Tuesday 11 June isn’t a day I’m going to forget in a hurry! Along with many other climate campaigners, I braved the rain to show support for the climate change motion.
Before the meeting, Extinction Rebellion handed in their petition demanding Birmingham City Council to declare a climate emergency. Over 3000 people had signed the petition with many organisations including us supporting it.
During the public questions part of the full council meeting, members of CANWM asked questions in relation to the climate change motion. During the climate change motion debate councillors; R Alden, Harmer, Pritchard, Trickett, Hunt, Webb, Zaffar, Clancy, Tilsley, Huxtable, Seymour-Smith, Locke, Aitken, Armstrong, Fowler, Straker Welds, Hamilton, O’Reilly, Booth, Jones and the lead of The Council all spoke in favour of the motion. The debate covered a range of topics including air pollution, transport, housing, education, waste and the importance of divesting pension funds and investments. There was a lot of praise throughout the debate for the young people who have played a part in driving the climate change agenda and the importance of everyone working together.
In a historic move, the motion received cross party support. 83 out of 101 councillors attended the meeting and all voted in favour of the motion. There is still a lot we need to do to ensure Birmingham City Council act on climate change but yesterday’s motion is a step in the right direction.
