THE government has failed to make any tangible progress on commitments towards carbon neutrality, according to the politician whose proposition led to the Island declaring a climate emergency.
As world leaders gather for the COP27 climate-change summit, Reform Jersey Deputy Rob Ward confirmed he would be lodging an amendment to the government’s Common Strategic Policy, which is due to be debated later this month, in an attempt to ensure that the Island’s environmental responsibilities remained on the political agenda.
Assistant Environment Minister Hilary Jeune was expected to travel to Egypt today for the summit.
Deputy Hilary Jeune Picture: ROB CURRIE. (34622164)
In May, the UK’s adoption of the Paris Agreement – an international treaty designed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and tackle climate change – was extended to include Jersey after approval by then-Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
However, Deputy Ward said that this meant Jersey had ‘missed an opportunity’ to set its own targets and added that little progress had been made since the States adopted his proposition and declared a climate emergency in 2019. That proposition also included a 2030 target date for the Island to become carbon neutral.
Deputy Ward said: ‘Adopting the Paris Agreement was a step backwards for Jersey. We can see clearly that the UK is not serious about climate change and Jersey is going to miss an opportunity.
‘We have someone attending COP27, representing the Island, when we have incorporated ourselves into the UK targets. It is losing Jersey’s authority as an individual small island to bat above its weight.’
Jersey’s Carbon Neutral Roadmap was approved by the States Assembly earlier this year and included an initial four-year £23 million delivery plan, designed to help the Island achieve its 2030 target.
Deputy Ward said: ‘I don’t think the roadmap has had any tangible actions that we can talk about. Any action taken, such as the bus passes for under-18s to try to change the culture around vehicle use, has been brought by myself.
‘There have been a lot of discussions but we need to do something. We need to be taking tangible action and I will be amending the Common Strategic Policy appropriately.’
However, Deputy Jeune has defended the progress made by the government since the general election in June.
Speaking ahead of her journey to Sharm El-Sheikh, she said: ‘The roadmap was agreed in 2022 shortly before the purdah period and the election so, unfortunately for the roadmap, there has been this big gap with no political steer or [chance] to start implementing some of those things.
‘Since my appointment, we have steamed ahead and we have got a number of things that’ll be coming out at the end of this year and the start of next year, which we will launch shortly.
‘We will hopefully see some real progress by the end of the first quarter next year. I am hoping to get a net-zero network up and running by the end of this year. This will bring different communities together, whether that is businesses, schools, civil society or parishes to discuss how we can, as a community, fight against climate change.’
Deputy Jeune added that she would also offset all the flight emissions for her travels to Egypt by signing up to two forest management programmes in Kenya and the Congo.
‘It is something that sits heavily with me and I understand that there is a lot of carbon being emitted as we all jet off to Egypt. But I think diplomacy and multi-lateral diplomacy works far more when you are in a room together and I think we are in a delicate situation globally. We aren’t as cohesive as we were in 2015 when the Paris Agreement was signed and so I think it is important that world leaders do come together on this single issue of climate change,’ she said.
‘I’ve offset not only my flights to Egypt but also my general travel with things such as taxis and my food miles. It was important I offset more than just my flight and so we have bought offsets from an official source and they go towards two programmes – one in Kenya and one in the Congo – which are related to the management of forestry.’
