"Our planet is in crisis, balanced on a knife-edge at the point of no return. As with Brexit, the poorest in society will suffer first and suffer most deeply."

At a Constitutional Committee meeting of the Council today to discuss setting up a Climate Convention, Cllr Griff Kane said :

• The Council shouldn't hide behind the 'only responsible for 5% of emissions' line , The Council is in charge of most of the highways & byways in the city, own 25% of the housing stock and purchases substantial products and services locally so the its influence on the carbon footprint of the City is much larger and they should acknowledge and embrace this.

• The document debated by the Committee isn't clear on how the three elements will interact and how the results will be 'processed' - for instance, none of the Waste Commission's recommended targets made it into the Waste Strategy (which is the most embarrassingly pathetic substance-free 'strategy' I have ever seen).

• Getting a truly representative 'citizen's assembly' will be a real challenge.

• We had a successful Climate Change Partnership pre-2011 when the Liberal Democrats controlled the Council, and we hope the convention would be action-oriented, not just a talking shop.

• The Liberal Democrats will be delighted to take up the 3 seats on the Climate Committee - it has been suggested that the nominations go to October Council along with the proposal for the Committee to be set up.

Wera Hobhouse MP, Liberal Democrats parliamentary spokesperson on environment, wrote about the Party's ambitious strategy to reach net zero carbon by 2045. :

"We are committed to this target - and we have set out a clear path for how communities, businesses, and government can achieve it. The Liberal Democrats will:

There's no time for wringing our hands when it comes to the climate crisis. Our new policy lays out a credible plan for fast, effective action to beat global heating."