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LGC Climate Change: Empowering councils to lead on sustainabilityb

New for 2020, LGC Climate Change will take place on Thursday 11 June 2020 at The Midland Hotel in Manchester. Climate change is no longer just an environmental issue. According to the New Economic Foundation, “climate action is no longer underground. It’s mainstream. Two-thirds of Britons agree that we’re in serious trouble.”

With 265 councils having declared a climate emergency, now is the time for you to focus on practical solutions and learn from your peers who are implementing innovative ideas. Discover how councils have transformed their services to meet the needs of the sustainability agenda. Uncover how the latest technological advances can help your organisation. Learn from the latest academic research, understand the metrics behind it and how it can be measured in your area.

By attending this event you’ll find out where funding is coming from and how you can bid for it. You’ll be able to implement easy and scalable solutions in your area, as well as coming away with practical ideas for the larger challenges your organisation faces.

This one-day event will enable you to build better ways of delivering core services that achieve the climate change agenda in your area, making a huge difference to the quality of life in your community. Don’t miss out on attending this critical event, book your place today.

Tickets cost between £249 early bird / £299 (Public sector) and £449.00 early bird / £499 (Private sector)

Book your place here.

Programme

08:00  Registration, refreshments & networking

09.00: Opening remarks from the chair
Joanna Killian, Chief Executive, Surrey County Council

09.05: KEYNOTE: Translating global carbon targets into actions at a local level
Prof. Carly McLachlan, Deputy Director, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research

09.30: Leading a ‘climate-smart’ strategy

What does effective leadership look like and what roles for councils and independent commissions?
Developing a net zero roadmap and making it deliverable
Embedding a positive culture and communication strategy – securing buy-in
Metrics and governance – how do we measure success?
Integrating climate change into council decision-making processes
Prof. Andy Gouldson, Chair, Leeds Climate Commission

09.55: PANEL: Harnessing public engagement and securing partnerships

You’ve declared a ‘climate emergency’. What’s next?
Changing mindsets: from economic growth to sustainability
Demonstrating how economic growth is not incompatible with sustainability
Climate change targets: 5 quick wins
Identifying private sector partners and incentivising those relationships

Moderator: tbc
Panellists:
Cllr Nancy Platts, Leader, Brighton & Hove City Council
Gavin Ellis, Director, Hubbub
Simon Brammer, Head of Cities, Ashden
Cllr Sarah Warren, Joint Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, Bath & North East Somerset Council
Jo Wall, Strategic Director – Climate Response, Local Partnerships

10.35: PANEL: Funding, legal and strategic policy

Where is the funding coming from? How can we access it?
How important will this be to the new Government especially in the short term?
Devising strategies to attract investment in your area
What are the critical legal issues local authorities need to be aware of?
Moderator: Kate Kennally, Chief Executive, Cornwall County Council

Panellists:
Nigel Riglar, President Elect, ADEPT & Director of Environment and Community Services, South Gloucestershire Council
Polly Billington, Director, UK100
Shaun Spiers, Chief Executive, Green Alliance
Patrick Allcorn, Head of Local Energy, Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
Colin Murray, Partner & Head of Local Government, DWF

11.15: Morning break for refreshments & networking

11.40: Showcasing innovative projects, technologies and strategies in quick fire 10 minute presentations, including:

1. Developing a holistic energy strategy
Wayne Bexton, Head of Energy Services, Nottingham City Council

2. How can housing respond to the climate challenge?
John Alker, Director of Policy & Places, UK Green Building Council

3. Why (almost) all climate change action will improve public health and reduce NHS demand
Prof Dominic Harrison, Director of Public Health & Wellbeing, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

4. Practicalities of utility scale PV – risks and opportunities
Jo Wall, Strategic Director – Climate Response, Local Partnerships

5. Demonstrating how Leeds City Council has innovated local transport strategy
Cllr Lisa Mulherin, Executive Member for Climate Change, Transport & Sustainable Development, Leeds City Council

6. Promoting the use of lower carbon vehicles
Robert Evans, Chief Executive, Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon & Fuel Cell Technologies (Cenex)

7. Effective governance structures
Jonny Sadler, Programme Director, Manchester Climate Change Partnership

12.50: Lunch

13.50: An economist’s perspective: How can we achieve a balance?

