Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Batool and Cllr Rae Bhatia.

Councillor Rae Bhatia joined the meeting remotely in an informal capacity.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed on the agenda.

None.

The Director of Estates and Building Services submits a report on the Leicester City Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan.

Members are recommended to note the contents of the report and provide comments to the Director of Estates and Building Services.

The Director of Estates and Building Services submitted a report on the Leicester City Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan.

The Chair introduced the item noting that Climate Change was an ongoing priority for the Council.

An introduction to the Climate Emergency Action Plan was made by Cllr Clarke, Deputy Mayor- Climate, Economy and Culture.  He thanked all involved for their work and bringing their expertise. 

He noted that Leicester was demonstrably forward-thinking regarding climate action and was A-rated by the Climate Disclosure Project (CDP) and was in the top 13% of over 900 cities globally reporting their progress to the CDP. This was a huge credit to officers.  However, the city was still running behind where it wants to be and there was a need to up the pace of improvements if the necessary government support is forthcoming.  The Commission now had the opportunity to help set the pace and help the Council lead the way and recognise where changes needed to be made and where others needed to be called upon to make changes.

A presentation was made by Duncan Bell, Change Manager (Climate Emergency) using the slides published with the agenda papers.  The presentation covered the successes from the first action plan, the aims of the new plan and the approach to achieving the net zero ambition.  The aim was to make Leicester a climate-ready city, meaning becoming net-zero by 2030  if possible, with the necessary government support, trying to reduce the impact we have outside the city as all goods and services brought into the city created carbon emissions in other places.

  Other key points included:

• The plan looked at the wildlife in the city and the infrastructure in the city trying to adapt and make the city resilient as the climate changed.
• There was a need to try to link the climate change work to the wider goals of the City Council.
• Co-benefits from the climate work included improving people's health by improving the air quality in the city, making homes healthier, reducing issues in buildings with damp and mould, better insulating homes and helping the local economy to grow by helping businesses save energy.
• The Council aimed to lead by example.
• There was a need to reduce demand for fossil fuels and energy use, for example by insulating buildings and encouraging alternatives to car travel and also promoting switching from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric and switching from gas boilers to heat pumps as well as trying to make use of renewable energy sources.
• Round table discussions across different Council service areas were undertaken to identify actions which formed the basis of the consultation draft.
• A public consultation was being undertaken and a workshop had been conducted with young people.

The Committee were invited to ask questions and make comments.  Key points included:

• With regard to the co-benefits of the plan it was possible that there could be scope for joint-work with Public Health.
• With regard to a suggestion about getting sports clubs in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

There being no other items of urgent business, the meeting ended at 19:45.