ENVIRONMENT campaigners stormed out of a Surrey County Council meeting after a motion to set a target to tackle climate change was “watered down” and voted through.

The council had been asked to commit to its “duty” to limit the negative impacts of climate breakdown and to pledge to make Surrey carbon neutral by 2030.

The motion, put forward by the county council’s only Green Party councillor Jonathan Essex, called for councillors to declare a climate emergency in the county and to take a leadership role with the boroughs and districts to look at ways to reduce production and consumption emissions.

But a last minute amendment was put forward by the ruling Conservative party cabinet member for environment, Mike Goodman, at the council meeting on Tuesday – stripping back the pledge and deleting any reference to duty, targets and commitment.

The motion came just days after school children around the country walked out of classrooms protesting about climate change.

Councillors hit back at the last minute change to the motion criticising the council for “running in the opposite direction” of its responsibilities.

And there were heckles from the gallery as the vote was passed through. The group of residents from across Surrey, including Farnham and Godalming, grabbed their placards and walked out of the public gallery shouting “shame on you”.

Councillor Will Forster (Liberal Democrat, Woking) said the changes to a pledge or a commitment “negated” the proposals and ignored the two main key points to the paper.

He added: “This motion should have had cross-party support. It has had cross-party support elsewhere in the country.

“It’s clear that there is an appetite to lead on climate change.”

Cllr Penny Rivers (Lib Dem, Godalming) said she receives more emails on the subject of climate change than anything else.

But Cllr Goodman said the council was committed to climate change and listed a number of initiatives Surrey County Council has approved, saying the council was “among one of the greenest in the country”.

Actions he listed, included reducing carbon emissions by changing street lighting; changing the way council staff work; low emissions planning policy promoting energy saving; electric buses in Guildford; a recycling strategy; and that school pupils were encouraged to walk and cycle.

He said they had secured more than £50m of funding in the past three years to “improve the road network” and mentioned the county-wide single-use plastic strategy, adding the county will be the first in the country to use only paper straws for consumers through its business.

But Cllr Essex said he was “clutching at paper straws”.

He added: “We don’t need to debate, we need to get on and do something about it.”

Fiona Shep, a climate change protestor from Farnham who attended Tuesday’s meeting, said: “I feel that Jonathan Essex communicated clearly the reasons why a pledge to reduce our emissions to zero by 2030 is a useful target which SCC would be motivated to work towards, together with government and business. Changing this to 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050 is hardly showing leadership or determination.

“There seemed to be a party bias that was so unhealthy when this is a scientific matter that goes beyond party allegiances. One even laughably said with our beautiful countryside, we did not need a climate emergency in Surrey. This evoked a bitter laugh.

“Some of us left in disgust and could not help letting the councillors know we felt betrayed and as if our children were in danger on their account.”