Council leaders have called for more powers to be devolved to local government to allow cities to tackle climate change.
A group of council leaders, including Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, are meeting to discuss action needed at local level to achieve environmental targets.
In total, 32 council leaders and Mayors from across the UK have backed the call for a “power shift” from central to local government along with more cash resources to take action.
The actions they want to be able to deliver include a long term plan for decarbonisation of existing homes and buildings.
They also want to be able to set up strategic energy bodies to address market failure in energy systems, with a duty to co-operate between public bodies and the companies that run our energy infrastructure.
And they want to reducing the high costs of connecting electric vehicle charging networks to the grid.
The group is meeting at through the international Net Zero Local Leadership Summit which included Government ministers, 40 mayors and leaders from across UK, alongside the Mayor of Los Angeles and participants from 22 cities around the world – equivalent to Paris City Hall Declaration convened in 2015 which ran alongside the Paris COP which led to the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The leaders want a new Net Zero Local Powers Bill to give them new responsibility.
Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council said: “It is cities and local leaders that are pushing to not only address the climate emergency; but reshape our economy to put people and the sustainability of their jobs, homes and communities first.
“We’re happy to play that role but, to succeed, we need the right tools – powers and resources that, right now, are held too far away from where they can be effective.”
Glasgow will host the United Nations COP26 later this year where world leaders will meet to discuss how the world tackles climate change and set new targets for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
Alok Sharma, President-Designate of COP26, will tell the conference: “The Paris Agreement is a treaty between countries.
To put it into effect, we need local government on board. That’s why cities are vital to COP26 – the most important climate conference for some years. We must halve global emissions by 2030 and that means taking action now.
“COP26 must be the moment that every country and every part of society embraces the responsibility to protect our precious planet. Local action is absolutely vital – generating over 70% of the world’s carbon emissions, cities will determine whether we can achieve Net Zero.
“We’re urging all cities and regions to join the Race to Zero – the United Nations campaign to reach Net Zero by 2050 at the latest. ”
Eric Garcetti, the Mayor of Los Angeles is speaking at the event.
He is expected to say: “The climate crisis isn’t limited by any municipal boundary or national border, so our solutions can’t be limited either.
“Our goal is to mobilise at least 1,000 cities ahead of COP26 to commit to achieve net zero by 2050. We’re also pushing our nation states to be more aggressive when it comes to targets and funding, and with the help of UK100 we already have over 700 cities on board.
Article originally appeared on Glasgow evening times.
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