Council leader Iain Malcolm recently signed the Covenant of Mayors' agreement in the European Parliament, pledging South Tyneside Council and partner councils in Tyne and Wear will cut CO2 emissions by more than 20 per cent over the next 11 years.

The pledge will only be met if those councils – 12 of them in North East England – adopt measures that change the way in which people lead their lives, affecting everything from how much household waste is recycled to how much insulation is needed in homes.

South Shields-based Bryan Atkinson, who was speaking on behalf of Friends of the Earth on the BBC's Politics Show on Sunday, called for the proposed cuts to be incorporated into South Tyneside Council's Local Development Framework Core Strategy for the area, which would have the effect of making the pledge legally binding.

The Local Development Framework is the council's statutory document which drives planning in the borough for the next 20 years.

Speaking after the show, Mr Atkinson said: "I welcome Coun Malcolm's pledge to make these essential cuts, but the real test will be in delivering them.

"If he's serious about tackling climate change, and genuinely wants to reduce South Tyneside's greenhouse gas emissions by 20 to 30 per cent over the next decade, the promised CO2 reductions must be embedded into the council's core development strategy.

"Anything less will mean these urgently needed cuts just won't happen, and risks turning his pledge into an empty promise."

But in a statement, Coun Malcolm said: "South Tyneside is leading the way nationally in the production of its Local Development Framework (LDF).

"We were one of the first authorities in the country to have an approved core strategy, and area action plans for South Shields and Hebburn were approved in 2008.

"However, while the LDF is important, it will not deliver the 20 per cent reduction in carbon emissions on its own.

"We know that a key contributor to the borough's carbon emissions comes from existing housing, and we are tackling this through our home-insulation programme and our campaigns promoting behavioural change."