Agenda item

Resolved: that the Committee would refer its views to Mayor and Cabinet as follows –

·         The Committee believes that the climate emergency action plan should place a high level of emphasis on public engagement.

·         The Committee wants to highlight the importance of tree planting and green infrastructure in: urban cooling; enhancing the thermal efficiency of buildings; improving the pedestrian environment and streetscape as well as sequestering carbon emissions from the atmosphere. It recommends that further consideration should be given to the importance of trees and green space in the climate emergency action plan.

4.1    Martin O’Brien (Climate Resilience Manager) introduced a presentation appended to the minutes, the following key points were noted:

·         The report provided an update on the work the Council was carrying out in response to its declaration of a climate emergency.

·         Work had been commissioned to assess the measures required for Lewisham to become carbon neutral by 2030.

·         A number of authorities across the country had declared a climate emergency. 26 authorities in London had declared an emergency and 14 had set a target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

·         Officers were working towards producing an action plan for presentation to Mayor and Cabinet before the end of March.

·         The research commissioned by the Council helped to: define definitions; establish a clear baseline for future comparisons; determine the scale and the cost of actions needed to deliver on the Council’s ambitions.

·         The research did not provide the details of the Council’s action plan, which would be agreed in due course.

·         The report provided definitions of the key terms (including: ‘carbon neutral’, ‘carbon offsetting’ and the international greenhouse protocols for sources of emissions inside and outside of the borough). The terms ‘carbon emissions and CO2’ were used in the report to cover all greenhouse gasses (such as methane, amongst others), measured as carbon equivalents.

·         The baseline for measurements was 2017-18. The target year for the action plan was 2030-31.

·         The reduction in carbon emissions in Lewisham from 2005 to the present day was 38%, which was slightly higher than the London average (37%). Much of the reduction related to the decarbonisation of electricity supplied through the national grid.

·         Emissions directly attributable to Lewisham Council amounted to slightly less than 3%.

·         Domestic gas and electricity accounted for more than half of the borough’s carbon emissions.

·         Transport was the next biggest source of emissions, together with gas and electricity used in housing the three amounted to three quarters of the borough’s carbon emissions.

·         The research puts forward four scenarios for the future (baseline; core; radical stretch and systemic change). These took into account the projections for population growth as well as the plans for decarbonisation of the electricity grid.

·         Actions had been developed for each of the scenarios.

·         The four scenarios were complementary – the actions in each could be added to the actions from the previous scenario.

·         Projections were made for the impact of each of the scenarios – with costs for carbon offsetting.

·         There were significant costs associated with the delivery of each of the four scenarios.

·         The Greater London Authority had produced an assessment of the costs of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. It found that the ‘do nothing’ option was not the cheapest scenario.

·         The costs of some of the actions in the ‘systemic change’ scenario could not be accurately projected because they were so fundamentally different from current practice.

·         One of the key unsolved problems was the carbon emissions from domestic heating.

·         There were some sources of carbon emissions that could not be quantified locally (such as those from aviation).

·         There was a sizable amount of emissions from road transport in the borough for journeys that began and ended outside of the borough.

·         The Council had to be ambitious and needed to demonstrate leadership.

·         The issue of climate change was an issue of social justice. The most vulnerable people in society would be those most likely to be adversely affected by extreme weather events as well as increases in prices of commodities and the inability to get insurance.

·         There was often a sense of ‘doom and gloom’ about the impacts of climate change. It was important not to lose sight of the level of threat being faced but also to recognise that people needed positive and compelling reasons for change.

·         The carbon neutral target could not be delivered by the Council alone – a key part of the action plan would be lobbying government for support, funding and legislative changes.

·         Delivery of the plan would rely on a broad level of culture change across the organisation, with the Council’s partners and amongst residents.

4.2    Martin O’Brien responded to questions from the Committee, the following key points were noted:

·         The importance of green infrastructure was recognised as part of the Council’s overall approach to sustainability.

·         Tree planting would not provide a solution to the issues posed by climate change but it could be a worthwhile contribution to achieving the Council’s aims.

·         Actions relating to trees and green infrastructure would be included in the action plan.

·         The consultants had attempted to quantify the contribution that trees and green infrastructure could make to the carbon neutral target – but this was not uncomplicated.

·         Standards for new buildings required increased levels of energy efficiency. There was a significant challenge in relation to the efficiency of existing housing, where there was a pressing need for new solutions.

·         Efforts (and funding) should be prioritised for the most vulnerable households to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

·         The Council would lobby government on the support available for private homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. Work would also need to take place to encourage homeowners to invest in the efficiency of their homes.

·         Significant amounts of money were spent by homeowners on kitchens and bathrooms – and there were sizable industries supporting this investment. The home efficiency market was ‘malfunctioning’. The government should invest in the skills for this sector and consumers should be better supported to make positive choices.

