How to Get Councils to Implement a Climate Emergency Through Policy?

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I’ve just started working on some policy ideas with the local XR group. Here’s my thinking (could be helpful for others):

Step 1: Consider what a council actually has the power to make decisions about (example below for district council):

  • The way their estate is managed; buildings, green spaces and rental properties.
  • Building standards through planning permissions and guidance
  • Fleet of vehicles they use
  • Offices & staff management
  • Council funds pensions
  • Business rates
  • Waste disposal
  • Budget
  • Air quality standards
  • Low emissions zones
  • Parking
  • Local plan (although this is set to 2031 and is a huge piece of work to unravel again)

What areas do they have considerable influence:

  • Contractors – waste etc
  • Suppliers
  • Landscape scale planning
  • Standards of properties being used in their area
  • Relevant national policy (e.g. landfill tax)

Step 2: Consider where there are easy wins

Do you want them to implement all policies now or do we want involvement for the long run so we can do a bit of learning by doing?

What are the easiest things to achieve?

I would argue that actual policies to help them implement a climate emergency are probably the most effective as they provide good PR for the council and getting those popular wins in will help galvanise further involvement. If we go for too much too early we could damage relationships.

I provide all my thinking on policies and welcome a discussion about prioritisation.

Step 3: Long List Policy Ideas

Estate management

  • A full audit of environmental impact (carbon, water, ecosystems) to be conducted
  • Environment policy to be put in place for the estate that results in zero carbon scope 1 carbon emissions and a net gain in biodiversity by 2030

Buildings on their estate (in order of priority):

  • All moved to be powered by 100% renewable electricity for the next budget
  • All energy efficiency measures with a payback period of 8 years to be researched and implemented within the next two years of budgets
  • Solar panels to be installed on all buildings that can provide an 11-year return on investment
  • Any heating units that need replacing across the estate to be replaced with renewable alternatives (e.g. air source or ground source heat pumps), and for all buildings on the estate to be powered by electric sourced heating by 2030.

Note – it’s important to get the life time value out of existing units (there is a considerable carbon cost to manufacturing and disposal)

Green space on the estate (includes; road verges, walking routes, parks, green spaces in front of buildings)

  • Create wildflower road verges and implement low level cutting regime – potentially in partnership with a charity (see Dorset’s plans here – there are numerous other examples across the country)
  • Review management practices of green estate in partnership with a local conversation charity, and implement a nature recovery network across the area which leaves connected parts of the estate for nature, with low level management practices.

Fleet of vehicles

  • Move all vehicles managed by the council to electric by 2030, meaning that any currently needing to be replaced to be replaced with electric

Offices, supplier & staff management

  • Move to paperless offices by 2025 (although I haven’t done the analysis here – I’m not convinced it’s more environmental friendly)
  • Implement working from home where possible to minimise transport
  • Begin to measure travel to work emissions and set a pathway and mechanism (scope 3) to reduce this to zero by 2030
  • Set new standards on tendering for work from council to influence suppliers (e.g. Environmental policy scrutiny, carbon emissions from services provided)

Council funds and pensions

Building standards through planning permissions and guidance

  • A percentage canopy cover in all new buildings is a great policy – High Wycombe have gone for 30% - it’s a smart policy… (although do acknowledge the trees policy as discussed in the meeting)
  • All new buildings to not have gas central heating (use geothermal or air source heat pumps), to have highest energy efficiency standards (potentially passivhaus) and to have solar panels
  • A 30% net gain in biodiversity must be achieved from any building constructed.

Business rates (so much which can be done here but also really controverial):

  • Lower business rates for zero emissions businesses (or potential carbon differentiated business rates?!)
  • Potential business rates for ecosystem services (flood & climate mitigation, biodiversity etc etc)

Waste disposal – one highlighted in XR document

  • Most forward looking policy is pay per weight policy (implemented in Ireland and Norway – news article here good) but I’m not sure it’s something that could be implemented at this scale, but could be asked for a feasibility study to be conducted by the waste management company.
  • Waste company to be set new standards for delivery and encouragement of reduction in non-recyclable waste.

Air quality standards, Low Emissions Zones & Parking

  • Establishing zero emissions zones by a particular date has been done affectively by Oxford CC, with this probably being the most forward looking policy in the country, but more could be done in this space – e.g. Congestion Charge (very effective in London, would bring in money whilst reducing emissions), electric cars given free parking and access to bus lanes.
  • A good policy would be that an area of Banbury would be set as a zero emissions zone by 2025.

Local Plan

  • The central tenant needs to be about carbon and ecosystems which would mean mapping a nature recovery network and embedding it into the plan and finding ways to mitigate for all carbon emissions across the area.