Coventry’s draft Climate Change Strategy

6.1 The planet’s life support systems which regulate our climate will not be able to cope if we let the average temperature increase by more than 1.5 degrees centigrade. If we allow the temperature to rise above this level by 2030 we will have reached a tipping point with catastrophic changes to our global climate that will be a significant threat to life and have seriously adverse consequences to our health and the economy.  

6.2 Last November at the COP26 Global Summit in Glasgow the world’s leaders fell short of reaching an agreement to develop actions to achieve this critical target and uncertainty prevails. It is not just up to national government; a recent report from the UK’s National Audit Office recognises the important role Local Authorities have to play and recommended to the UK Government’s Environmental Audit Committee that Central Government needs to create the right national policies and programmes to support the efforts of local authorities which have a key leadership role to play at the local level each making a valuable contribution to achieving the overall national zero carbon goal of zero growth in 1990 levels by 2050.  

6.3 Coventry’s last Climate Change Strategy ran from 2012 to 2020 and was successful in addressing a number of issues including the reduction of the City Council’s Carbon footprint by 27.5% six years ahead of target.

6.4 This does not mean that the amount of carbon entering the atmosphere had reduced by this amount, many of these buildings still exist it is just that they are now being run by different organisations (e.g. The Sports Trust) providing services to the public and the carbon emissions were no longer directly attributable to the City Council. The challenge of addressing the emissions from these buildings remains and the City Council will need to work with these organisations in finding solutions to their carbon footprint. The following annotated graph charts the Council’s progress in reducing emissions from its property assets over recent years.

Key to explain decreases / Increases

1. 2009/10: A 2009 Carbon Management Plan (completed by the Carbon Trust) outlined numerous projects with potential annual carbon saving of 7,121 tonnes over subsequent years that had funding already secured or earmarked via sources such as Salix. Examples include: Schools for the Future project, replacement of street lighting, solar PV projects at schools, lighting upgrades across offices.
2. 2012/13: this year displayed an increase in emissions compared to the previous accounting year. This was primarily due to the extreme period of cold weather experienced over 2012/13 which saw a 24% increase in demand for heating.
3. 2013/14: Heatline (the city heat network linked to the energy from waste facility) became operational. Estimated carbon dioxide savings made by heating the Council House and Civic Centre 1 - 4 using Heatline will be 650 tonnes per year.
4. 2018/19: rationalisation of Council properties means that a number of properties that have previously been included in our emissions have been sold off and therefore, the Council’s property portfolio has reduced. Most notably, Civic Centres were no longer included in figures and there is a subsequent drop.
5. 2019/20: One Friargate connected to the Heatline (Waste to Heat energy supply). Connecting to the Heatline has led to a 23% reduction in liquid fuel and gas consumption since 2018/19.
6. In 2019/20 we increased our ‘Scope 3’ emissions data gathering. The last column displays the new methodology in use and therefore an increase in GHG emissions. This is mainly due to reporting schools and buildings that haven’t previously been reported on.
7. Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic and further schools becoming academy (no longer included in scope 3 emissions).

6.5 The Sustainability Team has improved the amount of information they are able to capture for our Carbon Disclosure Programme (CDP) reporting as one can see it is the indirect impacts i.e. Scope 3 which make the largest overall contribution to Carbon emissions which includes the goods and services we procure. This is an internationally recognised verification system which gave the City a B rating. Scope 3 is the most difficult area to capture data for and has been historically under reported. There will be a need to tighten up our procurement policies and practices to address this.

6.6 In fact we know that today the Local Authority is only responsible for an estimated 1% of the City’s total energy use, it is for that reason that this Strategy is focusing beyond the City Council and is using its powers, relationships and influence to impact upon the City as a whole. We know from BEIS data the contribution that each sector makes to the City’s overall Carbon footprint and how much we collectively have managed to reduce this over the years.

Coventry annual city emissions (ktCO2e) 2005 - 2019 (BEIS LA data)

6.7 Coventry recently concluded its Innovate UK funded Regional Energy Systems Operator (RESO) Project in partnership with WMCA, Cadent, Camirus, Western Power, Enzen, Electron, Places in Common, University of Warwick & University of Birmingham etc to examine ways of managing the supply and demand of energy across the City in the future.

