Press release

Local action crucial to meet climate targets, Govt warned

17 May 2012

Responding to a new report today [Thursday 17 May 2012] from the Government's official climate advisor calling on Ministers to require councils to lower carbon emissions and warning that UK climate change targets won't be met unless local authorities play their part, Friends of the Earth's Executive Director Andy Atkins said:

"This is a stark warning the Government can't afford to ignore - UK climate targets won't be met unless Ministers ensure every council plays its part in slashing emissions,  and has the funds to do so.

"The Government has failed to support local action on climate change - and only a few council leaders are currently championing action on the scale required.

"Cutting energy waste will reduce emissions and save cash by cutting soaring fuel bills - and investing in clean British energy and better transport and recycling programmes will help boost the economy."

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. The new report on local authorities is published by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). The CCC is an independent statutory body established under the Climate Change Act to advise the UK Government on setting carbon budgets, and to report to Parliament on the progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions: www.theccc.org.uk/

The report concludes that:

•             Councils have significant influence over large parts of the UK's carbon budget - in particular energy use in buildings, sustainable transport, and waste.

•             Local authorities also have an important role to play in giving the go-ahead for onshore wind, and in ensuring that the benefits are captured locally. They also play a key role in planning decisions, which should also be taken with carbon reduction in mind.

•             Without council action the UK risks failing to meet its legally binding carbon budgets.

•             All councils need to be covered by ambitious carbon reduction plans, but councils don't have either the right incentives or enough funding to deliver.

•             In England, council action on climate change is going backwards. This contrasts with  Scotland, where all public bodies including local authorities are required to actively contribute to national carbon reduction targets, and progress is being made.

•             The Government should give "serious consideration" to either introducing a new duty on councils to plan for carbon reductions in their local areas, or increase local carbon funding, or both.

•             Ambitious action on carbon reduction in local areas would bring with it a range of economic and other benefits, such as financial savings to local economies, job creation, and public health.

2.      Friends of the Earth's campaign to include local authority action in last year's Energy Bill was instrumental in the Government commissioning this report - and Friends of the Earth's Big Ask campaign, backed by 200,000 people and Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, lead to the Climate Change Act becoming law in 2008.

3.       Friends of the Earth Executive Director Andy Atkins will speak today (Monday 17 May 2012) at the report launch, welcoming the recommendations and about keeping up the momentum on councils and climate change.

4.      Since winning the ground-breaking Climate Change Act, Friends of the Earth has worked with councils across the country to ensure every local area does its bit to help meet national climate commitments. Councils have a vital role in leading local action because they can influence how we heat and power our homes and businesses and how we get about. Forty councils led by all political parties joined with Friends of the Earth and the Federation of Small Businesses to call for a new statutory duty for every council to have a local carbon plan to cut emissions in line with the ambition of the Climate Change Act and for more funding.

 5.      The independent Committee on Climate Change's recommendations today articulate what Friends of the Earth has been calling for. Climate Change Minister Greg Barker must now consider the report and indicate whether Government will accept its recommendations.

 6.      Last month Friends of the Earth launched a new campaign urging the Government to invest in clean British energy, with new research showing 85 per cent of Brits would like to see the Government increasing the use of renewable power and reducing the use of overseas gas. For more information see: www.cleanbritishenergy.co.uk.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust