Provide leadership
Dealing with climate change is the most pressing sustainability challenge facing us in the UK. A courageous and appropriate response will deliver progress on other sustainable development priorities, including provision of affordable homes, employment opportunities and regeneration – all crucial in troubled economic times.
What do we need to do?
Cities and towns all need to:
- mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions
- adapt to a changing climate by providing more comfortable environments for people to live and work in
- adapt services and infrastructure to ensure resilience to extreme weather events
- ensure vulnerable people are protected from climate change risk
- increase low-carbon energy supplies.
Climate change requires local authorities to take a long-term view despite short-term pressures. This will require some tough decisions.
What are the benefits?
An inspiring vision, an evidence-based approach and effective communication and engagement are essential. Complexity requires a cross-cutting approach to issues and assets. By taking firm action on climate change mitigation and adaptation that also delivers sustainable places, city leaders will, at the same time:
- increase energy security
- increase employment opportunities
- protect vulnerable residents
- improve health and wellbeing
- build community and economic resilience
- promote sustainable communities and places.
The best approaches to addressing the impacts of a changing climate will be based on understanding the city as a complex, connected system. This means a cross–disciplinary approach which identifies the win-wins across the whole of the city.
How can local authorities lead the way?
There are eight main ways in which local authority leadership can really influence climate change and sustainability outcomes:
- policymaker– interpreting national policy and guidance and formulating policy at the local scale to deliver climate change objectives and the sustainable community strategy. Key policies include the local area agreement, the local development framework and the core strategy plus a significant masterplanning role through area action plans and supplementary planning documents
- planning authority – the negotiating and consent-giving roles of local authorities in the planning process can have a big influence on both new build and refurbishment
- building control authority, setting, overseeing and signing off the standards for new development
- social landlord – local authorities may have control over a vast stock of existing housing and a considerable amount of new build and refurbishment
- client for new public buildings – including town halls, schools, leisure centres and community centres with opportunities to provide benchmarks of good practice in their design and management
- asset manager for existing buildings and open spaces, with opportunities for sustainable refurbishment and maintenance that reduces emissions and increases adaptability to a changing climate
- leader in local strategic partnerships in delivering effective services and resource management and working with private and public partners to provide a solid base for sustainable communities and local economies
- advisor to communities on how to live, work and play more sustainably, reducing their ecological footprint and building their resilience to a changing climate.
You can find out more about leading on energy, waste, water, transport, green infrastructure and public space on this website
See our interview with Councillor Richard Brett to the approach Leeds City Council is taking.
Examples
Examples of how local authorities are embedding climate change:
- The good practice section of this website
- The IDeA knowledge website
- The Beacon scheme showcases the work of six local authorities in tackling climate change
- The HCA Academy is the skills and expertise arm of the new Homes and Communities Agency. They present practical solutions to climate change for people who create and maintain communities through their Demystifying climate change website and the HCA Academy Showcase case study library.
- The C40 is a group of the world's largest cities committed to tackling climate change.
