Climate campaigners spoke to Beyond Radio ahead of a Lancaster City Council decision to declare an ecological emergency to help protect plants and animals.
Environmental protesters were on the steps of Morecambe Town Hall with banners prior to talks by councillors on Wednesday night.
They called for the council to back a Parliamentary Climate and Ecology Bill—which, if it becomes law, would require the development of a strategy to ensure that the UK’s environmental response is in line with the latest science.
Environmental campaigner Elizabeth, from the local Extinction Rebellion group, spoke to Beyond Radio ahead of the meeting
"The work that needs to be done on keeping the global temperature down; this council has already declared a climate emergency, that can't be fixed without declaring an ecological emergency as well," she said.
"I think (Lancaster City Council is) better than most (councils) in many ways. For instance we have zero-carbon Salt Ayre Leisure Centre.
"We are particularly worried though about some of the development that doesn't take into account keeping (down) mega carbon use; like new roads, we need housing that's low carbon, and we need better transport. And they need the funding to be able to do that."
A motion brought before the council on Wednesday, by city councillors Frea, Black, G. Knight, Matthews and Wood, called for councillors and local MPs to support a Climate and Ecology Bill that is currently going through Parliament.
The motion said: "The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. More than one in seven of our plants and animals face extinction, and more than 40 per cent are in decline.
"We therefore welcome the Leaders' Pledge for Nature, signed by the UK Government, which states that— if we fail to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030—we increase the risk of further pandemics, rising global temperatures and loss of species.
"In order to achieve this, the UK needs a legally-enforceable nature target so that, by 2030, nature is visibly and measurably on the path of recovery."
The motion, which also called for the council to declare an ecological emergency, was voted through by councillors at the meeting held at Morecambe Town Hall.
Lancaster City Council declared a climate emergency in January 2019 and has taken steps towards the aim of cutting its own carbon emissions to net zero by 2030.
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