6.8 The project reviewed a wide variety of technologies including the development of renewables. There will be an increased demand upon an already stretched electricity grid to improve capacity as electricity demand will increase to accommodate the increase in electric vehicles and to meet the needs of business for zero carbon energy such as the proposed Gigafactory for the manufacture of batteries for the automotive sector.

6.9 Coventry is a member of the Placed based Climate Action Network (PCAN) some 17 or so local authorities which have established independent partnerships of major organisations in the private, public and voluntary sectors making a collective commitment to collaborative working together to address the challenges their City faces.

6.10 The City Council and the Climate Change Board has commissioned Professor Andy Gouldson to undertake research into the City’s Carbon budget and to identify those factors which contribute the most to emissions citywide and to assess the costs and benefits of addressing Climate Change and to develop a Zero Carbon Routemap for Coventry. Professor Gouldson is an economist and environmentalist who has worked closely with Central Government and is founder director of the Economic & Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Centre for Climate Change Economics & Policy. His methodology is recognised by the UK Government and has been used to create Zero Carbon Routemaps for other major cities like Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Leeds, Swansea and Cambridge.

6.11 The Routemap should inform our target commitments and help the partnership to develop an achievable pathway to net zero in keeping with national and international recommendations. We already know the scale of the challenge and investment required means we cannot do this alone. The Council working with the Low Emissions Pathway Group aims to pull together all those with the talents and experience to build the new future in a post COVID-19 world and to limit the impact from climate change working towards net-zero emissions.

6.12 The Routemap will identify a series of actions to address Climate change some of which will be able to generate an income and be good investment propositions whilst others should be able to break even in terms of financial return. Some examples of the categories of initiatives and activities the route map will cover are:

• Transformation of transportation to renewable sources e.g. EV Vehicles
• Promoting modal shift from private motor vehicles to active travel, shared and public transport
• Use of renewables technology to generate zero carbon electricity e.g. solar farms
• Energy from waste projects
• Heating improvements to homes and buildings e.g. heat pumps & networks
• Lighting improvements
• Energy efficiency improvements in businesses
• Insulating domestic buildings

6.13 The Routemap will enable Coventry to benchmark itself against other Cities and share and learn from the experiences of others which should help to improve practices to become more cost effective at addressing the issues.

6.14 Yet there are a number of interventions that are difficult to proceed at present without a level of subsidy from the Government. One of the key concerns is the need to retrofit domestic properties which account for approx. 30% of all emissions. Coventry was successful in securing over £6m in grant last year which covered external wall insulation and other energy efficiency measures for 600 homes, the number of properties with households on low incomes below a C Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating is over 13,000. For this reason the City Council is working with other City Councils in the region on finding a solution to this problem in an effort to speed up and scale up the retrofit programme and potentially create jobs across the region. The City Council is also working in partnership with Housing Associations on addressing the issues on their estate.

6.15 The following Government requirements will have a specific impact for the local authority and for others within the city with some specific deadlines and milestones which the Strategy and Action Plan will have to address:

• Public Buildings emissions – all public sector buildings are required to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 and 75% by 2037 (from a 2017 baseline).
• Energy Performance Certificate ratings – all commercial buildings must have an EPC of a minimum of B by 2030.
• Gas boilers – gas boiler sales will be banned from 2035.
• Vehicles – phase out of new petrol/diesel cars and vans by 2030 and new non-zero emissions HGVs under 26tonnes by 2035 and all HGVs by 2040. From 2022 building regulations will require EV charge point in all new homes and new and existing non-residential buildings.
• Power system – plans to be zero carbon by 2035.

6.16 These requirements will guide some of our activity, but we will seek to go beyond just what is required and deliver opportunities which ensure a long-term sustainable future for Coventry.

