The Committee on Climate Change has published a report which recommends that local authorities in the UK should have a statutory duty to tackle climate change. The report highlights that some councils are taking action on climate change, but many are not, which threatens national carbon reduction targets.
At the moment, there is no requirement for local authorities to take action on climate change, yet councils could make major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in areas such as housing, traffic and waste. This, combined with budget constraints imposed on local authorities, means there is a significant risk that local authorities will not develop low-carbon plans.
Committee member Professor Julia King said, "Local authorities have the potential to significantly impact the UK's scale and speed of emissions reductions. There is a wealth of good work being done already at local and regional levels, but many opportunities remain untapped. It is essential that these opportunities are delivered if we are to meet our national carbon targets."
The Council in Bristol, for example, has set a target of reducing their emissions by 40% by 2020, and has cut its own energy bill by almost a third in addition to investing in wind turbines, biomass boilers and solar panels for schools. They have also insulated 30,000 homes.
"We've got national carbon budgets with ambitious emission cuts built into them, and if we weren't to address the cuts local authorities can make, we'd not meet the targets," said David Kennedy, the Committee's chief executive. "Local authorities can have a very big impact in areas such as improving energy efficiency in buildings, sustainable travel and waste management."
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