‘Reform’s paper to council is full of conspiracy theories and garbage science.’
Reform UK’s attempt to scrap Kent County Council’s climate emergency declaration has been blasted by opposition councillors.
The motion, which will be debated at full council on Thursday, argues that the declaration, which was introduced in 2019, “has had no discernible effect on the world’s climate”.
It also claims that the declaration is “stifling debate” and “has endorsed the unproven view of anthropogenic (human-induced) climate change”.
Reform is also calling for the council to scrap its target of achieving net zero emissions in its operations by 2030.
According to the European Copernicus climate service, 2024 was the hottest year on record and the first to surpass 1.5C (34.7F) of warming.
Green councillors have called the motion “anti science and dangerous”.
Stuart Jeffery, a Green councillor, told the BBC that Kent is “severely water stressed, we will suffer most from summer heatwaves, the sea level rises will devastate communities and we will have new diseases such as dengue to contend with.”
He added: “Reform’s paper to council is full of conspiracy theories and garbage science.
“The science is clear, climate change is an emergency and we must prepare now for the impacts.”
Antony Hook, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said: “At the end of this record-breaking dry summer during which farmers and vulnerable members of our community such as the elderly have suffered so badly, to see Reform try to deny a climate emergency is a wilful act of political vandalism.
“Their approach would leave our residents with higher energy bills, our communities more vulnerable to flooding, and our local economy lagging behind in the green jobs revolution.”
The leader of the KCC Labour group, Alistair Brady, said the motion is “incoherent” and “flies in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence”.
The Conservatives and UKIP are supporting Reform’s motion.
Sarah Hudson, Conservative member for the environment and transport committee, told the BBC: “It is pointless impoverishing UK, and specifically Kent, residents when China and other heavily industrialised nations continue to spew out all manner of pollutants.
“We as a country are now paying some of the highest energy prices in the Western hemisphere.”
Both the Conservatives and Reform UK receive donations from fossil fuel interests.
Nearly half of Reform’s donations in 2024 came from fossil fuel investors and climate deniers.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has received funding from Neil Record, chair of climate sceptic organisation Net Zero Watch, who gave £10,000 to her leadership campaign last year, and has since donated a further £6,000.
If Reform’s motion passes on Thursday, Kent will follow Reform councils in Durham, North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire, which have already ditched their 2030 net zero targets.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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