After celebrating declaring Gloucestershire on a crusade to tackle the climate emergency the county council has now turned its attention to developers.

A motion calling for all new public buildings and developments in Gloucestershire to be carbon neutral has been unanimously backed by councillors.

The motion, supported following an amendment, requested the council's cabinet work with the NHS, Gloucestershire Constabulary and district councils to ensure all new public buildings, residential and commercial developments in Gloucestershire support the move to zero carbon.

An estimated 60,000 new homes are due to be built in the county over the next 20 years - about 3,000 a year.

The man who proposed the motion, Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, called on council to take a tough line with business.

Cllr Hodgkinson said: "The housing industry is an important area to tackle. We are therefore calling on the county council to flex its significant legal clout and use this avenue to make a significant dent in the county's future climate emissions."

Whether that will be possible remains to be seen. The zero carbon homes policy announced in 2006 by central Government was scrapped in 2015, removing significant pressures to drive everyone towards the same green goal.

The police aimed to ensure that from 2016 all new homes would generate as much energy on site as they would used.

All of which was to be supported by new energy efficiency standards which would have come into force in 2016 alongside a scheme allowing housebuilders to deliver equivalent carbon savings off site.

Gloucestershire County Council's most recent announcement comes after a climate emergency was declared by the council in May. The implications for travel into our towns and cities and how we produce and consumer our energy in the county are not yet know.

But the council's headline aim is "to become carbon neutral as an organisation by 2030". We are told it is "identifying measures to deliver an 80 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across the whole county by the same date".

In what we here at Punchline will excuse as a minor typo adding 20 years to the authorities 2030 target, Cllr Mark Hawthorne, leader of Gloucestershire County Council, sounds determined to make it all so. His focus appears to be more on partnership working than exercising legal leverage.

"We are determined to achieve our aim of becoming a carbon neutral county by 2050. We can reach this target by working with our partners to ensure any new public buildings are zero carbon and developers choose greener methods of construction."

Cllr Lesley Williams, leader of the Labour Group, said: "I am delighted we have shown cross-party support for this motion. We all need to play our part in tackling climate change and we can show we are leading the way as a county by making sure developers are on board with the move to zero carbon."

Cllr Rachel Smith, leader of the Green Group, said: "Climate breakdown is a huge threat we face and we need to take urgent action to achieve the 80 per cent county-wide carbon reduction by 2030 as agreed by full council in May.

"By working with district councils and our partners on removing the carbon footprint of public buildings and housing, we can help to create warmer, healthier homes and a greener future for Gloucestershire."

Then Chancellor Gordon Brown announced the zero carbon homes policy in 2006 claiming Britain was the first country to make such a commitment.

When it was scrapped housebuilders and environmentalists were highly critical of the move.

Leading the way in Gloucestershire is the local authority of Stroud District, which adopted carbon neutral management plan in 2009 and in 2015 announced its plans to become carbon neutral.