How the UK Climate Assembly outcomes are relevant for local authorities

The Climate Assembly was set up by a group of committees in Parliament in 2019 to help the UK tackle climate change. The 108 members were selected to represent a wide range of views from all over the UK. They met over six weekends and committed 60 hours to studying and debating climate change policies. The resulting report includes more than 50 key recommendations for policies that could help the UK meet the net-zero target by 2050, as well as suggestions for the nation’s recovery from Covid-19.

The outcomes and the key recommendations from the assembly provide insight into the opinions of a representative group of the UK public. It is therefore vital that the government examines and uses the recommendations effectively to progress on climate change. This learning is also relevant to local authorities to help guide their climate actions towards meeting the net zero challenge. It is useful to understand the thoughts and opinions of the public when designing climate policies and projects, as the more support an initiative has, the more likely it is to be successful.

Important principles to emerge were “informing and educating everyone”, “ensuring fairness for everyone” and leadership from the government that is “clear, proactive, accountable and consistent.” Local authorities can play a clear role in ensuring these principles are embedded into their climate work locally.

One outcome of the Assembly was that people in different parts of the country should be able to access different solutions to zero-carbon heating, showing the importance of local solutions. The assembly members favoured locally based solutions to decarbonising heating, as opposed to a national level solution. The role of local authorities in this agenda is clear.

While the recommendations provide vital insight into the views of the public, many of the outcomes are fairly generic and not overly ambitious. Some measures for stronger climate action did not receive strong support. For example, the assembly did not recommend reaching net-zero emissions earlier than 2050.

In terms of air travel, members preferred managing flying demand through carbon taxes “that increase as we fly more often and as we fly further” – supported by 80% of members – rather than a blanket tax on all flights. There were concerns on the latter around fairness – particularly that it would have a disproportionate impact on people with lower incomes. While this is understandable, to reach net zero we need to be bold and we need to account for the climate cost of carbon in the decisions we make, including flying. If all flights cost, in monetary terms, a representative amount in terms of their climate impact, then progress to net zero would be quicker and more effective. Even taking just 1 flight a year has a huge impact on an individual’s carbon footprint and taking one return flight generates more CO2 than citizens of some countries produce in a year. Analysis in a Guardian article shows that flying from London to New York and back generates about 986kg of CO2 per passenger. There are 56 countries where the average person emits less carbon dioxide in a whole year – from Burundi in Africa to Paraguay in South America. But even a relatively short return trip from London to Rome carries a carbon footprint of 234kg of CO2 per passenger – more than the average produced by citizens of 17 countries annually. It is therefore important that we seriously consider the carbon impact of all of the flights taken by UK residents.  

Bans and restrictions on the most carbon-emitting food types, including red meat and food transported by airplanes, received the lowest level of support for all of the food related options. Some members felt bans on certain foods would be “too harsh”, the report says. Assembly members were most in favour of policies that involve “labelling on food and drink products showing the amount of emissions that come from different foods”. However, even though it received the least amount of support overall, 20% of the Assembly members strongly agreed with the bans and 34% agreed, showing that even the more radical suggestions did receive support.   

While the findings from the Assembly are useful to show public opinion on the direction that the UK should take to reach net-zero, they should not be used as set in stone actions, without considering the science and seriously considering actions that are radical and may be against broad public opinion but will be necessary if we are to meet the climate challenge.     

APSE Energy is writing a member’s briefing which summarises some of the key recommendations that received high levels of support from the assembly and are related to the local authority climate change agenda. The briefing concludes with an APSE Comment, which outlines the significance for local authority climate action. The briefing will be sent to APSE Energy members.

If you are not a member of APSE Energy and want to know more about membership, please contact Phil Brennan, Head of APSE Energy on 0161 772 1810 or at [email protected] or Charlotte Banks, Energy Research and Project Officer on 0161 772 1810 or at [email protected]