Action on climate change should be a legal duty for councils, climate group says

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Councils should be subject to a legal duty to take climate action, requiring a lead councillor for climate and ring-fenced funding for climate action, a climate action group has said.

Details: 27.Mar.2024

The call comes in a report published by Climate Emergency UK, a not-for-profit community interest company that works with councils and residents to share best practices on how councils can tackle climate and ecological emergencies and encourage effective action.

The report, Scorecards Successes: What factors enable climate action within UK local authorities?, concluded that proactive climate action within local authorities is mainly dependent on political leadership, good governance and external funding.

It said that having a dedicated portfolio councillor for climate has the biggest impact on climate action at a local authority.

Meanwhile, access to external funding for climate action and having a published climate action plan were the second and third most impactful factors, the report said.

It argued that a legal duty would help councils better deliver on net zero and implement change aimed at improving climate action.

The report said the duty would allow for long-term staff provision, project delivery infrastructure and a requirement for an elected climate portfolio holder.

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"Emissions reporting should be implemented as part of the statutory duty too, using similar area-wide reporting frameworks across the UK for climate action as Scotland's existing framework," the report said.

The report argued that Scottish local authorities perform better on climate action, in large part due to the statutory net zero duty they are subject to.

Isaac Beevor, Partnerships Director at Climate Emergency UK, said: "Despite many councils being underfunded and overstretched, this report highlights some of the most effective actions councils can and are already taking to have the biggest positive impact on their climate action delivery.

"But, effective reporting, leadership and funding for net zero work at a council level would be much easier if climate action were a statutory duty for UK councils, like social care and waste and recycling."

Adam Carey