The recent High Court ruling on London's clean air zone (ULEZ) marks a significant point in our collective journey towards cleaner air. The decision, which dismissed a challenge to the legality of The Mayor of London's decision to expand the scheme next month, reaffirms the importance of local decision-making and maintaining commitment to the fight against air pollution.
In June 2023, UK100, acting as the secretariat for the APPG on Sustainable Finance, convened a policy roundtable in the House of Lords. This gathering brought together private finance experts, local leaders, and parliamentarians to discuss de-risking local climate finance. The discussion highlighted key opportunities and challenges for local authorities seeking investment for Net Zero projects. Below are some of the top takeaways for council leaders.
Below is UK100 Interim Chief Executive Jason Torrance's speech from the Zemo 20:Zero Clean Air Day conference at City Hall in London on 15 June 2023. Check against delivery.
Local authorities face “Kafkaesque” barriers to achieving Net Zero goals, reveals a comprehensive new UK100 report. Powers in Place calls for a new Net Zero Local Powers Bill and Net Zero Delivery Framework. The report is released as UK100 joins Chris Skidmore MP’s Local Mission Zero Network and announces plans to work together to drive forward policy solutions to overcome the barriers to local Net Zero.
UK100's Interim Chief Executive Jason Torrance reflects on the energy efficiency announcements launched as part of the UK Government's "Green Day" Net Zero Strategy update and policy blitz.
Looking back at the Green Day announcements, have Ministers made the best of this test? Have they taken the right path at this critical fork in the road?
This week Sheffield became the latest city to implement a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) to tackle an estimated 500 deaths a year related to air pollution in the city.
Collaboration in Gloucestershire is a shining example of local government leadership. An example we hope the Transport Secretary and the national government will follow in supporting regions across the country to collaborate for local Net Zero.
Since 2019 the majority of UK local authorities have declared a Climate Emergency, and 327 have produced a climate action plan of how they plan to reach Net Zero by their own target date (if they have one) of 2030, 2040 or 2050. These plans vary in length, design, topics covered and ambition. So how can you tell which council has a good climate action plan, a plan that the council is actually able to implement, and that the subsequent actions will mean that the council reaches Net Zero before 2050? Annie Pickering, Co-Director of Climate Emergency UK, writes for UK100's blog on climate action plans.
