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Tag Archives: local authorities

Coventry is doing its best to go green, we just need more help from the government

Posted on 1 November, 2021 by Green Alliance blog One comment

This post is by Councillor George Duggins, the leader of Coventry City Council.

After months of anticipation, the UN climate change conference finally got underway in Glasgow this weekend. After the strategies and the speeches, the endless media briefings, the crunch meetings between No 10 and the Treasury and the chancellor’s budget announcements, it remains to be seen whether COP26 will be quite the turning point it should be.

Political leadership

Why local areas need to be given more power to move to net zero

Posted on 28 September, 2021 by Green Alliance blog Leave a comment

This post is by Amy Norman, senior researcher at the Social Market Foundation.

Over the next three decades, the pursuit of net zero will transform localities throughout the UK. This will bring opportunities for creating businesses and jobs in new green technologies like hydrogen, carbon capture and renewables on land and at sea. The good news is that many of these projects are already underway, like the recent approval of major decarbonisation plans for six industrial clusters from South Wales to St Fergus.

Low carbon future

Why the government shouldn’t ignore the role of local authorities in decarbonisation

Posted on 2 July, 2021 by Philippa Borrowman One comment

The Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) progress report last week rightly expressed its disappointment that a number of government strategies have been continuously delayed, among them the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, the Heat and Buildings Strategy and the Treasury’s final Net Zero Review. These will all be important as part of the expected overarching Net Zero Strategy which will set the pace for how the government plans to reach its economic goal of net zero carbon by 2050. The CCC hopes that the strategy will address the current significant shortfall in policies and ambition.

Climate change

Local authorities need much more support to do their bit on climate

Posted on 17 December, 2020 by Philippa Borrowman One comment

There is ongoing concern amongst local leaders and environmental organisations that local authorities are not receiving the support and resources they need to reduce emissions in their areas. Last Wednesday the Climate Change Committee (CCC) published its roadmap to show how government can meet its legally binding sixth carbon budget. Alongside this, a separate report was commissioned which emphasised the need for central government and local authorities to “work seamlessly” together to achieve their shared goal of net-zero emissions.

Political leadership

Lessons from the coalface: what the Cumbria coal mine story tells us about UK climate strategy

Posted on 9 October, 2020 by Rebecca Willis 6 comments

The UK may see itself as a climate leader, with cross-party support for a net zero goal. But, last week, local politicians granted planning permission for a proposed coal mine on the West Coast of Cumbria. Burning the coal from the mine, to make steel, will release nine million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. That’s more than double Cumbria’s total current emissions. (There’s more on the background to the mine in this briefing.)

Low carbon future

Will the government be able to keep its promise to radically shift transport policy?

Posted on 31 March, 2020 by Chaitanya Kumar One comment

The UK’s transport sector has not stepped up to the plate in cutting carbon emissions to date, with a meagre 4.5 per cent reduction in its emissions since 1990, compared to 63 per cent in the power sector. Its performance has been lower than every other sector in the UK. Read more

Low carbon future

Local authorities need more incentives to cut carbon

Posted on 29 May, 2012 by Green Alliance blog One comment

This is a guest post by David Kennedy, chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change

Our report on how local authorities can reduce emissions originated in questions raised as the Energy Bill passed through Parliament in 2010. In particular, there was a suggestion that local authorities should be set carbon budgets. Greg Barker’s response was to commission us to provide advice on the role of local authorities in reducing emissions.