A roadmap for delivering the needs of local communities whilst also protecting the planet
Making economic growth and sustainability mutually compatible
How do we measure success? Identifying the key metrics and interpreting the data
Paul Johnson, Director, Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS)

14.15: PANEL: Driving the agenda through your procurement strategy

Developing a sustainable procurement plan for all council purchasing that encourages low energy and more sustainable options
Promoting local purchasing where possible
Assessing the carbon footprint of the goods and services you procure, in order to understand the impacts of your existing procurement and commissioning
Producing a sustainable procurement code of practice for use across the organisation
Utilising whole-life costing when assessing all capital projects
Transitioning to 100% renewable energy for all your own buildings and operations

Panellists:
Cllr Robert Boswell, Cabinet Member for the Environment, Preston City Council
Sharon Kemp, Chief Executive, Rotherham Borough Council
Carolyn Wilkins, Chief Executive, Oldham Council
Carol Culley, City Treasurer, Manchester City Council & Chair, CIPFA Local Government Board

14.55: Transition

Roundtable Discussions

15.00: Roundtable discussions
Roundtable discussions to allow the audience to network with each other and consider a specific problem and offer solutions. Delegates choose in advance which topics they want to discuss – there may be more than one table per topic depending on preferences. 10-15 delegates per table, with an expert facilitator to guide the conversation.

1. Tackling the waste economy – reduce, reuse, and recycle

A wide ranging discussion to include:
– Supporting reuse events and centres to enable goods and materials to be reused, repaired and exchanged
– Identifying opportunities to convert food waste to biogas (through anaerobic digestion) and developing actions to capture these. How can we work with waste treatment partners to develop waste-to-energy schemes, and develop appropriate actions?
– Investigating the potential development of performance-related incentives for businesses to divert commercial and industrial waste from landfill to alternative waste management processes such as reuse and recycling
– Raising community awareness and education on waste minimisation through a coordinated publicity campaign (e.g. with schools, libraries, etc)
– Working with the Waste & Resources Action Plan (WRAP) and supporting the Recycle Now and Love Food Hate Waste campaigns
– Developing an action plan to reduce waste arisings and increasing reuse & recycling within the council’s buildings and operations
– Working with existing and new contractors to reduce waste arisings and increase reuse & recycling from council procured goods and services through specifications and contract management
Moderators:
Charlie Trousdell, Chair – Organics Recycling Group Renewable Energy Association & Maria Warner, National Executive, Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC)
Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC)

2. Harnessing and enhancing green space to benefit communities and the planet
– Creating a green infrastructure strategy that enhances biodiversity and ecosystem services and increases access to the natural environment
– Identifying suitable areas for renewable and low carbon energy sources (e.g. wind, hydro) and supporting infrastructure
– Building community resilience through green space management
– Engaging communities in using and protecting their green spaces
Moderator: Anna de Silva, Project Director, Northern Roots

3. Engaging communities in sustainable travel
With transport now the biggest source of emissions, experts increasingly acknowledge that electric cars are not a panacea, and that community-led change on active travel and public transport is key to achieving an inclusive transition to zero carbon, while benefitting health, wellbeing and mobility. This discussion will explore:
– Barriers, problems and pitfalls of promoting a shift away from car-based travel
– Opportunities to integrate sustainable and active travel modes
– Ways to engage local people in making change and normalising sustainable travel
Moderators: Cllr Tom Hayes, Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford, Oxford City Council & Jools Townsend, Chief Executive, Community Rail Network

4. Tackling air quality
Across the UK, poor air quality is thought to contribute to up to 36,000 deaths per year, and exposure to air pollution can lead to reduced life expectancy, and a range of poor health outcomes such as low birth weights and increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and some cancers. What practical strategies can be taken to address these challenges?
Moderators: Dominique Le Touze, Director of Public Health & Hayley Trower, Air Quality Lead, Portsmouth City Council

