/PRNEWSWIRE – GNN/ Three major English cities are set to develop tailored action plans to slash their CO2 emissions under a new scheme, UK Minister for Climate Change, Joan Ruddock, announced today.

The Core Cities’ city regions are home to more than 16 million people. Changing the behaviors of these large populations will make a major contribution. Our city region areas are responsible for around 30% of England’s carbon emissions – some 140 million metric tons of carbon annually. But because of high-density living and income levels, average domestic carbon emissions per person in the Core Cities are 20% less than the average for England. By, for example, increasing local renewable energy supplies and improving public transport, addressing the energy efficiency of buildings, and improving waste and water management, the Core Cities can greatly help to reduce England’s overall impact on the environment. This means that, where most appropriate, action to tackle climate change needs to be a priority of the Core Cities and surrounding areas.

Cities consume 75% of the world’s energy and produce 80% of its GreenHouse Gas emissions. Cities contribute to the causes of climate change, but they can also provide solutions. Climate change is already having considerable social and economic impacts for our major cities, which need to be managed for sustainability. The Core Cities have large and dense populations, with high degrees of deprivation. They are located in areas that are adjacent to major rivers, flood plains, or the sea and these populations are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts.

Under the Low Carbon Cities Programme, the Carbon Trust and the Energy Saving Trust will work with Bristol, Leeds and Manchester to develop individual city-wide action plans to achieve low carbon economies which are both prosperous and sustainable.

New measures and initiatives will be introduced and could include renewable energy and tri-generation (creating power, heat, and cooling from a single source) along with energy saving measures such as insulation and promoting cycling to work. Key public service bodies, businesses and community leaders in each of the cities will contribute to the strategy and its implementation.

The £250,000 ($526513 USD, as of today) of funding from the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) will also benefit the other members of the Core Cities Group – Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield – by producing audits of current emissions and identifying cost effective carbon saving opportunities. The program will establish a city-wide CO2 baseline, show emission totals, and provide a detailed breakdown showing the emissions sources. The data gathered will allow cities to forecast how changes to certain areas will most effectively cut emissions.

Leaders of the eight Core Cities, Communities and Local Government Secretary, Hazel Blears, and Joan Ruddock also today signed a pledge that identifies opportunities to reduce emissions and outlines specific actions that the UK Government and Core Cities will undertake.

The Minister also announced a new program from the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy, which is working with Shell and RWE, to assist UK cities in taking practical measures to tackle climate change.

This project is focused on the UK’s major cities to develop a network of good practice in deploying technology and exploring emerging sustainable energy opportunities.

The Council will deliver a targeted regional program in key UK cities to stimulate high level support for action on sustainable energy and build networks with the energy sector. The Council will also deliver a series of events to investigate how policy can be improved to enable the growth of new low-carbon technologies.

Ms. Ruddock said, “Our cities were once at the forefront of the industrial revolution. Now they have the opportunity to lead the way again and be the driving force behind our push to a low carbon economy. Creating targeted action plans will help them achieve this by setting a clear path for cutting emissions.”

Ms. Ruddock added, “The Low Carbon Cities Program will illustrate that meeting the challenge of climate change and building prosperity in our cities can and should go hand in hand.”

Ms. Joan Ruddock spoke at the Core Cities Summit in Nottingham today, 8th November.

To see her entire speech, please visit this webpage: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/ministers/speeches/default.asp

Communities and Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears said, “Climate change is an issue which impacts on everyone, whether you live in the country or in an urban area, as this summer’s floods showed. Everyone must play their part in helping to reduce their impact on the environment and cities have a vital role to play in tackling climate change issues. By working to reduce their carbon emissions, through improvements such as renewable energy, public transport, energy efficiency, and waste and water management, cities can make a real difference.”

Ms. Blears continued, “My Department has been working closely with the Core Cities and DEFRA on tackling climate change over the last year and signing the joint statement demonstrates our ongoing commitment to this work.”

Tom Delay, the Carbon Trust’s Chief Executive, said, “We are excited to be involved in this ambitious program of support for the core cities, which builds on the Government’s Act on CO2 campaign, and pleased that DEFRA recognizes the benefits to be gained from collaboration across public sector bodies. We currently work with a third of all local authorities helping them to cut carbon, and have collaborated with all the key public sector bodies within Bristol, Leeds and Manchester. This new program is the next crucial step in encouraging collaboration and harnessing good practice to ensure coherent city wide strategies”

Eddie Hyams, Chairman of the Energy Saving Trust, said, “Our research tells us that inspiring citizens as members of their local community will give them more power to act. In communities, people can better believe in the impact of their actions, they are big fish in a small pond, not powerless members of the whole world.”

Mr. Hyams added, “The public discussion on climate change has evolved at an unprecedented rate over the past year. We need to build on this momentum and make it easier for people to adopt low carbon lifestyles. This initiative will provide us with insight into how we can work with cities all over the UK. This will be central to our long-term thinking. Only then can we bring about real change.”

During the Core Cities Conference in Nottingham, 7-8 November, the leaders of the eight core cities and DEFRA will jointly sign an agreement committing our cities to build on the Nottingham Declaration and to accelerate the reduction of CO2 emissions.

The pledge for ‘A Prosperous and Sustainable Future’ outlines the following three major Core Cities’ commitments and then the UK government’s commitments:

***Managing resources;

***Securing prosperity; and

***Sustainable shelters (addressing climate change for buildings).

(Ed.: For more information about the ‘A Prosperous and Sustainable Future’ pledge, presume the details may be found at one or the other of these websites: http://www.corecities.com/
http://www.defra.gov.uk/ )

About The Core Cities Group:

The Core Cities Group is a strong cross-city and cross-party alliance with more than 10 years track record of collaboration on economic development and related issues. It includes: Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield. These cities are major centers of international competitiveness, key to regional and national economic growth, forming the economic and urban cores of their surrounding areas – the city regions. The Core Cities are major wealth producers. Some city region areas produce 50% and more of their entire region’s economic output, with the Core Cities providing the driving force. Their performance is critical to regional and national competitiveness.

For more information, please visit their website: http://www.corecities.com

DEFRA’s aim is sustainable development

Source for this post: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Webpage and Websites:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/ministers/speeches/default.asp
http://www.corecities.com/
http://www.defra.gov.uk/
http://www.gnn.gov.uk/

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