Conservative councillors in Cornwall have been accused of going in for ’greenwash’ after voting against support for the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill (CEE Bill).

A motion was brought to full Cornwall Council meeting yesterday calling for members to support the Bill, which would require the Government to draw up a strategy to address climate change. The motion also said that Cornwall Council would press Cornwall’s MPs to sponsor the Bill.

Other local authorities, including the Conservative-run Devon County Council, have already given their support to the bill and Cllr Andrew George, who proposed the motion, hoped that Cornwall Council would follow.

The motion had received support from across the council chamber with Labour, Mebyon Kernow, Green and Independent councillors pledging to back it.

But Conservative Councillor Louis Gardner put forward an amendment to the motion, which stated that the Council should instead support the Government’s Environment Bill, a piece of draft legislation already in progress towards being made law in the Houses of Parliament.

The CEE Bill goes further than the Environment Bill in that it would bind the Government to certain actions, and would also involve establishing a citizens assembly.

Cllr Gardner’s amendment was accepted, but then replaced by a further amendment from Cllr Edwina Hannaford, which put support for both the Environment Bill AND the CEE Bill into the wording.

The motion was to (i) Support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill and the Government’s Environment Bill; (ii) Inform the residents of Cornwall of this decision; and (iii) Write an open letter to all local MPs urging them to co-sponsor the Bill (or thanking them for doing so if they have supported the Bill).

This final version of the motion received 33 votes for, 39 against, and five abstentions.

Looe’s Cllr Hannaford, who was previously the Cabinet member for Climate Change, has accused the Conservatives on Cornwall Council of ‘greenwash’.

And Cllr George said that while the Environment Bill was laudable, it only set targets.

He said: “We of course welcome the Conservatives’ recent change of heart and their backing of ambitions to combat climate change. But declaring ambitions and delivering policy change are two very different things. As the Government’s own Climate Change Committee has warned the PM just last month.

Leader of Cornwall Council Linda Taylor has said that the Conservative Party is determined to create a carbon zero Cornwall.

“I am particularly pleased that the Prime Minister announced the ambitious target to make Cornwall the first net Carbon zero area in the country,” she said.

“This work will involve planting trees, restoring peat, making improvements to water quality, recreating scarce habitats and reintroducing lost and declining species.

“Included in this will be the restoration of our wetlands, which will help take 440,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

“Other proposals include the award of up to £1m for businesses for the development of new green energy technologies, and the establishment of Cornwall as a pilot area for a new e-bike support scheme.

“All this and more chimes with the themes and pledges set out in our pre-election Conservative plan, which aims to translate the national policies into local action to support the people of Cornwall first and foremost.”

But Cllr Edwina Hannaford said she was concerned that “Government rhetoric does not always match their actions”,

“A terrible example is the decision by Government NOT to call in the decision to allow the opening of a new deep coking coal mine in Cumbria,” she said.

“The Climate Change Commission recently said that “this will increase global emissions and have an appreciable impact on the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets.”

Campaigners from East Cornwall who were at County Hall yesterday have expressed bitter disappointment that the bid for Cornwall Council to support the CEE Bill has been foiled.

A group from across the county were in Truro yesterday encouraging Councillors to back the bill.

Erika Curren, who had travelled from Gunnislake, said: “I am aghast at the outcome of this vote and feel for the many councillors who clearly understand what a crisis we are facing, yet have been undermined by the Conservative majority in Cornwall Council.

“I was proud to stand here in January 2019 when Cornwall was one of the first councils in the country to declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency. But the actions of the Conservative councillors today is like a slap in the face and definitely a step backwards.”

Green councillor Tamsyn Widdon, who seconded Cllr George’s motion, said she thought that there was a misunderstanding among Conservative councillors about the CEE Bill.

She highlighted that the bill was supported by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, which had been named at the start of the meeting to be the council chairman’s charity of the year.

Meanwhile Labour councillor Jayne Kirkham said: “We set very high standards in this council, we were the first large rural authority to declare a climate emergency. Virtually the whole chamber was in support of that.”

She said that it was important for the council to continue to set high standards and push action on climate change “further and faster”.