Lord Deben, Chair of the influential Climate Change Committee, the government’s independent adviser on clmate change, is urging the government to listen to a call by local leaders and Mayors from across the UK for a power shift from Whitehall to meet Net Zero.

A communiqué signed by a group of 32 cross-party Mayors and local leaders is calling for a ‘Power Shift’ from Whitehall for additional powers to tackle climate change so that local and regional authorities can deliver Net Zero.

The call came at yesterday’s international Net Zero climate change summit in Birmingham , co-convened by the Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street and UK100 (which represents over 100 authority leaders).

"CCC is absolutely clear, unless local government plays a much bigger part in the battle which we are fighting, we're not going to win"

Lord Deben told the Summit:

"The Government have got quite the right policies, but not so much actual delivery - delivery depends on the linking of those two [central government and local government]. The Department for Local Government should have a central body which helps local authorities not only with resources but with information….

"Secondly, the Government has got to use them [local authorities]. Give them the powers and the resources to deliver what only they can deliver.

"In the recent disaster over the Green [Homes] Grants for people improving their heating and making themselves less depending on fossil fuels, the one bright spark was what was happening with the money that was given to local authorities who were doing their job extremely well. ..

"Above all, this battle is going to be won by co-operation between central government, regional government and local government right the way down to parish councils. Everybody has got to be involved in this and we all need the resources which are necessary and applicable to the level of local government in which we are involved."

"The Climate Change Committee is absolutely clear, unless local government plays a much bigger part in the battle which we are fighting, we're not going to win."

Communiqué calls for new powers and resources to shape local energy markets, decarbonise transport, and tackle emissions

The joint communiqué is calling for new powers and resources to shape local energy markets, decarbonise transport, and tackle emissions from homes and offices. Participants in the Summit included Government ministers, 40 mayors and leaders from across UK, alongside the Mayor of Los Angeles and representatives from 22 cities around the world were among the speakers.

The International Net Zero Local Leadership Summit is being compared to the Paris City Hall Declaration in 2015, which paved the way for the Paris Climate Agreement at COP21 .

Alongside the local and regional leaders, the conference was addressed by Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, the President-Elect of COP26, Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti .

The joint communiqué provides concrete examples of urgent policy changes that would help local and regional authorities deliver Net Zero, including:

• A clear and long-term plan and resources for the decarbonisation of new and existing buildings and homes
• Setting up strategic energy bodies or similar mechanisms to address market failure in energy systems, with a duty to co-operate between public bodies and the companies that run our energy infrastructure.
• Reducing the high costs of connecting electric vehicle charging networks to the grid
• A clear target must be added to the Environment Bill to reverse the decline in species and habitats by 2030
• Ensuring the new UK Infrastructure Bank has a Net Zero mandate to deliver local investment in Net Zero projects
• The above measures to be facilitated by a new Net Zero Local Powers Bill to cement new powers for local and regional authorities alongside new reporting requirements on emissions.

The signatories included 32 Mayors and Leaders from major cities and urban areas like the West Midlands, Glasgow, Cardiff, London, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Bristol, Newcastle as well as rural areas like Cambridgeshire, South Gloucestershire, the West of England and Cornwall.

Liverpool planning harness to use River Mersey to provide power to 1 million homes

The Climate Change Committee recently estimated that local authorities can influence around one third of the emissions in their local areas through place shaping and partnerships .

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Liverpool City Region, said that while the pandemic might have dominated attention over the past year, the climate emergency remains the biggest long-term challenge the Liverpool region - and our planet - faces. The City is working on a world-leading scheme to harness the power of the River Mersey to provide enough clean, predictable energy to power 1 million homes.

Andy Street - we’re asking ministers to give us powers and funding

Andy Street, Mayor of West Midlands, said:

“Climate change is a global emergency, and we know that every region and city across the world is going to have to play their part in tackling it. That’s why I’m really pleased that the West Midlands, in partnership with UK100, has been able to bring local leaders together today to discuss our role in this looming crisis. Here in the UK, the Government has set out ambitious targets to achieve net zero by 2050, and we want the West Midlands to play its part in that by meeting our net zero target by 2041.

“Now, alongside other UK leaders, we’re asking ministers to give us the powers and the funding to do more.”

Polly Billington, CEO of UK100, said:

“We need a power shift from central government to local communities to tackle climate change. Local leaders are more trusted, more accountable and in the case of the UK100 - more ambitious in accelerating the path to Net Zero.”

Eric Garcetti, the Mayor of Los Angeles and Chair of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, told the conference:

“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.

“Cities can't reach net zero alone, we need help from national and international leaders to turn climate plans into climate reality. Without the necessary support we'll miss the opportunity to leverage the real power of cities, to drive the national and global climate action on which our planet's future depends.”

Sustainable funding and financing among priorities for immediate action

Financing the transition is one of six priorities the communiqué sets out which require immediate action.

The joint statement says that sustainable funding and financing is essential to create a new green marketplace and deliver action towards Net Zero:

“Ensuring that the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) has a Net Zero mandate that delivers local investment must be a priority, to support and enable local and regional projects and programmes. The UKIB will have capacity to work with local, city and regional authorities to develop investable proposals for place-based Net Zero projects and programmes, and it should provide development capital and leverage additional private investment to kickstart local energy schemes that are at too early a stage for private finance.”

UK100 is the network for UK locally elected leaders who have pledged to play their part in the global effort to avoid the worst impacts of climate change by switching to 100% clean energy by 2050. UK100 brings together local authorities, from cities to the countryside, to share knowledge, collaborate, and petition the UK government with their collective power.

Click here to read the UK100 communiqué in full

Click here for more information about UK100

Click here for more information about C40 Cities