The great LEAP forward?

With the Government proposing “radical” new targets for cutting CO2, two UK councils have joined a European effort to smooth the transition to a lowcarbon economy. But is the rest of local government on board with the green agenda?

May saw energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne unveil proposals for Britain’s fourth carbon budget.

Following a consultation with the independent Committee on Climate Change, the Coalition plans to introduce a new target to cut the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent from 1990 levels between 2023 and 2027.

The minister said the move would put the country on course to meet its legally binding target of achieving an 80 per cent reduction from the 1990 baseline by 2050, while also placing Britain at the forefront of a “global industrial transformation” to a greener economy.

“[This] announcement will give investors the certainty they need to invest in clean energy,” Huhne said.

“By cutting emissions we’re also getting ourselves off the oil hook, making our energy supplies more secure and opening up opportunities for jobs in the new green industries of the future.

“Under this carbon budget, Britain in 2027 will be a different place and transformed for the better with warmer homes powered by green energy, many more cars powered by electricity and far less reliance on fossil fuels to drive our economy.”

A week after the new target was proposed, two British authorities - Cornwall Council and Southampton City Council - joined local government partners from six other European countries to launch a new group that aims to put councils at the heart of delivering the transition to a low-carbon economy.

The Leadership for Energy Action and Planning (LEAP) project is being led by the UK’s Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and has secured its funding from the European Union’s Intelligent Energy Europe initiative.

It will use the cash to break down the barriers to deploying sustainable energy infrastructure by “focusing on professional and political leadership, skills and knowledge, clear policy messages, and resources”.

The TCPA said that with local authorities facing the dual challenges of severe cuts to public spending and a “limited institutional capacity” to meet tougher regulations, LEAP will provide a vital forum where they can learn from each other and generate new ideas for delivering much-needed sustainable energy projects, in terms of both improving energy efficiency and generating green power.
LEAP’s members held their first meeting in Croatia in May. The initiative will run until October 2013.

TCPA chief executive, Kate Henderson, said: “Planning can make a major contribution to tackling climate change by shaping decisions for new and existing development which reduces carbon emissions and provides positive solutions, such as renewable energy projects.

“European projects, such as LEAP, allow the furthering of knowledge and exchange of best practice that are essential if we are to deliver a stepchange in how we plan for our future energy needs.”

However, one renewable power specialist has argued that many local authorities are still a long way from fully embracing and promoting the green agenda.

Eco Environments, a company that designs and installs green power systems such as solar photovoltaic panels, claimed that rather than supporting the adoption of low-carbon energy, a number of planning departments have been “dragging their feet” over approving new installations.

It added that the impact of the Government’s Feed-in Tariffs (FITs), which were introduced last April to provide households and businesses with guaranteed monthly payments for generating green electricity, has been blunted by a “massive logjam” of applications to build smallscale wind turbines.

The firm claimed that town halls have allowed hundreds of applications for these renewable energy systems to get “stuck in the planning process”.

Eco Environments director David Hunt said: “The biggest problem is the total lack of a consistent approach from councils across the UK.

“There are a handful of councils who have a strong green agenda and are happy
to support Government initiatives, but the majority are still stuck in the dark ages.”

According to provisional figures from the Office for National Statistics published in March, the UK’s net emissions of carbon dioxide actually increased between 2009 and 2010, rising by 3.8 per cent from 473.7 million tonnes to 491.7 million tonnes.