2.0 Our ‘One Coventry’ Approach
2.1 Tackling the causes and consequences of climate change is one of the three key objectives of the One Coventry Plan. The Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy establishes the framework of how Coventry City Council plans to work as a local authority, and through its arms-length operating companies, to meet sustainability objectives combatting waste and pollution, promoting biodiversity and its focus on the need to tackle climate change and adapt to the inevitable changes to our climate in Coventry and the UK. The Strategy also provides a foundation for how we will work with partners to address sustainability and climate change. Our work with Partners in the Climate Change Board has helped to inform some of the actions in this Strategy and it is envisaged in time the work of the Board will develop into a collective plan of action.
2.2 The Strategy highlights the City Council’s priorities to take it to the year 2030 when it hopes to achieve a 55% reduction in Carbon emissions to 1990 levels which it signed up to last year as part of the Commitment of the Covenant of Mayors. This is an interim target as the City Council and its partners work together to achieve a common goal set by the UK Government of achieving a 100% reduction of Carbon emissions to from 1990 levels and possibly if it is ever possible to achieve this target by 2041 as laid down by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). The settings of targets for Cities are a critical step in making progress and from a practical point of view these targets are necessary for the City Council to ever achieve an ‘A’ Rating from the highly prestigious CDP an international body which accredits and verifies the calculated emissions levels and Carbon savings against our targets.
2.3 In November 2021 the City Council facilitated the development of an Independent Board. Chaired by Margot James of the Warwickshire Manufacturing Group with Cllr Jim O’Boyle, consisting of senior representatives from major businesses, public agencies, charities and voluntary organisations based in the City to work in collaboration on developing and implementing a Strategy and Action Plan to address sustainability and climate change issues across the City. Since its launch the Board now has representatives from 25 organisations actively involved and is now working towards establishing effective ways of engaging with residents and community organisations.
2.4 Both the City Council and the Board have adopted the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
2.5 The City Council and its partners aim to do this by addressing a series of specific actions across the 5 International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (I.C.L.E.I’s) Pathways.
2.6 The Strategy also focuses on a series of corporate commitments which address the Council’s culture and way of working. The introduction of policy impact assessments to question the effects our decisions may have on sustainability, the environment and any effects on climate change will form an important part of our decision-making process.
2.7 As one of the core commitments in the One Coventry Plan, the Strategy is cross cutting. It recognises the fact that everyone working across the organisation has a role to play in supporting what will be a cultural shift across the whole of the organisation. We will examine existing practices and see where we can improve efficiencies and eliminate waste.
2.8 The City Council with its partners on the Climate Change Board and its five Pathway Groups will ultimately work together to stimulate lasting and meaningful change. The City Council’s Sustainability Strategy aligns with these Pathways to work collaboratively with a range of stakeholders for creating a ‘Sustainable Zero Carbon City’.
2.9 Low Emissions Pathway – the City Council is actively seeking partners to invest in a plan and develop the new environmental technologies such as the generation of power using renewables such as solar, energy from waste, retrofitting properties to make them more energy efficient and supporting a major modal shift in transport with the electrification of vehicles (as fossil fuel powered vehicles are phased out of production by 2030) the further development of new forms of public transport and the creation of networks for active travel and improving access to facilities by better design to make the concept of a 15 minute city closer to a reality.
2.10 Circular Economy Pathway – using the waste management hierarchy with the minimisation of waste and maximising the participation rates in recycling activities from the public and businesses across the City. This is a major challenge as participation rates were adversely affected by COVID. There is a need to examine and to support businesses with energy and environmental management encouraging and supporting the transition to a circular economy with greater emphasis on the repair and re-use of goods and services to extend their life and supporting businesses in developing new economic & business models for the delivery of goods and services.
2.11 Nature Based Pathway – There is a vital need to obtain information regarding the distribution of species and their conservation status. The City Council aims to gather more intelligence to better target resources to promote biodiversity. Overall there is a need to place greater emphasis on the importance of biodiversity through the planning system with major opportunities through the advancement of Biodiversity Net Gain for investment in habitat creation the linking up of areas of biodiversity value with networks and wildlife corridors. The need for more stringent planning conditions with the necessity for monitoring the effectiveness of mitigation measures is to be introduced. In addition to creating more habitats like introducing wildflowers in roadside verges the City Council will also need to place greater emphasis on improving conservation management of areas of open space and to attract more wildlife to parks and open space through the use of more biodiversity conscious management methods. The Strategy will aim to work more closely with volunteers restoring their interests following the significant decline in engagement as a result of COVID.
2.12 Resilient Pathway – To address some key risks with the change in climate and a greater incidence of extreme weather events such as flooding, heatwaves and droughts. The City Council and its partners are planning changes in the way the city is run in the future such as preparedness for incidents like flooding and other extreme weather events. The focus is also to be on the use of Sustainable Urban drainage Schemes and planting of vegetation in built up areas to help cool the city and improve air quality. There will be a greater emphasis on finding ways to adapt and be more resilient to the climatic changes that will be confronting us and addressing the needs of those who are most vulnerable.
2.13 Equitable & People Centred Pathway - A recognition that the effects of climate change and environmental deterioration affect communities disproportionately. The Strategy identifies the key risks to health and the impacts of fuel and food poverty and the need for targeted support to protect those on lower incomes who are most likely to be the first to suffer the consequences of climate change. Creating new accessible open spaces is recognised as a challenge as the City has some of the lowest levels of access and use of open spaces especially in relation to deprived areas in the region if not the country. Coventry is aiming to work in partnership with other local authorities and the energy sector in introducing energy efficiency retrofit measures to scale for the thousands of properties with poor energy performance. Working with the Coventry Food Network on combatting food poverty with the development of new community growing spaces and support in the development of cookery and healthy eating skills.
2.14 Monitoring progress in delivering outcomes and its impact upon our Quality of Life. A series of performance measures will be introduced, and the plan is to produce a regular State of the City Report charting the progress towards sustainability over time.
2.15 The City Council was the first Unitary Authority to achieve corporate membership status with the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA) the leading professional body concerning environmental and sustainability matters. the City Council plays an active role with IEMA in reflecting the local authority perspective in National policy, helping to promote and develop the highest standards in professional practice for delivering on environmental management and sustainability.
2.16 The City Council also sees itself identifying issues, barriers and proposing practical solutions to address and using its lobbying, campaigning and advocacy role at a regional, national and international level proposing new policies, practices, standards and frameworks which will help to build a more sustainable future.
