Agenda item

To recevie a verbal update/presentation from Climate Action Leeds.

The report of the Chief Officer Climate, Energy and Green Spaces, provided and update on Climate Action Leeds (CAL) who were working for a zero carbon, nature friendly, socially just Leeds by the 2030s. Their aim was to support this by mobilising communities, campaign groups and different sectors to plan and act together. They had been supported through National Lottery grant funding and work in partnership across the city with a range of groups, such as Voluntary Action Leeds, Leeds Tidal, Our Future Leeds, Together for Peace and CAG Consultants amongst others

Andy Hickford, Senior Project Manager, Climate, Energy & Green Spaces introduced the item, noting that, the Council had been engaged with CAL for a number of years and had supported the National Lottery funding bids. CAL worked across the community and were involved with a variety of climate focused initiatives within Leeds. Work was ongoing to embed the CAL ethos and continue their work, with some challenges faced, given the pending expiration of the National Lottery funding.

Paul Chatterton, Professor of Urban Futures, University of Leeds, provided the following information:

·  CAL had been established in October 2020 following the approval of £2.5million of funding granted by the National Lottery and involved seven main delivery partners. The funding was to last until September 2025.

·  CAL had been comprised of a test and learn study to develop practises to engage with and prepare communities for the impact of climate change.

·  The Council’s Climate Emergency Declaration in 2019 had been the starting point for the development of CAL. The Covid-19 pandemic had impacted the initial work conducted by CAL.

·  Work was divided between 8 Transition Partners providing expertise and developing climate action models, 8 Community Hubs providing information to communities and adding momentum to the cause, and the City Movement Building which was a central hub creating a legacy for future work, where many events and training programmes were held.

·  CAL worked with the Council and Leeds Climate Commission and had developed work programmes in response to 12 recommendations from the Leeds Climate Change Citizens' Jury. A 13^th recommendation had been incorporated, for a socially just approach to climate action, following the development of a report by the Racial Justice Network.

·  Transition partners had selected key focus areas to implement a sustainable approach to, energy, housing, food, nature, work and economy, youth/education and transport. Organisations were engaged with the transition model across a multitude of sectors.

·  Significant work on the transition model was highlighted as, a community wealth building strategy, a Leeds climate curriculum, a community retrofit show home, a community nature recovery network, Leeds community energy and a big climate justice conversation.

·  The locations for the Community Hubs were selected in diverse, cross representative sites, with 8 local organisations in place who had applied for further funding and had sought legal status to continue their work. The hubs were able to act as ambassadors as a next step. Examples of the dedicated work conducted at the hubs were provided.

·  A carbon calculator was used to measure the effects of projects, with the example of Alwoodley Walk to School Week having a direct carbon saving of 0.310 tonnes and then scaled up to 130 tonnes per annum if implemented as a lasting behaviour change for all 227 primary school in Leeds.

·  Imagine Leeds was the dedicated Climate Action Hub within the city centre, with a new venue at Blenheim Terrace, funded by the University of Leeds until May 2025 and was to act as a civic open space for climate action and information. Members were encouraged to attend the new venue.

·  The Doughnut economic model was used as a guide to balance the diverse communities across Leeds, in order to enhance nature, local economies, community safety and social justice. Community Doughnut trials were being run in Gipton and Roundhay.

·  Th highlights and the impacts of CAL, in its fourth year, were noted as, over 8,700 people taking part in activities, 1000 volunteers, 5,000 people attending the Imagine Leeds hub, the Social Climate Summit and funding bids, which as a collective, contributed to promotion of climate initiatives and significant carbon savings.

·  The 5 year plan from 2025 to 2030 was to expand work to develop Leeds into a more socially just and nature friendly city, with plans developed to fill gaps in provision and engage with less heard communities, using a megaphone approach, to enhance work as it progressed. Considerations to make the shift to carbon neutrality by 2030 were beginning to come to fruition but required significant promotion and action.

·  The offer from CAL was outlined as use of Imagine Leeds facilities, networking and joint planning, training programmes, inspiring and mobilising communities, further development of the Leeds Doughnut framework and use of the carbon calculator and case studies.

·  It was requested that the Council and the Committee held an active partnership with CAL and Imagine Leeds, joining up key transition work, use of the Doughnut framework, closer strategic relations, greater connection to the community hubs and involvement as an active partner in future funding bids.

During the discussions the following matters were considered:

• Members offered their support for the education strand of the transition focus areas, noting positive long terms effects when information on climate change and initiatives were taught at schools. A detailed longitudinal study of how school education led to future climate action would be useful information. Further discussions were to take place with relevant partners and Executive Member.
• Community energy was a key topic to focus on to reach carbon neutrality targets and Members requested further discussions on this programme.
• Expanding on doughnut economics, it was outlined that 39 internationally recognised indicators had been tracked, with Leeds being outside of safe levels for 36 of the indicators. This was sound, granular data to utilise to inform future action and reassess approaches. It was proposed that a Working Group meeting would be a good arena for future discussion, including the community trials in Gipton and Roundhay.
• The models to engage with diverse communities was queried, in response more work was needed in terms of governance and communications to be well calibrated. Increased efforts were needed to identify people’s priorities and barriers to them engaging with CAL. Better practise was to ensure all communities were listened to, including work with partners and the third sector to allocate resources.
• At a local level, the Community Hubs assisted with climate justice improvements, with people from diverse backgrounds employed as well as accessibility considerations, such as language and digital barriers. Work was ongoing to appoint more climate ambassadors and leadership roles to represent ethnic minorities, requiring improved communications for allyship and partnership approaches. Climate racial justice was integral to the aims and ambitions of CAL.

Andy Hickford, Senior Project Manager, Climate, Energy & Green Spaces, summarised the discussions, noting that next steps were for the Council to continue their engagement with CAL, as well as joining up Council strategies to adopt better net zero practises. Climate action work needed to be representational of all communities which would assist with other areas where social improvements were needed, such as community safety, local economies, active travel, heating and food, which was best actioned through partnership work.

The Chair encouraged engagement with CAL, as well as other community climate action groups as this was integral to meeting targets. Work for the education branch of the transition areas was to be explored to create better links and a Working Group session on Doughnut Economics was agreed to be scheduled.

RESOLVED –

a)  That the presentation, along with Members comments, be noted.

b)  That the requests for support from Climate Action Leeds and the proposal to use their feedback to develop ongoing alignment in Net Zero delivery between CAL and Leeds City Council, be considered.