A MERTHYR TYDFIL councillor has claimed that the council does not need to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions.
Councillor Andrew Barry, Reform UK, has questioned whether the council should be worried at all about carbon dioxide emissions going up.
A recent meeting of the council’s Sustainable Merthyr Tydfil committee heard from officers that the reason for the 28.5% increase in total carbon dioxide emissions in 2024/2025 was the leisure trust properties becoming part of the council’s reporting portfolio now.
They said the two sites that have been the main reason for the increase are Aberfan and Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Centre swimming pools.
But they said that energy consumption at Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Centre has been reduced by around 50% over the last few years because of solar panels and LED lighting but added that Aberfan is one building where they could probably do more with investment.
Officers said they try and work in line with Welsh Government carbon reduction targets which includes net zero in operation by 2030 which officers said is very difficult or impossible to achieve because they’d need £30m or £40m to do that.
They said they probably need to set their more realistic internal targets.
Cllr Barry said that China and India are contributing massively to carbon emissions and said “our contribution is negligible.”
“If there’s a financial element, we need to start questioning what we are doing with carbon dioxide reduction.”
He claimed that there was “a bit of a drought” of carbon dioxide on the planet at the moment.
He asked: “Should we be worried about our carbon dioxide going up at all to be honest?”
He also claimed that if you do a little research “it backs up the idea no we shouldn’t be doing anything about it.”
He said it’s about having a broader view of where they are with carbon dioxide and it alarms him when he sees they’ve got to reduce it when he claimed “it goes against the scientific community.”
“I would suggest we don’t need carbon dioxide reduction, that’s what I’m suggesting.”
Officers said they need a balanced commercial approach and so far they’ve always done that by carrying out projects that save money and reduce carbon dioxide.
They said what they’ve got to be careful of is doing projects that reduce carbon emissions but don’t pay back for 50 years, which they said isn’t a sensible approach.
