Agenda item

Report of the Head of Planning, Transportation and Environment (PTE/21/4) outlining a proposed formal consultation response on the Interim Devon Carbon Plan, attached.

An Impact Assessment is also attached for the attention of Members at this meeting and is also available on the Impact Assessment webpages.

(Councillors Biederman, Connett, Dewhirst and Hannaford attended remotely in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Head of Planning, Transportation and Environment (PTE/21/4) giving a proposed response to the consultation on the Interim Devon Carbon Plan, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Council was the founding partner of the Devon Climate Emergency project, which convened an independent Net-Zero Task Force of specialists who had subsequently involved the public in the preparation of a consultation draft Interim Devon Carbon Plan.

An independent Net-Zero Task Force of specialists had been set up by the initiative, who had subsequently involved the public in the preparation of a consultation draft Interim Devon Carbon Plan. The consultation had been opened from the 7^th December 2020 and closed on the 15^th February 2021. All Councillors were notified by email of the consultation period, which also included a webinar session for local authority members.

The Task Force would consider the consultation responses and also work with the Devon Climate Emergency Response Group to prepare a post-consultation version of the Interim Devon Carbon Plan, which would be available for organisations to consider adopting in late summer/autumn 2021.

Alongside the preparation of the Interim Devon Carbon Plan (post consultation), in July 2021 an online Citizens’ Assembly would deliberate some of the more controversial issues highlighted by the consultation and suggest actions for implementation in Devon. The recommendations from the Citizens’ Assembly would be considered and used to update the Interim Devon Carbon Plan into a Final Devon Carbon Plan for further consultation in 2022.

The Cabinet noted that the Net-Zero Task Force had prepared a comprehensive roadmap showing the extensive technological, infrastructure and behavioural changes required to achieve net-zero carbon in Devon and as such endorsed the draft Interim Devon Carbon Plan.

The Plan showed that the transition to net-zero would have far reaching and profound implications for how communities functioned and how behaviours needed to change. All parts of Devon’s communities, including businesses, would need to feel invested in the transition and would need time to adapt. However, this was an emergency, and time was of the essence and the Council was committed to playing its part in achieving net-zero in Devon by 2050 at the latest. Government action was also necessary to deliver many of the transformations necessary at the speed required.

The Report commented on the co-benefits available to Devon through achieving net-zero and the Council had been furthering its plans to achieve net-zero within its own operations and supply chain by 2030. The reduction of carbon emissions needed to fit alongside a broader consideration of the unavoidable climate change impacts for Devon and the Council was working with other DCE colleagues and broader Local Resilience Forum partners to assess risks and to produce and support the implementation of a Climate Adaption Plan for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

The Cabinet noted that the Council looked forward to continuing the formal collaboration with partners on the Devon Climate Emergency Response Group and working in partnership with everyone to continue the reduction of Devon’s greenhouse gas emissions and the required adaptation to the inevitable impacts of climate change.

An Impact Assessment had been attached to the agenda for the attention of Members at the meeting and was available on the Impact Assessment webpages. This highlighted that climate change would affect everybody in the County, and it would affect those people less able to adapt the most (for example the less affluent, those living with physical and mental health conditions, those living in coastal communities or areas prone to flooding and young people who would live climate change impacts becoming worse over their lifetimes). Implementing the recommendation’s in the Report would help grow efforts to reduce international carbon emissions and minimise these impacts on everyone.

In mitigation, the Plan had been designed with an overarching principle (Principle 9) that:

“A just transition is required to ensure that:

a)    Vulnerable and low-income segments of society and rural communities are not disadvantaged.

b)    The differing impacts of climate change on different groups e.g. disabled, minorities, gender, are addressed.

c)    Actions to decarbonise Devon must not be at the expense of other communities or ecology globally”

The matter having been debated and the options and/or alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability (including carbon impact), risk management, equality and legal considerations and Public Health impact) set out in the Head of Service’s Report and/or referred to above having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Croad, SECONDED by Councillor Hart, and

RESOLVED that the proposed formal consultation response from the Council to the Devon Climate Emergency partnership on the Interim Devon Carbon Plan be approved.

(NB: The Impact Assessment referred to above may be viewed alongside Minutes of this meeting and may also be available on the Impact Assessment Webpages).