Agenda item

Update on progress made since adoption of the Climate and Nature Emergency Plan in March 2022.

1.    To accept the report and to recommend:

(i)      That information about 'Active Travel' should be added under Section 3 of the Report: 'Section 6, Environment (Wales) Act 2016'.

(ii)     Consideration should be given to adapting the format of how information is displayed under the 'What did we promise to do in 2022/23?' and 'What we did' titles in Sections 5-11 of the Report for clarity to the reader.

 

2.    Recommend to the Cabinet that the staffing resource should be considered to achieve the vision of the Climate and Nature Emergency Plan.

 

The report was submitted by the Chief Executive. ⁠Attention was drawn briefly to the following main points: 

 

Members were reminded that the Climate and Nature Emergency Plan was one of the priorities within the Council Plan, with a Board established to support it.

Attention was drawn to the fact that the plan included two steps. It was detailed that the first phase was to implement the Council's projects to reduce the use of energy and reduce the Council's carbon emissions and the second phase would be to look at the wider impact on the county, considering how the Council could help communities and how the county could respond to the impact of climate change.

 

It was explained that dealing with the climate and nature was part of the Council's work since 2005/06 and it was noted that a huge success could be seen by now. ⁠It was detailed that there were 51% less carbon emissions in the Construction field between 2005/06 and 2019 and 23% carbon emissions in the Fleet field within the same period. It was reported that the Council had managed to reduce the Council's carbon emissions by 43% within this period.

 

It was noted that the Council saw financial benefits when tackling the climate and nature emergency, saving around £15 million since 2010. It was emphasised that this meant that more cuts would have needed to be made as a result of the Council's current financial situation if the work on the climate change and nature emergency had not been delivered. It was recognised that new considerations needed to be considered by now, such as challenges in the scrutiny field and the fact that more of the council's workforce worked from home.

 

Concern was expressed regarding the method of calculating carbon emissions deriving from procurement nationally. It was explained that buying local goods was calculated in the same way as buying goods from the continent, even though there were major differences in the actual carbon emissions. It was noted that this could impact the local economy in areas as there was no encouragement to buy locally. It was explained that procurement had been refined over the past two years leading to a reduction in the Council's carbon emissions. It was noted that the consistent message conveyed to the Welsh Government was that the method of calculating in the procurement field wasn't an accurate reflection of the real situation. There was concern that it would not be possible to reach targets to become carbon neutral by 2030 if this method of calculation was not amended.

 

It was confirmed that the Council was ready to look at step two of the Plan, which was to look at plans for the future. It was mentioned that the first step of the plan was to reduce carbon emissions, and therefore long-term plans needed to be secured for these emission figures to remain low. It was explained that these developments were being implemented within the following main themes:

 

·       Construction and Energy

·       Moving and transporting

·       Waste

·       ⁠Governance

·       Procurement

·       Land Use

·       Ecology

 

Details were provided on some of the themes by providing examples of associated projects. Reference was made to the solar panels project within the construction and energy field, and it was noted that this was a field that the Council had previously invested in and that £500k of savings had been created as a result of the project. It was noted that a further £2.8 million had recently been invested in the field. The plan to update the Council's fleet was reported upon, as part of the 'Moving and transport' theme for electric vehicles. It was noted that there was a mistake in Section 6 of the report that there were 16 charging points across 4 locations for the public to use, it was emphasised that these were for the Council's fleet and that several charging points were available to the public in several locations across the County. It was hoped that it would be possible to intertwine these projects together in the future.

 

A member noted that the report was detailed, interesting and to be commended but that there were possible improvements to be made. He gave details of his concerns regarding being over-dependent on electric energy considering the number of things that could influence this such as the pricing of public charging points compared to domestic supply, and the effectiveness of solar panels during the winter months. Reference was made to the table on page 5 of the annual report, drawing attention that there was no marked column adjacent to 'Moving and transport' to show the connection between the project and the objectives of Section 6, Environment (Wales) Act 2016. It was noted that matters including carbon emissions meant that there was a connection with the objectives of Section 6 of the Act.

