The Climate Leadership Academy exists to provide elected politicians in the UK100 network with the policy knowledge and leadership skills they need to deliver pioneering climate action with and for their communities. The fourth year of the programme saw the cohort of 20 undertake 18 training sessions over three residential weekends, in Cambridge, Bristol, and finally, in November, in Leeds.The weekend hosted 17 speakers from across the public, private, academic and voluntary sectors. They shared their unique insights and expertise with our cohort, in areas ranging from decarbonising transport and tackling air pollution, to working in partnership and boosting the local economy through green jobs and skills. UK100 is clear that local authorities are uniquely placed to deliver climate action for communities through place-based leadership, and so we were grateful for the opportunity to visit Leeds City Council’s movable weirs, forming part of the city’s flood defences, and the ongoing Aire Park development, bringing green space to the heart of the cityWith so much knowledge in the room, from both speakers and participants, the Climate Leadership Academy weekends are packed with insights and takeaways. Below, we have gathered our highlights, to share learnings with the rest of the UK100 network. And if you missed our roundup of weekend 2, you can catch up here.
Safeguarding local climate action
As the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill makes its way through parliament, new strategic authorities and a shake-up of local government are on the cards. The question of how to safeguard ongoing best practice in local climate action was at the forefront of many participants’ minds. Our session on local government reorganisation (LGR) and devolution addressed this head on, with speakers from the Institute for Government and recently established York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority sharing first-hand experience of how local climate ambition can be not just protected, but accelerated through this process. This included the role of local authorities in influencing new strategic authorities to put climate front and centre, building on the award winning work in Calderdale and West Yorkshire pioneered by Academy graduate Cllr Scott Patient, with the potential to embed climate in new authorities’ core plans and subsequently unlock new sources of mayoral funding.
During weekend 2 of the Climate Leadership Academy, we platformed Newham’s just transition plan, embedding climate across council delivery by breaking down silos, and centring the co-benefits of climate action to support the most vulnerable communities. In discussions on safeguarding local climate action through the local government reorganisation process, takeaways from this earlier session came to mind, ensuring that climate action does not live or die by one department, but instead is a thread throughout all areas of local authority delivery.
There is no one way to engage
Whilst political rhetoric could have us believe that the public consensus on climate is more fractured than ever, the communications session in the first weekend of our Climate Leadership Academy, focussing on More in Common and Climate Outreach’s Britain Talks Climate, was clear: the majority of the public are concerned about climate change, and want us to act. Yet in that same weekend, just one of twenty participants felt confident that their council was communicating and engaging on climate effectively.
Our public engagement session brought together an array of best practice from across the country, to showcase that there is no one way to do public engagement. From a climate summit in South Tyneside convening local and regional stakeholders to chart a refreshed path towards the council’s climate ambitions, led by returning Academy graduate Cllr Ernest Gibson, to examples from the Sustainable Scotland Network and our own Local Climate Engagement Hub (which has been recognised as best practice by the Government), the session demonstrated that engagement works best when it is rooted in place and community.
Beyond this dedicated session, the centring of public engagement throughout the rest of the weekend brought these ideas to life.
Calderdale’s climate action partnership is engaging local stakeholders to create visible climate leadership, whilst across the country, Mums for Lungs’ engagement with parents, children, and schools is creating safer streets with cleaner air and increased opportunities for active travel.
We are taking forward all these lessons on the importance of good climate communication and engagement in our new UK100 Connect programme, which has just launched.
Air pollution is not just an urban problem
Air pollution is the greatest environmental risk to public health in the UK, and across the country, local authorities have been at the forefront of delivering clean air for communities. In the final policy session of the programme, we heard from Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford City Council, on their pioneering clean air zone, which saved the NHS over £30,000 per month in its first year alone. But with a cohort and network spanning both urban and rural authorities, it is clear that there is no universal answer to cleaning the air. There was strong interest in the room on looking beyond transport-related interventions, with questions on curbing the use of woodburners, and the dangers of indoor air pollution caused by gas stoves. Once again, the importance of engagement and communications was emphasised, framing the narrative not just around reducing air pollution, but also focussing on improvements to public health, reducing strain on local NHS services, and encouraging residents to consider the impact of their actions, including woodburning (timely given the launch this week of the Government’s consultation) and engine idling, on their neighbours. We will be taking all this learning and insight into our new Clean Air Network, which will launch in early 2026.
Peer learning is key to success
This final weekend of the fourth year of the Climate Leadership Academy reinforced the importance of creating space for peer learning, sharing best practice, and strengthening climate engagement to deliver at pace and scale. UK100 continues to offer these opportunities, including through our new UK100 Connect communications network for elected members and officers, launching this month, to support our members to break down silos and better communicate local climate action in their communities. Find out more about UK100 Connect and read the programme brochure.
Should you have any questions about the Climate Leadership Academy, or any other aspects of UK100 membership, please contact membership@uk100.org.
