Local government and the path to net zero Contents

Summary

It is clear the UK will struggle to reach net zero by 2050 unless central and local government work together to deliver solutions tailored to meet local circumstances. To facilitate this, the Government has committed in its Net Zero Strategy to clarifying the relationship between central and local government in the delivery of net zero and to improving co-ordination between different layers of government. It remains to be seen, however, if this amounts to the comprehensive local government net zero delivery framework called for by the Climate Change Committee.

Local authorities will be particularly important to ensuring a just transition to net zero, since no layer of government is closer to people or better able to tailor climate action to meet the needs of local communities. Only by harnessing local government can central government deliver a just transition that benefits all communities. Without that just transition, the Government will struggle to persuade the public to make the necessary changes.

The level of grant funding for local authority climate action has increased in recent years, but much of it remains short term and is allocated through competitive bidding processes, which are expensive and burdensome and make it difficult for councils to plan for the long term.

To ensure that new homes are contributing towards achieving net zero, certainty is needed about the details of the Future Homes Standard, which will ensure homes are built with 75–80% lower carbon emissions from 2025.

The planning system can also support the move to net zero. Resources will also be needed to ensure that planning authorities have the necessary skills to devise and monitor effective decarbonisation policies.

Existing homes also need to have their insulation improved and their heating systems decarbonised. Funding must come from both the Government and private investment. The £3.9 billion of funding, including the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, outlined in the Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy is welcome. But there needs to be more certainty about funding for retrofitting beyond 2025.

The lack of a requirement to replace a gas boiler that has ceased working with a low-carbon heating system until 2035 risks a large number of existing gas boilers simply being replaced with new gas boilers, especially given that there is a lack of incentives to do otherwise.

Local authorities have a vital role in promoting retrofitting in their area, including through consultation with the public. The Climate Assembly UK similarly stressed the need for the public to have choice over the technologies used for retrofitting.

Local authorities are also well placed to influence emissions from road transport, which accounted for one quarter of the UK’s emissions in 2019. In particular, they can use their planning powers to seek to prevent development from locking residents into car dependency and encourage a modal shift to public transport and active travel.

The contribution local authorities can make to net zero extends well beyond buildings, heating and transport. For example, they can support the decarbonisation of energy generation and supply through the delivery of smart local energy systems; reduce emissions from waste by using their responsibilities for collection and disposal to push waste up the Waste Hierarchy and by connecting more energy from waste facilities to district heat networks; use their procurement powers to encourage best practice and keep services local; and use their position of local leadership to help businesses and the public to reduce their own emissions. It is for central government, in partnership with local government, to enumerate everything local authorities can do, and should be doing, to reduce emissions locally.




Published: 29 October 2021 Site information    Accessibility statement