A NEW phase in Leicester’s bid to become a climate ready city has been set out in an ambitious action plan covering the next five years.
Leicester City Council has launched a new five-year Climate Ready Leicester Plan which sets out more than 90 actions intended to help the city further reduce its carbon emissions and adapt to a changing climate.
The new plan for warm homes, lower bills, solar energy, new skills and jobs, clean air and a greener, resilient city will build on substantial previous investment and schemes to reduce local carbon emissions and adapt the city in response to the climate emergency.
Restating the aim for a net zero city, the new strategy has been updated based on an independent ‘roadmap’ study commissioned by the city council in 2022. This sets out the enormous challenges and huge investment required – of up to £1 billion per year – if the city is to achieve the ambition to get to net zero by 2030. This date will, therefore, be kept under review.
The current target date for the UK to reach net zero is 2050.
Reflecting the findings of the expert study, the new Climate Ready Leicester Plan recognises that reducing the demand for energy and switching to electricity for heating and transport as are the most important things Leicester will need to do.
It also restates the need to reduce the risks and impact of a changing climate on people, businesses and nature while moving to net zero in a way which is affordable and practical for people – and which improves quality of life. Examples of what this means in practice include offering people advice and support with saving energy to reduce their bills as well as securing any available Government funding to offer grants.
Cllr Geoff Whittle, assistant city mayor for environment and transport, said: “When the council declared a climate emergency in Leicester in 2019, there was no doubt about the challenge involved in responding to this as a city.
“We’ve achieved a great deal since then with substantial investment in cleaner, greener transport and low carbon, energy efficient buildings.
“Our ambitious Climate Ready Leicester Plan will aim to build on that momentum with a focus on putting people first in the way we promote and support change towards net zero.
“The council can’t achieve this on its own. To meet this ambition will require significant and ongoing support from the Government and from local stakeholders. As a council, we will continue to lead by example and do all we can to reduce our carbon footprint to net zero as we continue to work hard to encourage and help others to reduce their own impact.”
Among the proposed areas of focus that will guide actions over the next five years are: further decarbonisation of council buildings, business units and vehicles; improving the energy efficiency of council homes; promoting access to grants for low carbon improvements for owner-occupied homes; and, helping more local small and medium-sized businesses save energy and reduce their carbon emissions.
Work to encourage more sustainable methods of transport will continue. Plans include more investment for safe routes for walking, wheeling and cycling; further improvements to the city’s bus services, with more electric buses to come; support for freight operators to reduce their emissions; and, increasing the availability of charge-points for electric vehicles across the city.
The new plan also sets out a renewed focus on the city’s need to adapt to a changing climate. This includes ensuring the council’s own construction projects create low carbon, climate-ready buildings and infrastructure; making sure the council’s existing buildings and infrastructure are resilient to climate change; managing council-owned land to reduce flood risk, help tackle heatwaves and support biodiversity; creating new schemes to help prevent flooding; and, ensuring that new development is low carbon, climate-ready and enhances local biodiversity.
Other proposed areas of focus include: improving recycling services; buying low-carbon, sustainable goods and services for the council; supporting people in fuel poverty with information, advice and signposting to grants; helping to ensure that private rented homes meet at least minimum levels of energy efficiency; continued environmental education in schools; and, supporting National Grid to improve the local electricity grid to cope with anticipated increases in demand.
The new Climate Ready Leicester Plan can be viewed in full at www.leicester.gov.uk/ClimateEmergency
A new Climate Ready Leicester – Action Guide for Residents that includes more than 50 actions that people can take to help reduce their carbon impact at home and in their daily lives is also available to download.