Local low-carbon economies

Local authorities are playing a vital part in helping the nation meet statutory carbon reduction targets. This increasingly means working with local, regional and national partners to deliver substantial carbon savings in all sections of the economy. This section offers you an outline of what your council can do to help build a local low-carbon economy.

• The role of local authorities
• Policy
• Economic incentives
• Resources and links

If you would like to submit an idea for a feature or case study on low-carbon economies, please
email: webmaster@idea.gov.uk.

The role of local authorities

Councillors and officers all over the country have different ideas of what their role should be in supporting, driving and facilitating the transition to a local 'low-carbon and resource-efficient economy' (LCREE). Since each local authority area has a unique mix of planning, economic, community and environmental drivers, a range of roles and partnership working is emerging.

Understanding the opportunities

To understand the opportunities that a local LCREE presents, many local authorities are working with:

• their planning and economic development teams
• regional development agencies (RDAs)
• sector skills providers (SSPs)
• business support agencies
• the utilities sector.

This helps them to properly consider:

• the make-up of the local economy
• current emissions from sectors
• where the greatest strengths lie
• the renewable energy resource base, energy intensity and heat mapping.

By doing this they can more easily assess where the best land is for decentralised renewable energy and future combined heat and power (CHP). This helps them plan future employment and housing. By developing planning policies, local authorities can also facilitate renewable energy growth and higher embedded energy.

In future – depending on the outcome of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) – councils might also be able to use housing to promote low-carbon economies. This could be by providing greater support and assistance to developers to meet regulatory obligations such as district heating networks.

More about the Community Infrastructure Levy – on the website of the Planning Advisory Service

Innovation and skills

Working with RDAs, Learning and Skills Councils, and the higher education sector, local authorities can help drive innovation and skills development to support local economies – especially by encouraging graduates to enter local labour markets. Regional initiatives are intended to coordinate investment and research. These include those linked  to the first in a series of low-carbon economic areas announced – such as, offshore renewables in the South West and low-carbon cars in the North East.

By developing local business support and skills development platforms, local authorities will also encourage a local culture of corporate social responsibility and societal change.

Local business and economy

Local authorities may also use the waste private finance initiative (PFI) procurement process to understand and target potential carbon savings from waste treatment and recycling contracts when forward planning for the next 25 years.

The Local Government White Paper 2006 made provision for councils to set up energy service companies, exploring and deciding the best way for public sector-led energy service companies (ESCos) to be established.

More about energy services companies (ESCos) – on the Financing Local Futures section of the Sustainable Development Commission website

Finally, local authorities are responsible for coordinating local strategic partnerships (LSPs) as required by the Local Government Act 2000. As part of this the council has a crucial role with other organisations, in the move to a local 'low-carbon and resource-efficient economy' (LCREE).  They may work with local partners to galvanise efforts to tackle climate change by, for example, undertaking 'mini-Stern' reviews to cost climate change mitigation, adaptation and avoidance actions. They should drive improvements in procurement and work with the private sector to improve their own supply chains.

Download Manchester's 'mini-Stern' report – on the Manchester Enterprises website 

Policy

In July 2009, a number of government strategies were published which provided clarity on the term ‘low-carbon economy’. They also set out what local authorities can do to achieve the mandatory carbon budgets set by the Climate Change Act. This page looks at the policy drivers for a local LCREE and the government's road map to reach carbon-cutting targets for 2020.

Local low-carbon economy: policy 

Economic incentives

'The Stern Report' of November 2007 identified that it will cost the global economy more to deal with climate change under a high-carbon ‘business as usual’ scenario than to reduce the future impacts of climate change. Business as usual will cost between five and 20 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP). Reducing the future impacts of climate change will cost just one per cent. This page outlines the economic drivers for a low carbon economy.

Local low-carbon economy: economic incentives

Resources and links

In this section, you will find links to webpages offering:

• advice on best practice in low-carbon and resource-efficient economies
• where to find support and funding
• statistics and information on low-carbon and resource-efficient economies
• information about relevant campaigns and lobbying.

Local low-carbon economies: resources and links

Page updated May 2010.