Climate change and energy: funding and support

This page looks at sources of funding and web-based tools that will enable your council to access the resources it needs to tackle climate change and make energy savings.

• Nottingham Declaration Climate Change Self-evaluation Guide
• Free CRC Guide and Toolkit for councils
• Sources of funding
• Financial advice
• Practical help and support
• Architecture and planning toolkits

Nottingham Declaration Climate Change Self-evaluation Guide

This guide is designed for partnerships and local authorities and will help you to:

• assess your approach to climate change adaptation and mitigation
• identify what you are doing well and where improvements are needed
• systematically plan for improvements
• prepare well argued evidence for comprehensive area assessment inspectors.

It includes:

• prompts to test how well climate change is being tackled
• signposts to further advice on tackling climate change.

Climate Change Self-evaluation Guide – on the ND website

Free CRC Guide and Toolkit for councils

The London Energy Project has developed a free Carbon Reduction Committment (CRC) Guide and Toolkit, funded by Capital Ambition and the regional improvement and efficiency partnerships (RIEPs).

Find out more about getting the CRC Guide and Toolkit – on the website of the London Borough of Haringey

Sources of funding

Partnerships for Renewables

Partnerships for Renewables is a Carbon Trust Enterprises Limited venture that works with public sector bodies to develop and manage onsite renewable energy projects. They provide both assistance and funding.

More about Partnerships for Renewables – on the Carbon Trust website

Salix Finance

Salix Finance is an independent company funded by the Carbon Trust. Its remit is to work with the public sector to reduce carbon emissions by investing in energy efficiency measures. Salix provides both grant funding and expertise.

More about Salix Finance – on their website

Financial advice 

Local Partnerships

Local Partnerships (formerly 4Ps) works alongside local public bodies to improve their:

• sourcing and commissioning skills
• programme and project management capabilities
• procurement
• negotiating and contract management capacity
• delivery
• funding and partnering abilities.

More information about Local Partnerships – on their homepage

Sustainable Development Commission: ‘Financing Local Futures: Sustainability in practice'

This is an online resource to help financial decision makers in local government develop their organisation’s contribution to sustainable development. The guide explores ways to encourage a sustainable future through existing financial mechanisms, policies and powers. It highlights how local authorities can use finance:

• for financial and economic benefits
• to contribute to health, wellbeing and prosperity of their communities
• to protect and enhance the environment.

Financing Local Futures – on the website of the Sustainable Development Commission

Practical help and support

Local improvement advisors

There are 10 LIAs nationwide that specialise in climate change and environmental sustainability. They can help with advice, coaching, training and mentoring to support and improve delivery through the new performance frameworks for local area agreements (LAAs) and multi-area agreements (MAAs). This can be provided through direct, onsite and face-to-face advice. Assignments are typically between five to 15 days in duration.

To access this support councils will need to contact their regional improvement and efficiency partnership (RIEP) and agree a short assignment brief.

More about local improvement advisors

The North East Improvement and Efficiency Partnership has published some general information.

More about LIAs – on the North East Improvement and Efficiency Partnership website

The Carbon Trust

Through the Local Authority Carbon Management Programme (LACM), the Carbon Trust provides councils with technical and change management support and guidance to help them reduce carbon emissions. The primary focus of the work is to reduce emissions from council buildings, vehicle fleets, street lighting and landfill sites.

Local Authorities Carbon Management Programme – on the Carbon Trust website 

The Carbon Trust’s Low-carbon Building Accelerator initiative focuses on gathering data and demonstrating expertise in the energy-efficient refurbishment of non-residential buildings.

More about Low-carbon Buildings – on the Carbon Trust website 

Partnerships for Renewables is a Carbon Trust enterprise that works with public sector bodies, including local authorities, to develop and manage onsite renewable energy projects. They can offer advice on various sources of renewable energy including wind, biomass, solar, hydro-electric, geothermal, and wave and tidal.

More about Partnerships for Renewables – on the Carbon Trust website 

Architecture and planning toolkits

Low-Carbon Cities Programme

The Low-Carbon Cities Programme (LCCP) ran from January to June 2008 in cities including Bristol, Leeds and Manchester to develop city-wide low-carbon strategies. A city-wide carbon reduction target was led by the public sector and supported by the private sector. A toolkit is also available to explain the process of developing a low-carbon strategy step by step.

LCCP toolkit – on the LCCP website

Page updated May 2010.