5. Housing, property and planning
Housing is a huge factor in GHG emissions, most especially in densely populated urban environments. It is essential that local government tackles this, via housing insulation schemes, heat pumps and embedding climate action within planning strategies and guidance. This session will also consider District Heating and CHP schemes, and when they might be appropriate for your locality.
Moderator: Cllr Gina Dowding, Lancashire County Council & ex-MEP, North West England

6. Finance and investment
How can the finance department actively support climate change action? This session will consider how councils can raise funds themselves, what project funding is available and how to bid for it, creating revolving funds or spend to save schemes to support projects with large potential energy savings and longer pay back periods, reinvesting savings in further energy projects, innovative financial arrangements for climate action projects and arms-length delivery vehicles, and, of course, sustainable procurement.
Moderator: Carol Culley, City Treasurer, Manchester City Council & Chair, CIPFA Local Government Board

7. Citizens’ Assemblies and juries: Investigating their role in public engagement with climate change
The recent Committee on Climate Change report highlighted that over half of the cuts required to reach net-zero emissions in the UK require the public both to act differently and support rapid shifts in technologies. More than ever, public engagement processes like citizens’ assemblies and juries can play a central role in achieving net zero. This session will discuss the benefits and challenges of citizens’ assemblies and juries, and present some alternative approaches to public dialogue, with a focus on generating long-term climate engagement in a productive and cost-effective way.
Moderator: Joel Silver, Partnerships Manager, Climate Outreach

8. What does good governance look like?
Manchester has adopted a devolved, partnership-based approach to climate change action – the Manchester Climate Change Partnership is central to their approach, bringing together organisations with responsibility for over 20% of Manchester’s direct CO2 emissions. This discussion will address the challenges of governance and evaluate the various approaches.
Moderators: Jonny Sadler, Programme Director, Manchester Climate Change Partnership & Dr Paul Tobin, Lecturer in Politics, University of Manchester

9. Local economic growth
– Promoting a low carbon local economy
– Encourage investment in green jobs and business
– Supporting local businesses to become more energy and resource efficient and to install renewable energy
– Promoting a local and sustainable food supply chain
– Incentivising sustainable tourism
Moderator: Kate Kennally, Chief Executive, Cornwall County Council

10. Managing flood risks – local government’s role and responsibility
– Preparing and maintaining your strategy for flood risk management
– Working effectively with partners, stakeholders, and communities in delivering your strategy
– Identifying future flood risks
– Emergency planning and recovery in the event of a flood event
Moderator: Will Horsfall, Group Leader, Environment & Climate Change, Salford City Council

15.30: Afternoon break for refreshments & networking

15.55: Roundtables (options as above)

16.25: Transition

16.30: Integrating behavioural science into your strategy
Climate change needs behaviour change – we must all change the way we travel, heat our homes, eat, and consume products and services. This requires individuals, but also markets and societies, to change. Research in the behavioural sciences from the last few decades provides some clues on how we can achieve this transformation, and there are many case studies of good practice to learn from. In this presentation Toby will provide examples of proven strategies that can be adopted within your own work to tackle climate change.
Toby Park, Head of Energy & Sustainability, Behavioural Insights Team

16.55: CLOSING KEYNOTE: Local delivery of the sixth carbon budget

How does Local authority action contribute to the sixth carbon budget and net zero target?
What are the biggest impact contributions for local authorities (housing, buildings, planning, transport, waste, land use)?
Decision making timelines for low regrets scenarios and identifying the most cost-effective opportunities
Making economic growth and sustainability mutually compatible
Recommendations for government policy and for LAs
Louise Marix Evans, Senior Advisor, Committee on Climate Change (CCC)

17.20: Closing remarks
What have we learnt and where do we go from here?

17.25: End of conference

 

 

Event Details

Location The Midland Hotel
Manchester, M60 2DS
Start Thursday 11 Jun 2020 8:00am
Finish Thursday 11 Jun 2020 5:25pm
Organised by Local Government Chronicle
Booking https://climatechange.lgcplus.com/payment/select-your-ticket
More info https://climatechange.lgcplus.com/


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