More than 40 council leaders have pledged to reach net zero in their communities by 2045 at the latest.
Co-ordinated by the UK100 NGO, the group of city mayors and council leaders have signed the ‘UK100 Net Zero pledge’ which explicitly commits them to neutralising their emissions by 2030 and those of their residents and businesses by 2045:
“We will do everything within our power and influence to rapidly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. We will bring our council emissions to net zero by 2030 and we will work with our residents and businesses to bring our wider communities’ emissions in line with net zero as soon as possible (and by 2045 at the latest). We will continue to lead the UK’s response to net zero, going ahead of the government goal and taking the first steps with urgency. We will make substantial progress within the next decade to deliver net zero. With greater powers, we would go further, faster.”
COP26 High Level Climate Action Champion, Nigel Topping, was due to meet with the group yesterday (Thursday 10 December) to discuss the importance of local leadership in the UK in enabling greater commitments to be made at COP26 in Glasgow.
The group of cross-party leaders will work together over the coming year to push for more funding and powers from central Government which will enable them to go even “further and faster” in the journey to net zero.
Polly Billington, Director of UK100, said: “These ambitious local leaders have pledged to do everything within their power to reach Net Zero emissions as soon as possible in a way that benefits their communities with new jobs and skills. From Edinburgh to Cornwall, local leadership, alongside funding and powers is key to winning the Race to Net Zero.”
The authorities represent 20.7 million people, almost a third of the UK’s population, including all tiers of local government, all regions in England, and Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland.
The Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) recently hosted a webinar entitled ‘Achieving sustainability in the roads sector’. You can watch it on demand here.