Agenda item

To update Cabinet on the reductions in the Authority and Borough carbon footprints achieved since the declaration of a Climate Emergency and seek approval to a number of new policy proposals, developed by the Authority’s Climate Emergency Board, to support the delivery of the action plan and the work towards achieving the carbon reduction targets agreed by Cabinet in July 2019.

A report was received which updated Cabinet on the reductions in the Authority and Borough carbon footprints achieved since the declaration of a Climate Emergency, and seeking approval to a number of new policy proposals, developed by the Authority’s Climate Emergency Board, to support the delivery of the action plan and the work towards achieving the carbon reduction targets agreed by Cabinet in July 2019.

In July 2019 Council had declared a Climate Emergency, setting a target to reduce the carbon footprint of the Authority and the Borough by 50% by 2023 and to become carbon neutral by 2050. 

At the end of 2019/20, the Authority’s carbon footprint had decreased by 46% since thebaseline year of 2010/11. Given this current performance, it was likely that the Authority would achieve the 50% reduction target by the 2023 target date. It was noted that the carbon footprint data ran up to 31 March 2020 so only included one week of the COVID-19 “lockdown” period and therefore had no real impact on performance.

The Authority was clear in its commitment to tackling the Climate Emergency and had taken a number of steps since the previous report to Cabinet in 2019.  These were included in Section 1.5.2 of the report.

In November 2019 Cabinet had approved the establishment of a Climate Emergency Board which would shape an action plan to be presented to Cabinet in the summer of 2020; receive regular updates on a number of workstreams; consider and advise on key issues as they emerged; and oversee performance and budget management.

The action plan had been prepared in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of development, the true economic and societal costs of the pandemic for the UK and North Tyneside were not fully known.  Whilst the lockdown measures and economic damage caused would undoubtedly result in a short-term reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, it was possible that emissions could rebound if climate positive solutions were not included as central elements in recovery plans.

The Climate Emergency Board was reviewing, and would continue to review, appropriate funding packages from Government that aimed to decarbonise the economy and stimulate economic growth.

There were lessons to learn from the pandemic that could be applied to the climate emergency, perhaps the biggest being the population’s capacity and willingness to accept lifestyle changes for the wider benefit of society. Learning lessons from the response to a global health emergency and applying them to a global climate emergency could pave the way for the accelerated and sustained change that was critical in solving the problem of climate change. By embracing these lessons, the Borough may be able to enjoy long term sustainable carbon emission reductions from changes in behaviours, such as the increase in active travel, reduction in travel by private car, increased working from home practices and willingness to invest in domestic property improvements.

During the pandemic it had been evident how much residents had used and enjoyed the parks, beaches and open spaces North Tyneside had to offer. The Authority’s ambitious carbon reduction programme sought to protect this natural capital through mitigation against climate change and a subsequent climate breakdown.

Working in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, the Climate Emergency Board had developed a number of policy proposals that would support the work of the Board in achieving the targets announced by Council in July 2019 in the declaration of a Climate Emergency. These were:

·         By 2023 all Authority Street Lights would be converted to LED (with the possible exception of specialist heritage columns)

·         Newly built Authority operational buildings would not use gas or oil as the primary fuel for heating

·         The Authority would identify renewable energy investment opportunities on its own buildings and land, and across the Borough on non-Authority assets

·         The Authority would replace 100% of all Light Goods Vehicles which were due to be replaced by 2030 with electric vehicles and would continue to explore the possibility of replacing all Heavy Goods Vehicles with electric vehicles

·         The Authority would encourage team members across the organisation to tackle the climate emergency by:

                      i.        Ensuring all employees had access to online educational tools to build knowledge and understanding of climate change;

                    ii.        Introducing climate change discussions into annual individual performance reviews;

                   iii.        Delivering campaigns annually across the organisation; and

                   iv.        Reviewing the employee benefit package to determine if the Authority could incentivise actions to reduce carbon emissions such as prioritising electric cars in leasing offers

·         The Authority would establish a Borough wide board, with a range of stakeholders, to reduce the carbon footprint of the Borough

·         The Authority would reduce car-based school trips by 5% annually

·         The Authority would require all new developments to provide EV charging points

·         The Authority would remove all ‘non-essential’ single use plastics from council premises and council activities, where possible, by 2025

·         The street trading licensing scheme would include conditions to end the use of single use plastics

·         From 2022, where practical and other alternatives could be sourced, single use plastics would not be permitted at Authority managed events. The Authority would also implement an Events Charter to reduce its environmental impact.

Cabinet considered the following decision options: to accept the recommendations as set out in paragraph 1.2 of the report, or alternatively, to not approve the recommendations.

Resolved that (1) the performance update in relation to the carbon footprint of the Authority and the carbon footprint of the Borough be noted;

(2) the content of the action plan to reduce the carbon footprint of the Borough be noted; and the Head of Environment, Housing and Leisure, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport and the Climate Emergency Board, be authorised to develop business cases for delivery of actions as deemed appropriate;

(3) the list of proposed policies and associated actions set out in section 1.5.5 of the report to support the work of the Climate Emergency Board be approved; and

(4) a further progress report be presented to Cabinet in 2021.

(Reasons for decision: It will support the delivery of the commitments made in the Climate Emergency report to Council of 25 July 2019.)