 

Reference was made to the mid-term priority 'Updating specialist lighting in leisure centres in order to use less energy' under the heading 'Construction and Energy'. It was asked if this had been considered for the Council's other buildings. Attention was drawn to the continuous priority 'Preventing the over-development of fossil fuel energy plans.' It was questioned why 'over-development' was noted rather than non-fossil energy plans or no fossil plans that cannot be justified.

 

Reference was made to the observation under the heading 'Renewable Energy' on page 23 of the annual report - 'Unfortunately, no acknowledgement is given to us as an establishment if we create electricity to export to the grid and we can't claim the carbon credit for it.' It was noted, although they acknowledged that it was a matter beyond the Council's control that there was an opportunity by generating and exporting electricity to the national grid to argue that any electricity sold to the grid should be used locally providing the opportunity for local customers to buy it at a lower rate than the general open market. It was explained that this would help individuals in fuel poverty and would help those wishing to change from using gas and coal but cannot afford this. It was noted that it would contribute to the aim of assisting the community and influencing other people beyond the Council's direct responsibility.

 

In response to the observations, officers noted:

·       That they shared the concern regarding the over dependency on electric energy. The over dependency can affect inflation and prices.

·       That moving towards electric energy with the hope that the national grid would be free from carbon in the future. This was the only way the Council could reach zero net but it was acknowledged that there were risks associated with this.

·       In terms of no acknowledgement for exporting electricity to the grid, the situation was frustrating but the Welsh Government had noted that as the grid turns to be non-carbon that acknowledgement would be given when the Council would re-purchase the energy back.

·       That there was an intention to update lights across all Council estates with an LED lights pilot scheme to be submitted for approval.

·       They accepted the point that it was possible to add examples of how we contribute to the objectives of Section 6 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016, through projects related to travelling, specifically in terms of active travel.

 

Members questioned if it would be possible to use wind or water/hydro energy on  Council land, such as the Council's small holdings. The Energy and Commercial Services Manager explained that the Council's solar panels were monitored regularly in order to calculate how much energy they generate but it was acknowledged that it would not be possible to generate energy on Council land unless Council buildings were close and the energy would have to be sold to the national grid. Despite this, he confirmed that the Council was continuously looking at new systems and were open to possible considerations due to the increasing demand to generate power.

 

A member asked about developments in the hydrogen field. ⁠In response, the Chief Executive noted that further work had been commissioned by the Nature and Climate Change Board to look at the Council's situation and at developments in this field.

 

A member referred to information regarding the origin of energy on a specific day on the National Grid website. He noted that fossil fuels were responsible for 62%, nuclear for 12%, Biomass for 8% and renewable energy for 13% of the electricity generated on the relevant day. It was questioned how the Council would reach zero-net by 2030 and what would be the obligations of reaching zero-net. It was noted that using more coal was the way forward, and reference was made to countries such as China, India and Germany who were increasing their use.

 

The importance of ensuring that appropriate officers deal with nature and climate change matters was discussed and the Climate Change Programme Manager was thanked for her work with the scheme. Emphasis was placed on the need to ensure that the work of the officers within this field was not lost as the Council faced financial cuts and that the responsibility for the plan was not passed on to officers working beyond this field, as part of their responsibilities. It was noted that there was expertise in this field within the Council and opportunities needed to be considered to offer a consultative service for other establishments and generate income as a result.

 

Attention was drawn to the 'What did we promise to do in 2022/23' and 'What we did' titles in sections 5-11 noting that the information could appear unclear in these parts. It was noted that consideration should be given to adapting the format of how information was displayed for clarity to the reader.

 

It was confirmed that the observations submitted as part of the discussion would be submitted to the Cabinet when submitting the Annual Report on 19 December. The intention to submit another annual report to this Committee in the new year was noted.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    To accept the report and to recommend:

 

(i)      That information on 'Active Travel' should be added under Section 3 of the Report: 'Section 6, Environment (Wales) Act 2016'.

(ii)     Consideration should be given to adapting the format of how information is displayed under the 'What did we promise to do in 2022/23?' and 'What we did' titles in Sections 5-11 of the Report for clarity to the reader.

 

2.    Recommend to the Cabinet that the staffing resource should be considered to achieve the vision of the Climate and Nature Emergency Plan.