UK Government Policy on Climate Change
Climate change at the heart of the planning system?
With CBA support, the Planning and Climate Change Coalition launched its campaign in Parliament on 27 October 2009 to put climate change at the heart of the English planning system.
A cross-sector coalition of organisations – including leading planners and countryside and environmental organisations - has drawn up draft planning guidance which would transform the system’s ability to meet the challenge of tackling climate change. The draft guidance was unveiled to MPs at a launch in Westminster, addressed by Housing and Planning Minister John Healey MP.
The coalition, which has been brought together by Friends of the Earth and the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), has made detailed suggestions for improving the planning process to ensure that it plays its part in reducing carbon emissions and meeting the targets set out in the Climate Change Act. The CBA supports the coalition’s goals and believes that the historic environment has a key role to play in sustainable development.
Gill Chitty, CBA Head of Conservation, said:
The scale of action required is unparalleled globally but it is at the local level that the effects of climate change are really felt. Local planning has a central role in leading adaptation for greater resilience and integrating this with action to reduce damaging emissions. A sound evidence base and good-quality technical advice needs to be widely available on how utilising the historic environment can contribute to combatting climate change in the round. There are dangers in focusing solely on energy targets without planning for long-term sustainable solutions which bring together all the ways in which we need to adapt.
The CLG consultation Strengthening local democracy includes a section which invites views on proposals to give local authorities a greater role in tackling climate change: ‘We want to see councils increasingly active in reducing carbon, taking a key role in meeting UK carbon targets and adapting to the consequences of climate change’. The consultation runs from 21 July to 2 October.
DECC published the UK low carbon transition plan: national strategy for climate and energy on 15 July 2009.
DECC published the UK renewable energy strategy 2009
The Planning Advisory Service and Homes and Communities Agency launched web-based guidance for planners on the PPS1 supplement Planning and Climate Change in January 2009.
Climate Change & Your Home from English Heritage
The second annual report to Parliament on the UK Climate Change Programme (PDF 860KB) was published 17 July 2008.
DEFRA have published Adapting to climate change in England: a framework for action (PDF c2.75MB) in July 2008. This report ‘sets out the Government’s Adapting to Climate Change Programme … drive forward the development of the Government’s work on adapting to climate change in the future’. Also launched is DEFRA’s ‘Adapting to climate change’ website.
The Scottish Government has published ‘Adapting our ways: managing Scotland’s climate risk: consultation to inform Scotland’s climate change adaptation framework (June 2008)
BERR has published the Transmission Access Review on 26 June 2008. The Review, which was announced in the Energy White Paper 2007, ‘sets out a number of measures that … could remove or significant reduce grid related barriers to renewable and other forms of generation’.
DCLG has published the Impact assessment – The Next Steps: EPCs and the establishment of the Green Homes Service on 25 June 2008, looking at the impact of widening the energy performance certificates register.
DCLG published ‘Existing Housing and climate change: 7th report of session 2007–2008’ (PDF 1.76MB) on 17 March 2008.
PPS: Planning and Climate Change supplement to PPS1 was published on 17 December 2007 (PDF 424 KB), the associated Impact Assessment (PDF 362KB) was published on 8 January 2008 and the Working Draft of Practice Guidance to support the PPS (PDF 1.59MB) was published in March 2008.
Climate Change and Sustainability: the crucial role of the new local performance network was published by DCLG on 21 December 2007 (PDF 296 KB)
The Climate Change Bill was introduced into the House of Lords in November 2007.
The Stern Review Report on the economics of climate change 2006 discusses our approach to climate change, its impacts on growth and development, the economics of stabilization and policy responses for adaptation and international collective action.
Local Government and climate change
The Audit Commission published Lofty Ambitions: the role of councils in reducing domestic CO2 emissions on 21 October 2009.
‘Climate change within local development frameworks: incorporating the climate change aspects of the South East Plan into local development frameworks’ was published by the South East England Partnership Board in June 2009 to assist local authority planners address climate change through their Local Development Frameworks.
The Audit Commission published ‘Building better lives – getting the best from strategic housing’ on 10 September 2009. The study finds that less than a third of councils prioritized targets relating to their existing housing stock through their local area agreements and suggests that ‘improving the housing stock that already exists will help more people than building new houses’.
The partners for the Nottingham Declaration on climate change ‘strongly welcome the inclusion of climate change indicators in the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) and encourage all local authorities – signatories and non-signatories alike – to include climate change indicators in their local area agreements (LAAs).
