Climate Change

Purpose of report

For discussion.

Summary

This paper sets out the LGA’s work on the climate emergency and asks members to comment on how the Committee can help fire and rescue authorities and services play their role in addressing climate change.

Recommendation That members consider the FSMC’s position on climate change. Action Following members discussion, officers will incorporate their comments into the climate change publication due to be launched at Fire Conference 2020.

Contact officer:	Lucy Ellender

Position:	Senior Adviser

Phone no:	020 7664 3321

Email:	lucy.ellender@local.gov.uk

Climate Emergency

Introduction

At the September FSMC members discussed the role that the fire and rescue service can play in tackling the climate emergency. Officers were asked to update Lead Members on the LGA’s activity on the climate crisis, and to bring forward proposals for further work. Lead Members agreed that a document would be produced for fire and rescue authorities on their role in addressing climate change. The document would highlight a number of key considerations for fire and rescue authorities when looking at climate change within their work as well as contributions from a wider number of interested parties.

Background

Concern about the climate has grown. A recent poll by Ipsos MORI found that 85 per cent of Britons are now concerned about climate change, with 52 per cent stating that they are very concerned. This is the highest level since Ipsos MORI started recording this concern in 2005.

The activities of Extinction Rebellion, Greta Thurnberg’s schools strikes and the broadcast of the BBC’s Blue Planet II documentary have all raised environmental concerns up the political agenda, with commitments to address climate change featuring heavily in the general election campaign.

Nationally the Government has committed to the UK having net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. To reach this target it is clear that all parts of the public sector have a part to play in responding to the effects of climate change through mitigation and adaptation (mitigation measures reduce and stabilise the levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; adaption measures are aimed at adapting to the climate change that has already happened). This was following the Paris Agreement and the publication of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 both of which required action to tackle climate change.

Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) therefore have a role in the UK’s response to climate change. Services are already adapting to the challenges posed by climate change, with the types incidents they attend changing or increasing in severity and frequency such as flooding and wildfires. In addition services can reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions, and are already doing so.

At their meeting in November Lead Members agreed that the LGA would produce a document for the LGA’s Fire Conference for FRAs on their role in climate change with contributions from a range of organisations and perspectives. The outline for this piece of work will be shared separately.

LGA position and work on climate change

At the LGA’s General Assembly in July the LGA passed a motion in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There are 17 SDGs covering poverty, health and education, reducing inequality and climate action amongst others, and the aim of the SDGs is to provide a shared blueprint for action on these issues through to 2030. As a part of the motion members agreed for the LGA to declare a climate emergency. This declaration is in line with the activities that many local authorities are already taking, with over 260 councils in the UK declaring a climate emergency.

Following the General Assembly’s declaration of a climate emergency the LGA’s Leadership Board set up a Climate Emergency Sounding Board to take forward the LGA’s work over the summer of 2019. The work of the Board was to identify how the LGA can support local authorities to meet the climate emergency challenges that they are facing through our lobbying and improvement work.

In September the LGA’s Leadership Board agreed a number of lobbying and policy recommendations. It was agreed that the LGA would support councils in their work to tackle climate change by providing a strong unified voice for local government, and sharing best practice across all local authorities. Since then the Environment, Economy, Housing and Transport Board (EEHT) tasked officers at its October meeting to collate best practice and using this to establish which projects could deliver carbon impact whilst also being affordable and deliverable.

This work has identified a range of short, medium and long term mitigation measures implemented by councils to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The short term measures include:

greening of council fleet

ensuring council procurement strategy contains climate change action

tree planting

policy to ensure council becomes single use plastics free

moving towards more efficient street lighting

lower emissions buses and taxis

installing water fountains

The projects which are likely to deliver greater carbon impact fall into the medium to long term as they need clear funding routes and work with partners. Some of the most popular medium-term projects were:

establishing sustainability and carbon reduction investment funds

vehicle charging points

emissions zones

retrofit projects

zero waste to landfill policies and improved recycling rates

The longer-term projects which yield the biggest carbon savings were predominately energy projects where councils were finding different ways to access or generate sustainable and renewable energy. This varied across solar initiatives, wind turbines and heating networks. This involves projects which take at least 5-6 years to deliver and often require significant capital investment. However, many of these were also income generating over their life spans and deliver significant carbon savings.

The EEHT Board specifically requested further information about which climate change initiatives would deliver the greatest carbon impact whilst being affordable and deliverable. The environmental charity Ashden has worked with Friends of the Earth and put together a list of the most effective actions councils can take on climate change https://www.ashden.org/programmes/top-31-climate-actions-for-councils

These 31 actions are quantified in terms of likely carbon savings, approximate cost and co-benefits. The co-benefits for each action can be better health, improved economy, increased equity and resilience. Ashden has recognised that councils vary in size across the country and so have done some modelling to make their figures applicable to councils of varying population sizes.

Not all of these projects and actions have relevance to FRAs but there is an opportunity for FRAs to learn from councils’ experience and for the work FRAs are doing on climate change to inform what councils do.

Climate change and the fire service

Officers have spoken to the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) lead for climate change, Nathan Travis, who highlighted the variation across the fire service in sorts of actions are being taken on climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The document for the Fire Conference therefore can provide a basis for FRAs to consider this issue in their work, and for the sector to start a conversation about its role in addressing climate change. The document outlines the legislation in this area and a number of key considerations for FRAs when looking at climate change in the future, as well as including comment pieces from the NFCC, the Environment Agency and the Community Risk Programme as well as information on procurement and case studies.

The document provides an opportunity to outline the FSMC’s position on climate change to help the sector meet the Government’s targets to become net zero by 2050. Members may therefore wish to discuss how FSMC and the NFCC can assist FRAs and services play their role in addressing climate change. For instance should we be seeking to develop a vision for what carbon neutral fire and rescue services look like in 2050, and what changes individual services will need to do to meet that commitment, as well as considering how work at a national level on procurement and research and development can assist authorities?

An issue that members may wish to consider are the potential costs to fire authorities of adaption and mitigation measures, alongside the opportunities to save money through, for example, making our buildings more emergency efficient. There may also be implications for terms and conditions.

Implications for Wales

In terms of the wider work of the LGA, we are already looking to share learning with the WLGA and work collaboratively on any common issues. This will be the same on any fire specific work.

Financial Implications

Work can be completed inside existing budgets.

https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/concern-about-climate-change-reaches-record-levels-half-now-very-concerned

https://climate.nasa.gov/solutions/adaptation-mitigation/

https://www.climateemergency.uk/blog/list-of-councils/