Next steps agreed for ‘ecological emergency’ declaration in South Tyneside

The council’s Place Select Committee, this week, endorsed a report which aims to put ecology and biodiversity issues at the heart of council decision-making.

This includes a recognition of the importance of the natural environment and the risks of the “collapse of vital life support systems” that nature provides through clean air, clean water, pollination, food and natural resources.

Against a backdrop of biodiversity loss across the UK and globally, the ecological emergency sets out steps South Tyneside Council, its partners and borough residents can take to “reverse this decline” locally.

It also aims to complement the local authority’s statutory requirements regarding biodiversity and nature recovery.

A motion to declare an ecological emergency was originally raised by Green Party councillor David Francis at a full council meeting in February, 2022, but councillors at the time voted for the Place Select Committee to consider the matter.

In the months since, the council’s scrutiny panel has set up a cross-party working group made up of council officers and councillors to consider and revise the motion, culminating in a new declaration and action plan.

The final document, presented to the Place Select Committee on January 24, 2023, sets out 11 pledges for the council.

These range from ensuring all council strategic decisions, policies and strategies “consider and maximise nature recovery” to the development of “member champions for biodiversity”.

Other pledges include increasing “eco-literacy” across South Tyneside, lobbying the Government for necessary powers and resources and reporting annual progress against the declaration and an evolving action plan.

After winning support this week, the ecological emergency declaration is expected to be endorsed at a meeting of full council in March, 2023.

At the Place Select Committee meeting this week, members praised the working group and process involved in developing the declaration.

Cllr David Francis said: “As the person who was proposing this motion last February, it’s been really positive for me to see the collaborative, collegiate, cross-party and officers, working together resulting in these recommendations that will make a positive impact”.

The opposition councillor, along with other members of the Place Select Committee, stressed the importance of resources being made available to support the ecological emergency declaration.

Councillor Ernest Gibson, Labour cabinet member for transport and neighbourhoods, also praised the declaration’s focus on education, citizenship and building relationships.

Cllr Gibson said: “It’s been nearly a year practically that it has taken, things just don’t happen overnight.

“A lot of people have done a lot of work behind the scenes to get it right because it’s not a minute thing, it’s a big thing.

“We had to look at it properly to get it right for our residents and right for our borough”.

Councillor Geraldine Kilgour, Labour member and chair of the Place Select Committee, added: “I think we [the working group] have worked brilliantly together as a cross-party team.

“At full council sometimes delivering this to a committee or another place is seen, and certainly is made very publicly to look like, we’re kicking something into the long grass, which is a term that has been used.

“This has not been kicked into the long grass, this has been taken very very seriously and our resources quite rightly have been put into this.

“I think the outcomes should be deliverable”.

The ecological emergency declaration pledges include:

The council resolves to:

:: Declare an ecological emergency.

:: Set up an ecological emergency working group to help elected members and council officers address this emergency and develop the council’s approach to nature protection, recovery and enhancement.

:: Incorporate ecological implications alongside environmental sustainability considerations in committee and council reports.

:: Conduct a cross-service review to understand the ecological impacts of council operations and identify opportunities that will benefit biodiversity.

:: Ensure that all council strategic decisions, policies and strategies consider and maximise nature recovery.

:: Commit to positive actions for biodiversity protection, enhancement and recovery.

:: Maximise partnership working opportunities to deliver nature recovery in South Tyneside.

:: Develop member champions for biodiversity to advocate for and influence positive actions, whilst supporting nature protection, recovery and enhancement across the council and beyond.

:: Increase eco-literacy across South Tyneside to engage, inspire, enable and empower others to take positive actions for biodiversity with the council leading by example.

:: Call on the leader and chief executive to lobby the Government to pass the necessary legislation and provide the powers and resources necessary to deliver our nature recovery goals and seek local MP support.