Local authorities have a critical role to play in ensuring the UK meets its net-zero targets. Councillors and officers need the information and skills to be able to make decisions that will minimise environmental harm and deliver environmental initiative in a way that maximises benefits in terms of health, equity and economic opportunity.
CAG partners have recently developed and delivered sustainability masterclasses on behalf of the LGA, incorporating carbon literacy training.
The courses go beyond standard carbon literacy certification to dive into the details of opportunities for councils to lead the way in cutting carbon, improving air quality and enabling biodiversity to flourish. They also touch on what councils need to be doing to ensure their communities can adapt to our changing climate. They draw on a wide range of case studies to provide practical examples of how other councils have delivered initiatives, with links so that participants can access further information on the most relevant examples.
More than 50 councillors have attended the training so far – with 70 officers booked on to upcoming courses. It’s been fantastic to hear the experiences and perspectives they shared with each other. It was also exciting to see the ambitious pledges that were made as a result of the course, as part of the Carbon Literacy Certification process. This included:
- Pressing for Passivhaus standards for new housing development
- Calling for all developments to be in line with Living Streets principles to encourage active travel
- Exploring how to encourage more children to get to school through walking, cycling or car share
- Investigating how much of the council’s pension funds are invested in fossil fuel and calling for this to be divested
It was great to see participants so engaged and enthusiastic about the changes they can bring about. Feedback was very positive:
“Excellent course with genuinely actionable activities that I can take to the council to achieve outcomes.”
“This was an excellent course, thank you. Brilliant information and, in particular, sharing of examples from other councils.”
If you’d be interested in talking to us about how we could deliver bespoke carbon literacy or sustainability training within your local authority, please get in touch – ag@cagconsult.co.uk.