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Steve Rotheram's obligations

1. Election manifesto
In his election manifesto of 2017 [1], Steve Rotheram wrote

I want our region to be ... a zero-carbon City Region by 2040. (p17)

We should therefore expect that once elected and in power, Steve Rotheram would ensure that the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority would produce a carbon reduction plan in order to achieve the ambitious aim of being zero-carbon in 23 years.

2. UN IPCC SR15 report
The crucial United Nations IPCC SR15 report on keeping global warming to 1.5 deg. was published in October 2018 [2]. This explained the need to halve world greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 by means of rapid and far-reaching transitions in every aspect of society. Steve Rotheram should have responded to this by now.

Steve Rotheram's actions

A Freedom of Information request to the City Region Authority in February 2019 got a response that no Carbon Reduction Plan and no Carbon Reduction Progress Report had been produced [3]:

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has not yet produced a Carbon Reduction Plan or Carbon Reduction Progress Report. The Combined Authority is currently in the process of discerning the best means to use our policy levers to drive business and citizen led behavioural change to help meet this aim. The Metro Mayor’s recent announcement of a £10m Green Investment Fund was a first step (the press release can be viewed at the following link: https://www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/steve-rotheram-announces-plans-for-a-10-million-green-investment-fund/

The full response to the Freedom of Information request is given below [4].

Comment

Steve Rotheram's performance is unacceptably poor.

It is vitally important that the City Region's use of fossil fuel is urgently reduced, but the only action is "discerning the best means to use our policy levers to drive business and citizen led behavioural change".

If Steve Rotheram cannot organise a competent carbon reduction plan, he should step aside and let someone else take on the role.

References

[1] http://www.steverotheram.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/FINAL-Steve-Rotheram-Our-future-together-Screen-min.pdf and http://www.steverotheram.com/manifesto/

[2] https://www.carbonindependent.org/54.html

[3] https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/lcr_carbon_reduction_plan_and_pr?nocache=incoming-1333061#incoming-1333061

[4] Full Freedom of Information response:

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has not yet produced a Carbon Reduction Plan or Carbon Reduction Progress Report. The Combined Authority is currently in the process of discerning the best means to use our policy levers to drive business and citizen led behavioural change to help meet this aim. The Metro Mayor’s recent announcement of a £10m Green Investment Fund was a first step (the press release can be viewed at the following link: https://www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/steve-rotheram-announces-plans-for-a-10-million-green-investment-fund/

You may also be interested in the Combined Authority’s published Low Carbon Economy 2018-2020 Skills for Growth Action Plan https://www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/steve-rotheram-announces-plans-for-a-10-million-green-investment-fund/ and the work undertaken by the Liverpool Local Enterprise Partnership, in conjunction with Merseytravel and other organisations, at https://www.liverpoollep.org/growth-sectors/low-carbon/

First published: Mar 2019
Last updated: 15 Jul 2019