Agenda item

[Report of the Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Sustainability]

This report seeks Cabinet to agree the launch and publication of the Haringey Climate Change Action Plan.

 The Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Sustainability introduced the report which set out the ambition and the actions required to make the Borough net zero-carbon by 2041. The Cabinet Member stressed that doing nothing was no longer an option. This was a climate emergency and the last opportunity to make a difference. The Council could not achieve these targets alone as it was only responsible for 8% of emissions. There was a need to change hearts and minds.

In response to questions from Cllr Ogiehor the following was noted:

• The Cabinet Member agreed investigate the reasons for some lights being left on in River Park House during the evenings and provide a response.
• The Head of Carbon Management would provide Cllr Ogiehor a written response to the level of di-vesments in fossil fuel by the Council’s Pension Fund. This was thought to be 75% but there would be clarification sought from the Pensions Team.
• With regards to consideration of a work place levy, and considering the ‘Nottingham Model’ that this question alluded to, the main factor was that the Council did not own many carparks to instigate this. Taking this forward would mean potential extra charge for Councils’ own car parks used by employees so the Council would in a sense be charging itself which was not appropriate. The strategy being followed was to disincentives employees’ use of cars to deter use of car parks.
• Noted that charging points for electrical cars in the borough only provided renewable green sources of energy but the Cabinet Member would explore the issue raised regarding mandating the use of  green renewable energy sources for charging given the issues concerning the cost of electric car batteries.

RESOLVED

1. To agree to publish the draft Haringey Climate Change Action Plan to consult with residents, businesses and other stakeholders who can discuss and gain an understanding of the actions to be taken, before refining and adopting the final Climate Change Action Plan in late 2020;

2. To agree that the Action Plan will be reported back to Cabinet by November 2020;

3. To commit to the Council to start working now towards becoming a net zero carbon Council, and for all core Council buildings and the fleet to be net zero carbon by 2027;

4. To agree to start work now on lobbying national and regional government, as set out in the Action Plan, to ask for greater powers and access to finance to increase the rate of carbon reduction;

5. To agree that the Council will continue to report progress against the final Action Plan through the Haringey Annual Carbon Report.

Reasons for decision

Delivering a net zero carbon borough by 2050 is an objective in the Borough Plan 2019-23. However, in light of the new scientific evidence published in the report Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2018), Full Council in March 2019 agreed to declare a climate emergency, and to review this date for delivery with a view to bringing it forward in recognition of that emergency.

The Haringey Climate Change Action Plan sets a date to be net zero carbon of 2041. The Action Plan sets out the actions required with a challenging but realistic timeframe to reduce the borough’s carbon footprint. It sets out the actions which are already funded, the additional funding that is needed and the legislative changes needed. It also outlines the delivery routes with national, and regional government, as well as the borough’s stakeholders.

Delivering carbon reduction in Haringey will grow the green sector, encourage innovation in products and services and require local people to fill jobs to retrofit our homes and businesses. It will support the priorities and cut across the borough’s objectives as set out in the Borough Plan (section 7).

This level of ambition for a net zero-carbon borough cannot be delivered by the Council alone. The residents and businesses need to help the Council deliver a net zero-carbon borough. To do this the Council will need new powers, and access to finance to deliver this target from government. This, in turn, will deliver new skilled jobs and warmer healthier properties to work and live in for our borough. This is set out in the Action Plan, under the lobbying asks.

The Council will demonstrate leadership by becoming a net zero carbon organisation ahead of the borough target. The Council has set this date as 2027 for the core Council operational buildings, and all transport related activities undertaken by the Council in the delivery of services. A plan for bringing the rest of the Council’s operations to net zero as soon as possible will be completed by the end of 2021.

Alternative options considered

Do nothing. This was rejected as it would not comply with the Borough Plan, or the Full Council resolution of March 2019 to declare a Climate Emergency and deliver a costed and deliverable action plan that will deliver a zero carbon Borough.

Propose a programme to be a net zero carbon borough by 2030. Although many local authorities have committed to this timeframe, the Council’s evidence suggests that this timeframe is not deliverable, even with new powers and increased funding for Councils. This timetable would, for example, require over 10,000 full retrofits of homes in Haringey each year. This figure has never been achieved at a national level. It would therefore be close to impossible to deliver this in the borough, especially as there is limited funding to do this, and there are only a few companies and workers in the UK currently that could deliver this level of retrofitting.

Propose a programme to be a net zero carbon borough by 2050. This was the Council’s original timeframe to achieve zero carbon status and currently remains the Mayor of London’s and national government’s position. However, this timeframe does not reflect the climate emergency or the ambition of Haringey Council. Furthermore, based on the Council’s analysis, it has been determined that there are several actions which can be brought forward with new powers and funding from regional and national government.