·         There were opportunities for investment which would release savings over time. The costs of energy were set to increase – which was why ‘doing nothing’ was not a sustainable option.

·         The action plan would be delivered over ten years. Some actions would be identified and could be delivered immediately but others would take longer and would be longer term and broader in their scope.

·         Existing expenditure would need to be directed towards more sustainable ways of working.

·         It was not clear how the government was going to meet its own carbon reduction targets.

·         The South East London Heat and Power plant (SELCHP) could provide a readymade source of heating, but most of the heat generated is not be used.  This was something the Council was seeking to change, working with Veolia who operate the SELCHP plant. Feasibility studies had been carried out with the operators and further work would take place to determine how best to make use of this resource.

·         Some work was also taking place across the borough to ascertain the opportunities for decentralised energy generation.

·         The research did not present a commitment to offset the borough’s carbon emissions. Rather – it provided an illustration of what it would mean for the borough to become carbon neutral. The issue of offsetting would have to be revisited throughout the course of the action plan and a final decision would be made in 2030-31.

·         The immediate focus of the action plan would be the actions that could be taken immediately and the culture change that would be required to deliver the scale of the longer term changes that would be needed.

4.3 Councillor Sophie McGeevor (Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport) addressed the Committee – the following key points were noted:

·         One hectare of trees was estimated to contain 430 tonnes of carbon. Lewisham’s baseline for carbon emissions was 805 thousand tonnes of carbon. Blackheath, which was one of the largest green spaces in London was 85 hectares – which, even if it was covered with fast growing trees would only mitigate the equivalent of 36.5 thousand tonnes of carbon.

·         Trees and green cover were important for biodiversity, for shading and for improving the pedestrian environment but they would not provide a solution for Lewisham’s carbon emissions.

·         It was important to recognise that planting trees would not allow people to carry on doing things as they were. Major changes were needed.

·         The climate forum meeting that was being planned at the end of January would be the first trial of a number of events engaging with residents on the climate emergency.

4.4    Two Members of ‘Climate Action Lewisham’ addressed the Committee – the following key points were noted:

·         The information in the consultant’s report was selective and took somewhat of a narrow view about the role of trees in mitigating climate change.

·         The assessment of the role of trees had been overly simplified in the report. For example – no reference had been made to the potentially significant role of trees in reducing energy consumption for heating in adjacent buildings.

·         Trees could also help to mitigate the impact of urban heating. This was particularly significant given the projections for global heating (meaning that by 2050 London would be the same temperature as present day Barcelona). This would result in new demands for cooling and air conditioning.

·         The development of new green infrastructure took many years. Climate Action Lewisham had put together some proposals for urban tree planting – which would be at low cost to the Council.

·         Residents in Lewisham were very interested in the climate emergency. Members of the group found that very few people knew that the Council had declared a climate emergency.

·         The Council needed to do more to engage with local people. The event that was being planned for the end of January had sold out very quickly.

4.5    A member of the public was invited to address the Committee on behalf of the Sydenham Society and the Bell Green Masterplan - the following key point was noted:

·         The Committee had been approached to consider the options for the development of a heat storage project using the former Bell Green gas holders which is currently the subject of a feasibility study by the government department Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and concerns were raised that an opportunity could be lost to do something innovative.

4.6    Kevin Sheehan (Executive Director for Regeneration, Housing and Environment) addressed the Committee, the following key points were noted:

·         The sums of money outlined in the report were significant – but they were still likely to be an underestimate of the amounts needed to deliver on the ambitions to make Lewisham carbon neutral.

·         Whilst money was important – it would require everyone – including residents and the government to work together to bring about significant changes to every aspect of modern life.

·         Collective efforts could bring about rapid changes.

4.7    In Committee discussions the following key points were also noted:

·         There were concerns expressed about the sustainability and ethics of carbon offsetting.

·         There were issues with the sustainability of wide scale use of bio-gas and bio fuels.

·         There were options of solar heating water that were cost effective.

·         The planting of trees would signal the Council’s intent to tackle climate change. There was also funding available from regional and national government as well as from individuals to plant trees and to improve Lewisham’s streetscape.

·         Committee Members reiterated the importance of tree planting.

·         People could make small changes, such as lowering their heating and exercising at home to save on heating costs.

·         The Association for Public Service Excellence had produced a report on climate change, to which Members may wish to refer.

4.8    Resolved: that the Committee would refer its views to Mayor and Cabinet as follows –

·         The Committee believes that the climate emergency action plan should place a high level of emphasis on public engagement.

·         The Committee wants to highlight the importance of tree planting and green infrastructure in: urban cooling; enhancing the thermal efficiency of buildings; improving the pedestrian environment and streetscape as well as sequestering carbon emissions from the atmosphere. It recommends that further consideration should be given to the importance of trees and green space in the climate emergency action plan.