Council Leader Cammy Day writes in today's Edinburgh Evening News on COP27 and Edinburgh's climate commitments.
With COP27 set to get underway in Egypt this Sunday November 6, this casts into sharp light the ever-present nature of the climate crisis and the role we can all play in alleviating it.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference is an annual event held since the first UN Climate Agreement in 1992. These conferences are where the international community comes together to address actions to limit rises in global temperature and mitigate the ongoing impact of climate change.
According to the UNEP, we are on course for +2.8°C of warming (which would lead to ‘runaway climate change’, with catastrophic consequences). This is as clear an indication as any to the pertinence and severity of the challenges we face.
Here in Edinburgh, we remain steadfastly determined to play our part in this global fight against climate change. We have an ambitious plan to be a net-zero city by 2030. Whilst the Council needs to play a leading role in this plan, we know that a just transition to net-zero needs to be a collective effort across society, involving public bodies, businesses, universities, and our communities.
This year has seen us make good progress in our climate goals.
The City of Edinburgh Council placed first in Scotland in Climate Emergency UK’s ranking of local authority’s climate action plans. In June we were also ranked the 16th most sustainable city in the world. Edinburgh was also awarded silver status by the Sustainable Food Places Network, recognising the Capital’s outstanding work to promote healthy and sustainable food.
Edinburgh’s ten-year City Mobility Plan aims to transform the way we move around the city, reducing emissions and air pollution, positively impacting public health, and tackling congestion amongst other benefits.
Actions include projects like the City Centre Transformation, Trams to Newhaven, George Street and First New Town, 20-Minute Neighbourhoods and the extension of 20mph speed limits, as well as behaviour change initiatives and seamless public transport ticketing.
As a significant landlord and housebuilder, we have committed that all our new housing stock will be net-zero. We will also retrofit all our current rented accommodation to make it more energy efficient.
In the next month we are debating multiple sustainability focussed reports at Committee level which reflects our commitment to keep net zero at the forefront of our thinking and council activity.
Last month I attended the first weekend session of the UK100’s Climate Leadership Academy in Birmingham. This was a great opportunity to speak to other local government leaders from across the country and the political spectrum. I am very much looking forward to the next weekend event in November. In this series of workshops, we will hear from experts in the private, voluntary, and public sector; and discuss issues such as decarbonisation, financial transition, energy, and nature/adaptation
As the world's leaders gather in Egypt, we will continue to act locally. This is the greatest threat of our lifetimes and whilst there are many challenges ahead, I am confident that the citizens of our great city will rise to them as they have done so often in the past.