A call for a group to bring ‘transparency and democratic accountability’ to Pembrokeshire County Council’s decision to declare a climate emergency some six years ago has been backed by councillors.

In May 2019, the council declare a climate emergency following a notice of motion by Cllr Joshua Beynon calling on the authority to back the global consensus that climate change poses a risk to the well-being of future generations.

He called on the council to commit to becoming a zero-carbon local authority by 2030.

One of those against the call was Cllr Mike Stoddart, who has previously said it was “virtue signalling on stilts” and that “The idea that we can de-carbonise the economy by 2030 is for people with fairies in the garden”

At the May meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, a notice of motion by Cllr Mike Stoddart called for the establishment of a working group to review the decision made by the council to declare a climate change emergency.

Cllr Stoddart’s notice of motion was referred to the June meeting of the council’s corporate overview and scrutiny committee, where he referred to a previous council supported notice of motion by Cllr Aaron Carey.

That motion included a bi-annual assessment of the costs involved with delivering Net Zero Council operations 2030, a similar assessment with assessment of the anticipated cost associated with delivering a Net Zero Council Housing stock, and specific decisions on Capital schemes to include Net Zero provisions over and above those mandated, include a cost benefit analysis of doing so.

Cllr Stoddart’s supporting statement for the June meeting said: “By my reckoning three of these six-monthly anniversaries have now passed without any of these cost/benefit analyses being made available for inspection.

“With reference to the above, I am proposing the setting up of a working group on the terms set out in my Notice of Motion so that a degree of transparency and democratic accountability can be injected into the Authority’s net zero deliberations.

“The UK is responsible for just under one per cent of global CO2 emissions and Pembrokeshire’s population of 120,000 is roughly one five hundredth of that of the UK. Considering that the public sector accounts for less than ten percent of emissions, and Pembrokeshire’s contribution is only a fraction of that, it can be seen that, if PCC ceased to exist, it would make no difference whatsoever to the earth’s climate.”

Supporting Cllr Stoddart’s call, Cllr Huw Murphy said: “I think it’s something we need to look at; ultimately can we afford it?”

Deputy leader Cllr Paul Miller said there was “no objection” to setting up a working group, adding that information on costs associated was “just a matter of bringing it all together in a single place.”

Members, with the exception of Cllr Beynon, agreed to recommend to council to reinstate the Net Zero Working Group to review the contents of the notice of motion and, subject to the outcome of this review, review the future delivery of the Net Zero Action Plan.