A target of achieving net zero carbon by 2030 will cost Ceredigion council “millions”, a councillor has warned, but the authority insists “that the cost of not taking action to tackle climate change, far outweighs the cost of taking action now”.

An action plan to be a carbon neutral local authority has been developed following a notice of motion in 2019 that the council recognises the global climate emergency and reduce its emissions.

The final plan, which went before members of the thriving communities overview and scrutiny committee on Wednesday, 26 May, says that at “this stage it is not possible to detail the full costs of Ceredigion becoming a carbon neutral local authority by 2030.”

“It must be noted that the cost of not taking action to tackle climate change, far outweighs the cost of taking action now,” the plan outlines.

“Doing nothing, or continuing as we have is therefore no longer an option.”

A report to committee states that the authority will have to “act four times faster than envisaged by current policy” to achieve the 2030 target, with Cabinet member Cllr Alun Williams adding that a lot of work had been done over the three, five-year, carbon management plans.

“We are not starting from scratch here,” he said, adding although there were costs involved there had also been £5 million of savings over that time as well.

Cllr Keith Evans raised concerns about a lack of financial information, with the initial plan to be signed off by Cabinet and full council. Further details are expected once the full carbon calculator exercise has been carried out.

Cllr Ifan Davies added: “The principle is correct, we have to reduce carbon, but we have to be very careful there’s not a cost implication for the rate payers of the county.”

Whether Ceredigion was “wasting time” when large scale environmental destruction took place in other areas of the world, such as the Brazilian rainforest or new coal fired power plants are built in China, was raised by Cllr John Roberts.

“We know it’s going to cost millions to sort anything out, if it’s an emergency why isn’t the Welsh Government coming up with something faster?” he added.

Cllr Marc Davies, committee chairman, agreed that “the costs are high” adding “this is for the benefit of our children and grandchildren”.

Ceredigion County Council has been reducing its carbon emissions since 2007 when the Council launched its first five-year Carbon Management Plan.

Since then, following a series of three five-year plans addressing all areas of the council’s work, the council has exceeded its carbon reduction targets and reduced emissions by 51.66 per cent, saving over £6 million in the process.

The committee backed a recommendation from Cllr Elizabeth Evans that a cross party working group be set up, which will work with carbon management group, to monitor and update the action plan.