Climate change: Less than 20 per cent of Sheffield councillors complete carbon literacy training
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Sheffield Council made a commitment for councillors and officers to complete carbon literacy training with the aim of improving the authority’s awareness of the impact of everyday activities on the climate as well as understanding what can be done to reduce emissions and why it is important.
But only 16 out of the 84 elected council members have completed it.
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Hide AdCouncillor Martin Phipps, of the Green Party, asked councillor Douglas Johnson, Green Party leader and co-operative executive member for climate change, for the figures – including a breakdown by political party – in a full council members’ question.
Around 37 percent of all councillors took at least some of the training on offer but only about 12 per cent of Labour and 15 percent of Liberal Democrat councillors completed it. The Green Party was the only group where every councillor did some training, and three quarters of them completed the full certificate.
Green Party councillor Paul Turpin said elected members needed to do better.
He said: “Education and training are the best way to get more qualified, higher quality decisions and carbon literacy training is a vital part of developing the skills of our councillors, so they are competent and prepared to tackle the climate emergency.
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Hide Ad“We made a commitment in the One Year Plan for councillors to do carbon literacy training, so it is a huge disappointment that so few Labour and Lib Dem councillors have seen fit to undertake this essential training.
“Their refusal to engage really shows how low down the agenda the climate emergency is to so many of them.
“Carbon literacy training is eye opening and life changing as people learn how their actions, and the actions of the council, effect the climate. Any politician who denies the importance of this training is denying there is a climate emergency.”
The training is accredited by the Carbon Literacy Project, which provides sessions for various organisations including the NHS, BBC, ITV and the government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Coun Johnson said 64 officers had attended full day training sessions and the council aims to train every head of service over the next couple of months.