Nigel Jones, who chairs the environmental group Jersey in Transition, and climate-change lobbyist Ollie Taylor, said that the States Assembly must take the recommendations made in a recent climate-change report seriously if the Island is to achieve its goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2030.
Produced by the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change, the 91-page document includes 14 major recommendations, each underpinned by several key action points, designed to inform government policies. The recommendations include bans on newly registered petrol and diesel vehicles by 2025, free bus fares for young Islanders and charging frequent flyers more depending on the number of flights they take.
Mr Taylor said that it was ‘incumbent’ on the States Assembly to push the recommendations forward, and questioned whether the current government would enact any meaningful changes before the 2022 general election.
‘My cynicism says that they will try to prolong it until the next election,’ he said. ‘That’s what I’m worried about.’
Mr Jones said that the time had come for the government to ‘put some work’ into addressing climate change after discussing the issue for many years.
In 2019, the States declared a ‘climate-change emergency’ following a successful proposition lodged by Deputy Rob Ward which also called for the Island to dramatically reduce its carbon footprint over the next decade.
Mr Jones said: ‘Having declared an emergency and commissioned all of this work, it is time that the government takes charge of the situation. I think people have been hearing about climate change for decades and nothing has been happening – so they are ready for strong leadership with a clear plan of what to implement.’
He added: ‘This will be an essential issue in the next election and candidates standing on the wrong side of history will not be heard well.’
- Full reaction: Page 4 of Thursday’s (3 June) JEP.
