Councils ‘left without resources needed’ to live up to climate emergency declarations

Councils across England have been left unable to enact ambitious climate pledges due to a lack of central government support, a report claims.

More than three-quarters of English local authorities have made “climate emergency” declarations, and many have also pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2030, ahead of the national target of 2050.

However, a cash shortfall caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, little support from central government and years of austerity has left councils unable to make the changes they want to, according to a new report from Green Alliance, an independent think tank and charity focused on the environment.

Andrew Western, the Labour leader of Trafford Council in Greater Manchester, said: “There’s no doubt that we are facing a climate emergency that requires urgent, joined-up action across all areas of local and central government.

“However, the combined effects of the pandemic and long-running budgetary pressures mean councils are struggling for capacity and funds to take many of the practical, achievable steps needed to decarbonise our economy.”

The news came as a report from the National Audit Office found that the country will need to mobilise all government bodies and associated agencies in order to meet its goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

The report from parliament’s spending watchdog found the government was currently not doing enough to meet its target for slashing emissions for the years 2023 to 2027 or to meet the goal of hitting net-zero emissions by 2050. On Thursday evening, Boris Johnson unveiled a new target to slash emissions by at least 68 per cent on 1990 levels by 2030. The details of how this will be achieved are not yet known.

“Government is missing a trick here because local authorities have influence over transport and housing, two sectors that are really important to decarbonise and that the central government so far hasn’t done a particularly good job on,” Philippa Borrowman, a policy adviser at Green Alliance, told The Independent.

Transport and homes come behind energy production as the second- and third-largest contributors to the UK’s emissions, respectively. The transport sector currently accounts for around one-third of the country’s emissions, while homes account for just under one-fifth.

Better utilising local authorities could be key to cutting these emissions, said Ms Borrowman.

That is because councils have influence over public transport planning, road-building and walking and cycling routes. They are also responsible for rolling out home retrofitting policies.

The UK’s independent climate advisors have said that retrofitting the country’s existing homes to make them more energy efficient will be key to meeting emissions targets. This is because Britain’s homes are typically old and draughty and heated by fossil gas.

“It’s going to be really, really hard to roll out retrofitting all over the UK, That’s not going to happen from national policies, we need that local connection,” said Ms Borrowman.

The charity interviewed 18 local authorities in England in order to assess how much progress they had been able to make in enacting ambitious climate pledges.

Most councils gave feedback anonymously. “Our ambition was to be green but, in practice, it was getting more and more difficult because we were having to cut all the non-statutory services,” one council representative said.

Another said that meeting its stated climate commitment would be too costly without further support.

“Around £1.5bn is what’s needed, which is all of our discretionary spend between now and 2030,” they told interviewers. “If we spent only on this and we did nothing else, then we’d be able to fund it.”

A government spokesperson said: “Our Local Energy Programme has invested over £20m in capacity and capability support for local authorities and community groups, and we’ll be setting out more sector strategies next year to go even further.

“On top of this, our 10-point plan demonstrates the UK’s commitment to supporting hundreds of thousands of green jobs and tackling greenhouse gas emissions, as we forge ahead to reach net zero by 2050.”