Agenda item

The Director of Estates and Building Services submits a report presenting a draft three-year strategy for addressing the Climate Emergency declared in February 2019, along with a draft of the first iteration of a three-year action plan. 

The Commission is recommended to:

a)    Consider and comment on the drafts of Leicester’s Climate Emergency Strategy 2020 – 2023 (Appendix 1) and Leicester City Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan 2020 – 2023 Version 1 (Appendix 2) to inform the completion of their development prior to their formal implementation through an Executive Decision by the Deputy City Mayor for Environment and Transportation;

b)    Note the extensive consultation and engagement undertaken in preparing the Strategy and the Plan, and the resulting mandate for an ambitious response to the Climate Emergency;

c)    Note the intention to actively encourage and support organisations in the city to join with the Council in taking action, including developing their own action plans; and

d)    Note the commitment made in the strategy to monitoring and publicly reporting on progress.

The Director of Estates and Buildings submitted a report presenting a draft three-year strategy for addressing the Climate Change Emergency declared in February 2019, along with a draft of the first version of a three-year action plan.

Councillor Clarke, Deputy City Mayor – Environment and Transportation, introduced the report, welcoming the development of the strategy and action plan. 

The Service Manager – Sustainability reminded Members that, following the declaration of the Climate Emergency in February 2019, ideas for a strategy had been developed in-house.  Consultation on these had run from November 2019 to March 2020, during which time over 4,000 individual responses had been received to the proposals in the plan.

The Council had first set targets to help address climate change in the early 1990s and currently was exceeding its target to reduce its carbon production by 50% by 2025.  However, due to the Climate Emergency, the ambition now was to be carbon-neutral by 2030, which would be a steep reduction. 

Councillor Clarke expressed disappointment that the Council’s ambition did not appear to be matched by national policy, as the latter was needed in order to help meet the aspiration to be carbon neutral by 2030.  The Service Manager – Sustainability confirmed that lobbying government on the issues outlined in the Strategy and Action Plan was critical, as the Council could not achieve its targets without national government intervention in policy and funding schemes.

The Service Manager – Sustainability drew attention to the actions for the first year of the strategy and advised Members that actions for the following two years now were being developed.  This included accessing as much funding as possible and linking the strategy to other work, such as the Economic Recovery Plan that was being developed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Members welcomed the report and congratulated officers on producing the Strategy, which was ambitious, but set out a clear way for achieving the required outcomes.

The following comments were then made in discussion:

·           How did this Strategy differ from previous ones?

Response from the Service Manager – Sustainability:

Although the city had achieved a lot since the 1990s, the Council now needed to drive a substantial step change that provided innovation in every aspect of people’s lives.

·           The government could be asked to fund district heating schemes, to help reduce emissions from housing, although it was recognised that these could be expensive to set up.  It was noted that, as the national grid decarbonised, carbon savings from gas fired district heating schemes were falling and alternative energy sources for district heating would be required.

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·           Some renewable forms of energy were not acceptable.  For example, biofuels drove a lot of deforestation.  The Strategy therefore could be more specific about which forms of renewable energy were considered appropriate.

·           37% of households in Leicester not having access to a car created a potential to encourage use of alternative forms of transport.  For example, people did not have to be physically fit to successfully use electric bikes.

Response from the Service Manager – Sustainability:

Electric bikes and vehicles were very relevant, but were not the only solution, as some air pollution came from car tyres and electric vehicles did not reduce congestion.

·           Most electric cars used batteries made of cobalt, or blended cobalt, which was a very scarce resource.

·           An electrification programme for the city’s transport could be introduced, with overhead wires running along corridors.

·           Although a lot of focus was put on transport, this only accounted for 25% of emissions in the city.  40% of emissions came from the business sector, but it was recognised that the Council’s influence on this was limited.

·           The further development of suggestions for employment and apprenticeships, especially in green jobs, would be welcomed.  For example, retrofitting insulation to housing could be one area in which labour skills could be developed, with the current apprenticeship scheme operated by Housing services being used as a model for developing apprenticeships in green skills.

Response from the Service Manager – Sustainability:

Work would continue to ensure that proposals were developed to create green jobs and green apprentice opportunities, building on existing City Council schemes where possible.

The Climate Emergency Strategy had been developed in parallel with the Economic Recovery Plan that had been prepared in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and would continue to inform it.

·           The Council could not achieve the targets set out in the Strategy and Action Plan alone, it needed the support of schools, businesses and individuals in the city.

·           Leicester had been the country’s first Environment City, but it had not maintained that focus, so should not keep the designation.  For example, the percentage of emissions from construction needed to be addressed; lights often were left on in empty buildings; diesel lorries travelled around the city collecting waste; the level of recycling being undertaken was falling year on year; and under waste collection contracts the city’s waste was being driven across the country, as well as being exported to other countries.

·           The suggestion that carbon literacy training be provided for Councillors and other decision-makers was welcomed.

Councillor Clarke welcomed the comments made by the Commission and noted that:

o    It could be hard to accurately identify the low carbon business sector, as many businesses identified themselves differently.  However, the Council could consider doing more to help the development of a low carbon sector and encourage inward investment, particularly in relation to green jobs;

o    The city had good transport connectivity, which could be monitored in conjunction with the Climate Emergency Strategy.  The two local universities also were undertaking work in relation to this;

o    Schools used a lot of energy and their sites had various transport needs, so various conversations were needed on how these issues could be addressed; and

o    The Council was responsible for approximately 4% of emissions in the city, so needed to lead by example and work with partners to address the Climate Emergency.

AGREED:

1)    That the Draft Climate Emergency Strategy and Action Plan be welcomed and all involved in its preparation congratulated on their work, the scope, ambition and firm proposals of the Strategy and Action Plan being particularly welcome;

2)    That the Director of Estates and Buildings be asked to take account of the comments recorded above when developing the Draft Climate Emergency Strategy and Action Plan; and

3)    That the Director of Estates and Buildings be asked to give further consideration to how the proposals contained in the Draft Climate Emergency Strategy and Action Plan can be translated in to proposals for green jobs.