Cllr James Monaghan, Liberal Democrat portfolio holder for Environmental Services at the Council; will this week call on Leeds City Council to back the 'Get Serious About CO2 campaign' launched by Friends of the Earth, calling for national government action to assist local authorities with additional funds and legal powers to make radical changes to act on climate change.
Cllr Monaghan (Lib Dem, Headingley) said ; "Climate change is a serious global threat. Leeds City Council has already committed to reducing its own emissions by 40% by 2020. But if Leeds is serious about climate change, the entire city needs to act.
"This is why I will be proposing to Wednesday's council meeting that Leeds City Council supports the Friends of the Earth campaign. Climate change is too important an issue to ignore, so I very much hope that this will receive the support of fellow councillors.
"To be effective in meeting this challenge, the council needs extra powers from the government in areas such as planning, transport and housing. I welcome Friends of the Earth's recognition of this in their campaign and I call on Leeds MPs to lobby the government to make this happen."
