Press release: 2 September 2019

Lawyers put local authorities on notice over climate inaction

Lawyers from ClientEarth are putting 100 local authorities across England on notice, warning them that they will violate their legal obligations and risk legal challenge if they do not introduce proper climate change plans.

The environmental lawyers are writing to each local authority that is currently developing a new local plan, giving them eight weeks to explain how they will set evidence-based carbon reduction targets and ensure these targets are then central to their new planning policy.

Amid growing pressure for local governments to declare ‘climate emergencies’, ClientEarth launched the campaign in light of the massive shortfall in compliant local planning policy across the country and to advise authorities of their legal duties under planning and environmental law.

ClientEarth climate lawyer Sam Hunter Jones said: “There is a collective failure by local authorities across England to plan adequately for climate change. Too often climate change is perceived to be just a national or international issue and therefore solely the responsibility of central government.

“Clearly central government needs to do more, as the recent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) progress reports stress. Yet so many of the daily decisions around new and existing infrastructure – such as new buildings, roads and utilities – are made at the local level. All of these decisions will ‘lock in’ an area’s future emissions and its resilience to climate change.

“Scientists warn that we have 10 years to transform our economies and avoid catastrophic climate change, but decisions that will have ramifications for decades are being made now by authorities with no idea if these decisions are consistent with national and international commitments to limit emissions.

“In July this year, the CCC criticised the UK’s continued failure to take action on emissions from buildings and transport – two sectors where local planning plays a critical role.”

Hunter Jones said that while many local authorities face difficult economic conditions, there are substantial benefits to climate-sensitive planning, such as improving local economies and creating jobs.

“Climate action at a local level can transform people’s quality of life for the better, with clear net benefits to health, air and water quality, employment, energy affordability, community cohesion and biodiversity.”

Local authorities across the country have declared climate emergencies and announced local carbon reduction targets. At the city level, Greater Manchester and London have committed to net zero emissions targets by 2038, while Bristol and Leeds are aiming for 2030 and Nottingham for 2028.

ClientEarth has written to councillors and planning officers from areas that are revising their local plans, reminding them of their legal responsibilities. These duties include setting targets and policies based on the local potential to reduce emissions, and that are at least in line with the UK’s Climate Change Act.

The latter target was recently increased to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, meaning that all sectors now need to plan for full decarbonisation.

Lawyers said that for carbon targets to be meaningful, they need to be incorporated into local planning policy as a core objective against which all other policies and decisions will be tested. Local planning authorities also need to monitor performance against local targets at least annually.

“Each and every planning decision taken today must be in line with long-term climate goals, because what and how we build today will determine our climate impact and resilience in the crucial decades to come,” Hunter Jones said.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

According to UK planning and environmental legislation, local plans must include robust evidence-based carbon targets.

In particular, the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act of 2004 requires that local plans include policies “designed to secure” that the development and use of land contributes to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.

Local planning authorities need to set local carbon targets based on an assessment of local potential and taking into account national and international targets.

The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 – which implement the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive – require that a plan’s cumulative climate impacts are assessed and taken into account. This includes assessing the consistency of proposed policies with all relevant climate objectives and targets.

A full list of the councils ClientEarth is writing to can be found below:

  • Ashfield District Council
  • Babergh District Council
  • Barnet, London Borough of
  • Bassetlaw District Council
  • Bexley, London Borough of
  • Blaby District Council
  • Bournemouth Borough Council
  • Bradford District Council
  • Brent, London Borough of
  • Bristol City Council
  • Broadland District Council
  • Cambridge City Council
  • Cannock Chase District Council
  • Charnwood Borough Council
  • Cheshire East Council
  • Chichester District Council
  • Chiltern District Council
  • Chorley Council
  • Copeland District Council
  • Corby Borough Council
  • Crawley Borough Council
  • Dacorum Borough Council
  • Dartford Borough Council
  • Doncaster Borough Council
  • Dorset District Council
  • Dover District Council
  • Dudley Council
  • East Hampshire District Council
  • East Northamptonshire Council
  • East Riding of Yorkshire Council
  • Elmbridge Borough Council
  • Enfield, London Borough of
  • Epsom and Ewell Borough Council
  • Erewash Borough Council
  • Fareham Borough Council
  • Gosport Borough Council
  • Great Yarmouth Borough Council
  • Greater Manchester Combined Authority
  • Hambleton District Council
  • Hastings Borough Council
  • Herefordshire District Council
  • Hertsmere Borough Council
  • Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council
  • Horsham District Council
  • Hyndburn Borough Council
  • Islington, London Borough of
  • Kings Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council
  • Kingston Upon Thames, London Borough of
  • Lambeth, London Borough of
  • Lancaster City Council
  • Leicester City Council
  • Lewes District Council
  • Lewisham, London Borough of
  • Lichfield District Council
  • Liverpool City Region
  • Malvern Hills District Council
  • Merton, London Borough of
  • Mid Suffolk District Council
  • Mole Valley District Council
  • Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council
  • North Lincolnshire Council
  • North Norfolk District Council
  • Norwich City Council
  • Portsmouth City Council
  • Preston Borough Council
  • Rochford District Council
  • Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
  • Sheffield City Council
  • Shropshire Council
  • Slough Borough Council
  • Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
  • Somerset West and Taunton Council
  • South Buckinghamshire District Council
  • South Cambridgeshire District CouncilSouth Norfolk Council
  • South Ribble Borough Council
  • South Somerset District Council
  • South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council
  • Southampton City Council
  • Southend-on-Sea Borough Council
  • Spelthorne Borough Council
  • Stafford Borough Council
  • Stoke on Trent City Council
  • Stroud District Council
  • Surrey Heath Borough Council
  • Swindon Borough Council
  • Teignbridge District Council
  • Test Valley Borough Council
  • Three Rivers District Council
  • Thurrock Council
  • Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
  • Wakefield Council
  • Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council
  • Waltham Forest, London Borough of
  • Wandsworth London Borough Council
  • Watford Borough Council
  • West Lancashire District Council
  • Wiltshire Council
  • Winchester City Council
  • Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
  • Wokingham District Council
  • Wolverhampton City Council
  • Worcester City Council
  • Worthing Borough Council
  • Wychavon District Council
About ClientEarth

ClientEarth is a charity that uses the power of the law to protect people and the planet. We are international lawyers finding practical solutions for the world’s biggest environmental challenges. We are fighting climate change, protecting oceans and wildlife, making forest governance stronger, greening energy, making business more responsible and pushing for government transparency. We believe the law is a tool for positive change. From our offices in London, Brussels, Warsaw, Berlin and Beijing, we work on laws throughout their lifetime, from the earliest stages to implementation. And when those laws are broken, we go to court to enforce them.