Delivering Net Zero and climate resilience through the local planning system: barriers and opportunities

Descriptions

The Climate Change Committee The Climate Change Committee (CCC) was set up as part of the Climate Change Act. The CCC is an independent body that advises both on reducing emissions in the UK and adapting to the climate changes in the UK. The CCC's full range of past reports are available here: Publications - Climate Change Committee (theccc.org.uk) 2Background Local authorities - delivering Net Zero and climate resilience The planning system is the key lever that local authorities hold to shape developments in their regions. This can impact the design of communities, in particular the extent to which their buildings, transport systems, and land align to the pathways required to meet Net Zero and adapt to the changing climate. The present National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) does include objectives which emphasise that local plans should consider sustainability and climate impacts. However, these are ill-defined in comparison to other objectives (e.g. housing) and there is currently significant variation between local authorities in how they are being implemented. The CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) recently undertook a piece of research that explored 24 local plans outside Greater London, concluding that climate is not generally being considered as a central priority in the vast majority, and that changes to the NPPF are needed to make clear what local authorities are expected to do to ensure that their plans are compliant with the wider Net Zero strategy. Our project should seek to build upon this work by trying to understand what specific barriers hinder better alignment between local plans and sustainability objectives, and how these should be overcome. Several other recent studies explore how the planning system can play a key role in delivering Net Zero: •Green Alliance's 2020 paper on the local climate challenge highlighted a misalignment of priorities in the planning system, as well as practical difficulties around the appraisal tools used and the powers available to local authorities. •The use of these tools was explored in more detail in UK100's 2021 report on local authority powers. •The Centre for Cities set out a vision for improved spatial planning to enable lower carbon community development in its 2021 work Other recent reports have produced adaptation guidance based on the NPPF and National Adaptation Programme (NAP) for local authorities. However, there is currently no mandatory requirement for local authorities to report on adaptation, and a lack of research combining the practical and structural barriers for delivering this guidance and recommendations for aligning adaptation/mitigation: •ADEPT, Defra and Local Adaptation Advisory Panel Guide •Town and Coastal Planning Association Adaptation guide •Local Partnerships Climate Adaptation Toolkit, which summarises the risks highlighted by the 3rd Climate Change Risk Assessment for local authorities. *** See Specification for more detail ***