Climate change blog - updates from the Climate Change Board
In this month's blog, David Dale, Policy Officer for ADEPT, discusses the recent work of the Climate Change Board and some wider developments in climate policies.
Devolution and climate change
ADEPT welcomed the introduction of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill in the summer and the opportunity it presents for strengthening local leadership and place-based service delivery. However, we were very disappointed that the Bill does not propose to transfer or introduce new statutory environmental or climate-related functions to strategic authorities.
This represents a missed opportunity to give a more robust statutory basis to local environment and climate leadership. We have set out our views in a position statement sent to all MPs which has been reinforced in a series of recent meetings between Hannah Bartram (ADEPT CEO), Angela Jones (ADEPT President) and a number of MPs.
The Devolution Bill has already completed its Committee stage in the Commons. Unfortunately, an amendment proposed by Green MPs to require strategic authorities, mayors and local authorities to act in accordance with the statutory Climate Change Act and Environmental Act targets was voted down. Further attempts to introduce such a statutory duty will be made as the Bill progresses through its subsequent Parliamentary stages.
Climate action communications
In the Commons, the Energy Security & Net Zero Select Committee has been looking into building support for the energy transition. It will assess whether the government is communicating effectively, giving the public clear information on the objectives and benefits of the transition. Climate communications are evolving rapidly and public attitudes, political context and best practice shift quickly, so any information given should be reviewed and updated regularly.
The ability of the government to make difficult decisions and to change the way in which energy is generated and used in the UK will depend on being able to bring people along with it. A vocal opposition to ‘net zero’, including the energy transition, has grown in strength. Political consensus has fractured and with it potentially the will to carry it through. The Committee has been hearing evidence from academics, NGOs and behavioural experts on this topic.
At the same time, the ADEPT Climate Change Board has been thinking about the language of climate action. Our communications team has been drafting a guide to practical approaches to communicating on climate and nature issues in ways that resonate with people's everyday lives.
These include focusing on looking after people and the environment, identifying tangible outcomes and engaging people authentically in shaping our collective future. We are also liaising with the Yorkshire & Humberside Climate Commission. The Commission recently held a conference workshop on this issue, based on the Britain talks Climate and Nature toolkit which can be found here. The ADEPT Climate Change Board will consider the draft guide in November.
Health and wellbeing
In October, our Blueprint Coalition partners at the Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London published a new report ‘Delivering for climate and health: insights from UK decision-makers’. It shows that action to tackle climate change can provide a range of benefits to public health including the reduction of exposure to air pollution and improving the quality of homes.
These wider benefits are not only popular with the public, but ensuring that climate action delivers for public health would also help reduce the strain on the NHS and support the UK economy, helping government funding go further.
The researchers interviewed decision-makers from local to national government and engaged with the ADEPT Climate Change Board back in May as part of their information gathering. Their report investigates how the health benefits of climate action are currently considered in the decision-making process and highlights insights from three key areas that need strengthening if the wider health benefits are to be fully realised:
- Improve the monitoring and evaluation of existing and future policies to better capture health-related outcomes.
- Implement policy frameworks that integrate health in climate-related decision-making and support collaboration and coordination between departments.
- Build awareness and raise the understanding of climate action health benefits amongst political leaders.
A recording of the launch webinar can be seen here.
Climate Change Committee advice on adaptation
In October Baroness Brown, Chair of the Adaptation Committee, wrote to Minister Emma Hardy MP (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Defra) setting out the Committee’s advice on strengthening the UK’s adaptation objectives which you can read here.
Her key messages were:
- That the need to strengthen the UK’s adaptation objectives is both essential and urgent, and that successive governments have repeatedly failed on their ambitions to make the UK resilient to climate change.
- Objectives should, at a minimum, prepare the country for the weather extremes that will be experienced if global warming levels reach 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050.
- Reaching 4°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century cannot yet be ruled out and should be considered as part of effective adaptation planning.
- A framework of clear and long-term objectives should be set out in the next National Adaptation Programme (NAP). These adaptation objectives need to be driven through a set of interim milestones, with targets every five years.
As part of the delivery of the next NAP, ADEPT will be continuing to press Defra to review and strengthen the role of the Local Adaptation Advisory Panel to ensure that local authorities can play an even more effective role in building resilient services, places and communities.
Carbon budget & growth delivery plan
On 29th October, the government published its new Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan. The new plan has been produced after the High Court ordered Ministers to improve on the two previous versions of the plan, which were deemed unlawful due to a lack of sector-specific details and an over-reliance on technologies which would not be mature in time.
The CB&GD Plan covers the period between the start of the 4th Carbon Budget (2023) and the end of the 6th Carbon Budget (2037). It summarises the past, present and forthcoming policies which will drive the decarbonisation of Britain’s economy. It also sets out how these policy signals should incentivise green growth, private investment in industries including renewable energy, electric transport and low-carbon manufacturing.
The plan sets out measures that it states will achieve 96% of the emissions reductions needed by 2030. The measures should more than halve the carbon intensity of the UK economy, in terms of tonnes of emissions by GDP, while creating new jobs and export opportunities.
While the UK has already halved its domestic emissions since 1990, this progress has been largely driven by the transition away from coal in power generation and building heating. The plan focuses on measures to accelerate decarbonisation in other sectors including manufacturing, transport and agriculture.
The plan recognises that local net zero is a crucial dimension and talks of “empowering local government and communities to accelerate to net zero, in line with the unique needs and opportunities of each area. Accelerating the adoption and delivery of low-carbon programmes and solutions and fostering innovation specific to local contexts.”
One rapid local impact will be the doubling of public charge points for electric vehicles and a new scheme for local authorities to expand access to cheaper at-home charging. Increased LEVI Capability funding is to provide local authorities with funding to secure dedicated in-house expertise to plan, procure and tender the delivery of local charge points in their areas. There will also be further funding for low emissions buses and active travel schemes.
The ADEPT Climate Change Board will be considering these and the other local implications of the plan at its next meeting on 24th November.
Further information
Author
- David Dale, ADEPT Policy Officer
