Council Leader, Cammy Day, has welcomed progress against the city’s ambitious climate goals while calling on the Scottish Government to provide more – not less – resources to help tackle the crisis.
Councillors last week considered the second annual 2030 Climate Strategy and city-wide carbon emissions report, which measures progress against agreed actions to reduce emissions and help the city achieve its net zero target by 2030.
Key areas highlighted include: the appointment of a delivery partner for the heat network in Granton, the city’s first large scale net zero housing development, agreement to consult on the draft Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy and the retrofitting of nearly 1,300 homes across the city.
In sustainable transport and place-making, meanwhile, Trams to Newhaven was successfully completed – with passenger numbers surpassing expectations – and progress continues on the City Centre West to West Link cycle route, while the purchase of 50 electric buses by Lothian Buses and the development of the City Mobility Plan will also be key to reducing emissions and hitting targets.
Progress was also made with climate adaptation, with the publication of the draft Climate Ready Edinburgh Plan and the city surpassing its tree planting target on the way to becoming a one million tree city by 2030.
The report also noted that, despite this progress, city-wide carbon emissions increased by 12% between 2020 and 2021 – but, against the baseline year of 2018, they had decreased by 9%. The main increase came from a post-Covid ‘rebound’ caused by the resumption of commercial activities and motorised travel, which were largely suppressed during the pandemic.
Council Leader Cammy Day said:
We remain determined to play our part in this global fight against climate change. We have a bold and ambitious plan to be a net-zero by 2030 and, as this report demonstrates, we continue to make progress against our targets.
Of course, this comes on the back of a series of national and international awards and other accolades recognising our action on climate – most recently being named the world’s most sustainable travel destination and featured on the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Global A list.
While we’re making good progress on cutting our own emissions, we also know that we’re not yet moving with enough pace for the city to reach its 2030 net zero target. Climate change isn’t going anywhere, so we need to keep working together on tackling issues, such as how best to decarbonise our buildings or adapt our city to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.
What’s clear, however, is that we can’t do this alone. As a council, we can shape and influence change through our policies and plans, but this needs to be a team effort, a pulling together of resources and plans across the public, private and voluntary sectors.
We’ve already brought together key players across the city via our Net Zero Leadership Board – which includes the Chamber of Commerce, Scottish Power, Scottish Water and the universities to name a few – and we are taking steps in the right direction.
But where we’re lacking commitment, unfortunately, is from the Scottish Government who, rather than backing our plans, are systematically stripping away their support. This was clear from December’s budget announcement, which will have a significant impact on our ability to deliver our net zero initiatives – further exacerbated by the withdrawal of £10million Green Growth Accelerator Funding, which would have helped towards retrofitting our estate.
This can’t continue, and I’ve written to Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport outlining my concerns and have a meeting in the diary to discuss in more depth. We must find a better way forward to work together collaboratively to achieve our shared ambitions and support both Edinburgh’s and Scotland’s transition to net zero.