Project Overview

This project aimed to help local authorities understand what a low-carbon economy means for them and to find opportunities for low-carbon innovation in a time of public sector cuts.

Building a low-carbon Britain, jointly produced with The Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT), makes five recommendations or building blocks for how local authorities can prepare their areas and communities for a low carbon future. It presents four scenarios which explore plausible, alternative visions of a low carbon UK. You can download the full report here.

We hope that local authorities across the UK will use the scenarios to develop new strategies and policies, and challenge current practice, perhaps using them as starting points for their own low-carbon future visions. To continue the momentum generated by the study, ADEPT and Forum for the Future are planning a series of local events during 2011 to facilitate an exchange of ideas and information between interested parties. If you would like to attend the events or would like to know more about the project, please contact Zoe Le Grand.

Although the four scenarios are very different, we have identified positive strategic responses to each so organisations can either develop the best elements or avoid the worst. Where these responses work across multiple scenarios, they represent strong strategic options which are robust for a range of futures – in effect, the building blocks for creating a low-carbon economy.

The four scenarios are:

• Community Action - where a “well-being” economy values meaningful work and low-carbon impact lifestyles, with a smaller, more localised state.
• Technology and Choice - where low-carbon industries compete for business, with councils which invested early in reducing carbon emissions reaping rewards.
• Emergency State Control - where the state replaces the market as the driver of change with economies forcibly reorientated in favour of carbon reduction.
• Business Revolution - where the public sector is a “low-carbon facilitator” and ‘carbon efficiency’ has replaced cost efficiency.

The five strategic responses are:

1. Redefine the role of local government in a low-carbon economy. As the local economy changes, so will the role of local government. The current financial crisis provides the imperative to seek out new revenue streams and reorientate business models to encourage low-carbon behaviour.
2. Invest in low-carbon infrastructure and set favourable planning conditions. opportunities range from intelligent energy saving solutions in council buildings to using planning policy and community engagement to facilitate development of large renewable infrastructure.
3. Build resilience at the local level. Investing now in climate change adaptation and emergency planning to cope with extreme weather events is essential. Water management and the maintenance of diversity are also key elements of a resilient society, whether in food, transport or biological systems.
4. Prevent low-carbon social exclusion. The drive for a low-carbon society may result in new vulnerable groups, such as rural communities isolated by higher carbon and oil prices. To support them, councils may need to extend the reach of e-government, but must ensure that those at risk have the necessary skills and access to the relevant technology.
5. Foster low-carbon innovation. Radical changes will be required in internal operations and service delivery, as well as enabling businesses and communities to make the required shift through investment and links to universities.

The scenarios outline different political and social responses that the UK might make to tackle the challenge of climate change over the next 20 years and the implications these responses might have for local government. The scenarios are not predictions and the ‘real’ future is unlikely to mirror any of them exactly.

However, the future is likely to contain elements from each scenario at different times and places, so they can be used as a tool to challenge current strategy and stretch thinking about local authorities should do next.

Links

LocalGov.co.uk, 11th February 2011

Councils ‘have vital role’ to drive low-carbon economy