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Local Government holds the key to sustainable development, Steve Waller from the IDeA discusses how local government around the country are taking a proactive stance to mitigate climate change and drive sustainable development in their communities.

Climate change and the environment are finally being recognised as the most pressing issues of the day. But while national governments debate the setting of targets, those on the ground in local government must act now to mitigate their community’s effect on the environment, and to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Faced with a future of extreme weather, higher risks of flooding, as well as potentially lower food and energy supplies, local authorities need to change the way they work, across all services.

Local government has been actively engaged with the sustainability agenda since the 1990s, when Blair first asked local authorities in the U.K. to work with their communities to adopt Local Agenda 21 (LA21) strategies by the end of 2000. By 2000, an estimated 95% of councils had achieved this target.

Despite this, sustainability is a difficult topic to address, because it encompasses economic, social and environmental issues, and is about developing better and more efficient practices.

There are relatively few examples of projects that tick all of the sustainable development ‘boxes’. One early success story is a community centre built in Nottingham, using regeneration funding. As well as being a ‘green’ building, with a low carbon footprint and incorporating recycled timber, a grass roof and using recycled newspaper as insulation, the centre was built and managed by local unemployed people – providing training and employment.

Since 2005, the agenda has shifted towards a greater focus on climate change. But, as the 2006 Stern Report outlined, sustainable development is the best solution that we can hope for to address the issue – along with our carbon footprint, we must also consider the economics of climate change, and the its social impact. The LGA’s Climate Change Commission reported recently (In ‘A climate of change’, published in December 2007) acknowledging local government’s vital role in leading communities to address climate change.

Addressing ‘Sustainable Energy’ has been a recent Beacon Council theme, and ‘Tackling climate change’ is one of the themes announced for the Beacon Awards for 2008. There are many examples of local authorities involved in innovative projects in this area. But the best are taking action to both mitigate their effect and adapt to climate change, by:

• Decreasing the local carbon footprint, reducing energy consumption, and using renewable energy – in their own activities, and also encouraging local organisations and residents to do the same. Shropshire County Council has a programme of work targeting particular groups – like its Christian community – to talk about reducing energy consumption
• Having plans in place to protect the local community from floods, heat-waves and associated health issues that will result from climate change
• Being aware that climate change and sustainable development will affect every area of council work, and taking action to address this – for example planting drought tolerant trees, and working with the government to deliver low carbon homes and properties.
• Measuring their performance in terms of sustainability targets, and setting objectives. A good example of this is Hampshire County Council, where the organisation has adopted the Aalborg Commitments to develop numerical scores and targets for Sustainability.
• Showcasing good practice around sustainability – and encouraging others to adopt these. In the London Borough of Sutton, the Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZed) is the UK’s largest carbon neutral eco-community, and the first of its kind in the country

Of course, although there are many examples of good work that it already being done, there is plenty that can be done to take this further, and there are some significant challenges that councils need to address in the near future. Gordon Brown’s pledge that three million new homes will be built by 2020, along with the target that all new homes built should be zero-carbon by 2016 is challenging. Local authorities need to work closely with developers, because innovative features, like high insulation levels, rainwater harvesting and sustainable drainage schemes, are not generally compatible with budget developments. Local authorities must also deal with modifications to existing older properties to make them more efficient, and help lower income households reduce their energy consumption.

Perhaps even more of a challenge is the need to engage with the public – there is widespread recognition among the public and private sectors that action is needed on climate change – but the general population is often still cynical about the issue.

Indeed, the UK’s organisations are doing well in terms of their preparation for climate change, and the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) is an example of the innovative approach that is being taken in this country to prepare for the impacts of climate change.