made the commitment to create a new Climate Change Strategy with the aim of achieving Net Zero status by 2030.

Why was a Climate Emergency declared?

Under the Paris Climate Agreement, the UK is committed to restricting the increase in global average temperatures to well below 2°C and preferably below 1.5°C.

For this to be achieved, cutting carbon emissions over the next decade will be crucial.

Currently, the world is on track to overshoot the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit before 2050.

The Climate Change Act 2008 commits the UK to reduce net carbon emissions to zero by 2050, and to five-yearly carbon budgets between now and then.

Our commitment to climate action

Our Climate Emergency declaration called for us to:

• Update the 2010 Newcastle Declaration on Climate Change by pledging to make Newcastle upon Tyne carbon neutral by 2030, taking into account both production and consumption emissions.
• Call on the Government to provide powers and resources to make the 2030 target possible.
• Work with other Government bodies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to determine and implement best practice methods to limit Global Warming to less than 1.5°C.
• Work with partners across the city and region to deliver this new goal through all relevant strategies and plans, recognising that the council cannot deliver on this ambition alone.
• Ensure that representatives on the Tyne and Wear Pensions Fund continue to lobby for further disinvestment in fossil fuels.
• Report to Council as soon as possible on the actions the Cabinet will take to address this emergency.