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Our climate change strategy

Climate change will impact upon the council in many different ways, with implications for all of our services and staff. Developing a strategy is one way in which we can assess the risks and devise an approach which the whole organisation can adopt. It is also an initial way in which we can build flexibility into all aspects of strategic decision making – flexibility will be needed as there is still some uncertainty as to how climate change will impact upon us in the future. Developing a strategy now could pay huge dividends in the future by preparing as best as possible for the unknown, but in a way in which services can be continually improved.

Climate change is a complex and cross-cutting issue requiring an integrated and co-ordinated response. Furthermore, climate change represents a new way of looking at issues and of connecting the agendas of different services. For example, improvements to schools energy efficiency will not only reduce their financial expenditure but will also result in emissions savings. A successful climate change strategy, whilst addressing the causes and impacts of climate change, could also result in broader benefits such as a more efficient use of resources in public services.

Putting together a climate change strategy which incorporates all these factors for a large organisation is a challenge. One of the ways in which we are approaching such a broad area of work is to separate our strategic response into two key areas – mitigation and adaptation. Our approach to climate change mitigation is encapsulated through the recent publication of our Carbon Management Strategy. In terms of our approach to adaptation, we are currently developing an extensive work programme to assess the likely impacts of climate change and how the council and its individual services may need to respond.