Majority of UK councils are yet to start delivering on their net-zero transition plans, citing funding as the biggest barrier.
The survey of 50 UK-wide council representatives (from 45 separate councils) was conducted by property consultancy Cluttons and sustainable design consultancy AESG to assess the current status of the council’s net-zero plans.
Asking their motivations, councils said their main drivers for setting their net-zero goals were a combination of financial savings and the environmental benefits to their region.
But, when asked about their current progress towards these net-zero goals, only one-quarter of the council representatives classed their employer of being into the ‘delivery’ phase of their strategy.
Councils are questioning whether these targets and declaration of climate emergencies were made as they were seen as achievable goals, or in response to public pressure and statuary obligations.
When then asked about the biggest challenges to delivering their council’s net-zero ambitions, 71% admitted that financing constraints were the biggest blocker to achieving their goals. Follow-up reasons included in-house skill shortfalls and a lack of resource.
Financing challenges may not be entirely surprising at this time. The BBC reported last year that due to the pandemic, local authorities predict a £3bn shortfall in their budgets by 2023-24.
In addition, three-quarters of the professionals surveyed by Cluttons said they do not believe they have a ‘clear’ or ‘comprehensive’ understanding of their council’s emissions footprint. Being able to first measure a problem is the first step to solving it.
Niall Keighron, Sustainability Practitioner at Cluttons, said: “These results highlight the challenges that most councils are currently facing”.
“Despite net-zero targets rapidly approaching, the majority of local councils are still unaware as to how they will be expected to meet these, questioning whether these targets and declaration of climate emergencies were made as they were seen as achievable goals or in response to public pressure and statuary obligations.”