6.17 The level of investment needed and the expertise from the energy sector make it critical for the City Council to work with specialists in the energy industry and financial institutions with an understanding of the energy market in order to design and develop the zero-carbon energy infrastructure that this City will need to meet future needs industry & commerce, transport, housing and regeneration. Building on the successes of Heatline, Coventry like a number of other Cities in the UK will need to seek joint venture partners to secure the necessary investment and to design and build this infrastructure and develop new services.

6.18 Coventry has a strong history of inventiveness and creativity with a successful track record in adapting to change and this is just another exciting chapter in that history. Coventry City Council recognises that meeting what must be the greatest global challenge it has yet to face needs a co-ordinated partnership approach not only engaging departments across the Council but also working in partnership with its citizens, voluntary organisations, public agencies and businesses can achieve.

6.19 The areas for focusing our attention on in the coming years will build upon the City Council’s work on the RESO Project, the need for revision of the City’s Local Plan to strengthen the energy policy and to provide a clear framework for new builds to adopt significantly higher standards of energy efficiency targeting than at present and address the opportunities identified in the Zero Carbon Routemap covering a range of actions such as the below:

Property & Infrastructure

• LE1 To establish a joint venture partnership capable of designing and planning for the development of energy generation, storage and efficiency services and infrastructure for a zero-carbon future and securing the necessary investment to do so with an opportunity to generate income and social value for the City’s sustainability programme.
• LE2 To secure funding for the retrofitting of domestic properties across the City to improve their energy performance ratings from below an Energy Performance Certificate rating of a ‘C’ to at least a ‘C’ or above.
• LE3 To promote the development of skills and training in the construction sector including the building related trades e.g. heating engineers for the advancement in the use of the latest renewable zero carbon and more energy efficient technologies in the retrofitting of existing properties and new build developments of zero carbon homes.
• LE4 Working in partnership with the City of Wolverhampton and Birmingham in a 3 Cities Project to identify solutions to the domestic retrofit of Council Owned and Housing Association social housing properties particularly those in fuel poverty who cannot afford the investment to undertake the work that is required.
• LE5 To develop renewables projects on the ground such as solar farms and solar panels on rooftops as a source of renewable energy.
• LE6 To establish ways of securing finance for independent organisations occupying Council owned buildings and assets to incentivise them to improve the energy efficiency of the buildings they occupy and so reduce their energy costs e.g. Academy Schools, Tenants in Council owned office buildings.
• LE7 Building upon the current work funded by Catapult UK on the development of local heat networks to identify opportunities to extend the development of heat networks across the City.

Transport

• LE8 To develop the infrastructure to manage the transition from fossil fuel based transport to transport powered by renewable energy e.g. Electric Bus City, expansion of EV Charge points, the Zero Carbon Airport, Cycle and footpath network development, electrification of the Council’s vehicle fleet etc.
• LE9 To establish improvement to the zero-carbon public transport infrastructure and services across the City including the electrification of the total bus fleet, the development of a unique first in the UK a Very Light Rail autonomous tram.
• LE10 To establish ways of incentivising and encouraging businesses to develop commuter plans for employees commuting to work.
• LE11 To support innovation partnerships for the development of zero carbon low emission technologies in the automotive & transportation sector e.g. zero carbon airport.
• LE12 Key Services (such as urban design, planning, highways and city centre placemaking) to work together, creating a greater sense of place; making services and attractions pedestrian friendly and more accessible by means of active travel.

Businesses

• LE13 To secure inward investment and facilitate the development of the necessary zero carbon infrastructure for the Gigafactory for the manufacture of batteries for the production of electric vehicles by the UK automotive industry.
• LE14 To promote the use of electric vehicles by the provision of rental electric vehicles for trial periods and to promote the development of EV Charging points on business premises.
• LE15 To support initiatives which advise and assist employers to promote commuter plans and car sharing schemes for commuting to work to reduce carbon emissions.
• LE16 To support businesses in the Coventry & Warwickshire region in improving the energy efficiency of their business including buildings and processes and to provide advice and guidance in the transition from fossil fuels to renewables.
• LE17 For the Local Plan Review to ensure that energy consumption is taken into consideration, along with current and future changes in Building Regulations.