UK100, a network of local authority leaders from across the country committed to tackling climate change, has issued a “Resilient Recovery Declaration” calling for £100bn investment in shifting the economy to clean fuels.
It is anticipated that the majority of this funding would come from the private sector, but with the Treasury pump-priming £5bn via a Net Zero Development Bank.
The five-point Resilient Recovery Declaration submitted to the Chancellor’s Spending Review calls for:
- A long-term government led plan to retrofit homes across the country, which are some of the leakiest in Europe;
- A new duty for Ofgem to support the delivery of Net Zero as part of a renewable, locally planned electricity grid;
- Creation of a Net Zero Development Bank to increase private investment in renewable technologies;
- A commitment to providing seamless access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the UK and to ensure the UK is world leader in developing low emissions vehicles;
- New powers for mayors and local authorities to deliver Net Zero.
Cllr Rosy Moore, Executive Councillor for Climate Change, Environment and City Centre, said: “Around 30% of carbon emissions in Cambridge come from the 50,000-plus homes in the city. The city council has invested in reducing emissions from its own buildings and many residents have done likewise.
“We will need very significant government-led investment in retrofitting all those buildings if we are to get close to our aspiration for Cambridge to be net zero carbon. I support UK100’s call for government to make that investment in a genuinely green recovery.”
The council is currently reviewing its own climate change strategy and plans to hold online public engagement on the emerging framework for that strategy later this autumn.
Cambridge residents and businesses keen to understand their own carbon footprint and to learn about ways to reduce it are encouraged to sign up to the Cambridge Climate Change Charter, which has been developed for the council by local community group Cambridge Carbon Footprint.
The full UK100 press release giving details of the declaration is available here
For more information about the council’s work to tackle climate change go to: https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/climate-change-and-sustainability and for more on the Cambridge Climate Change Charter go to: http://cambridgecarbonfootprint.org/charter/