Content

RESOLVED:
 
1. 
To approve
the final Climate Action Plan attached as Appendix 1 for
adoption;

 
2. 
To
delegate authority to the Group Director for Climate, Homes and
Economy to make amendments to the Climate Action Plan as
necessary.

 
REASONS FOR DECISION
 
The climate and ecological crisis is having a significant
negative impact in Hackney and across the world, through increased
extreme weather events, such as flooding and extreme heat, that put
communities, ecosystems, and natural resources at risk. Without
drastic reductions in emissions, and adaptation to higher rainfall
and warmer temperatures, the impacts of climate change will
continue to worsen – affecting our lives and those of future
generations. In response, the Council declared a climate emergency
in 2019, supported by an ambitious vision to rebuild a greener
Hackney in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
 
Hackney has made progress in reducing emissions over the
last decade. Nevertheless, without faster action, driven by
ambitious policies and targets, we won’t be able to protect
communities and ecosystems from the effects of climate
change. 
 
Many aspects of the transition are inherently uncertain,
hence it is likely that progress may be faster in some sectors than
others. Even in the near term there is high uncertainty whether
projected emissions savings will advance as anticipated, we
therefore need to keep options open while assessing if sufficient
groundwork has been put in place to achieve overall borough-wide
emissions targets.
 
Hackney Climate Action Plan
The Hackney Climate Action Plan (CAP) is the first holistic
borough-wide plan to address the climate and ecological crisis,
bringing together the various strands into one overall document and
as such, is a key marker in consolidating the journey to net
zero.
 
The CAP sets out an integrated approach for tackling the
climate and ecological crisis. It provides a framework for everyone
to take action to reduce emissions and adapt to the climate change
that is already occurring, driven by an ambitious vision for a
fairer and greener Hackney in 2030. This CAP is designed to set us
in the right direction, but it will continue to need to be
developed to keep pace with shifts across society, technology and
wider policy, including the changing needs of communities, groups
and organisations in Hackney.
 
Throughout the CAP, there are four key principles that
guide our approach.
a) 
Change is
possible:
Achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement, the international
treaty that aims to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C
above pre-industrial levels, will require collective action at a
rapid pace and large scale. There is still a path to avoid the
worst impacts of the climate emergency and still an opportunity to
effectively prepare
b) 
Collaboration is key: We can only address the climate emergency by
working together to tackle emissions and adapt our Borough to the
changes already occurring. There are many opportunities to work
collectively to reduce emissions and make our neighbourhoods more
resilient.
c) 
Fairness
must be at its heart: We must ensure that those who are most
vulnerable and affected by the climate emergency get the support
they need. Although there are many benefits to taking action on the
climate emergency, the risks are not distributed equally. To be
effective, climate actions must be designed with attention to who
might be most negatively affected, and how.
d) 
Climate
leadership is essential: There will be a need for leadership throughout
our communities, including from businesses, big institutions such
as our hospitals, the voluntary and community sector and residents
themselves. Notwithstanding this, the Council can provide the civic
leadership for the collective effort needed to tackle the climate
emergency in the Borough, helping to bring together different
organisations and communities.
 
The CAP sets out the themes, goals and objectives to
address the climate emergency across the Borough and aims
to:
· 
Outline what a greener
Hackney could look like by 2030 based on a fair and just transition
to net zero;
· 
Build a shared
understanding of the problem we face as a Borough – and how
we can work together to reduce emissions and adapt to climate
change;
· 
Help residents,
businesses and other organisations to see their place in a shared
response to climate change;
· 
Identify the key
actions the Council proposes for the period of the next three years
to maintain momentum with its own climate response - detailed in an
implementation plan;
· 
Identify areas where
local partners can collaborate on key strategic challenges such as
financing and policy change;
· 
Confirm proposals for
monitoring and Council governance arrangements, as well as steps to
support future stakeholder engagement requirements and establish
external governance; and
· 
Use this adopted plan
to shape agreements on how to work together to achieve shared
goals.
 
Revising the draft CAP
Following the decision by Cabinet on 24 October 2022, a
public consultation was carried out to gather feedback on the draft
CAP. The revised CAP that has now been produced takes account of
the comments and feedback received during this process, noting that
a broad range of insight has been gained from the public
consultation exercise, much of which will help shape and inform the
delivery of the CAP over the next three years.
 
Key insight pointers from the public
consultation:
· 
SMARTen goals and objectives (see monitoring and reporting section)
and provide clarity on the targets/outputs from the Council’s
3 year Implementation Plan (IP), noting the latter was not included
in the public version of the draft IP;
· 
Social justice remains
central to a fair and just climate response and we must ensure
vulnerable and disadvantaged groups are a key focus as their views
continue to be under-represented, although they often experience
the greatest impacts;
· 
More engagement,
including using diverse approaches and including deliberative
methods (where appropriate) in respect of specific topic areas and
audiences;
· 
Ongoing challenge of
engaging Hackney’s wide-ranging business sector meaningfully,
both generally and specifically, in the borough’s climate
response. Responses to the cross cutting theme of the green economy
were also low;
· 
A desire for urgent
action by respondents in respect of the climate emergency, coupled
with an anxiety about the current speed of action
globally;
· 
General comments that
acknowledged the existing constraints on the Council in the
borough-wide journey to net zero, due to the significant role of
other players to enable action and accelerate progress, not least
central government in respect of funding, policy and regulation;
and
· 
More detail needed on
how net zero will be funded and/or financed, and how progress with
the journey to net zero will be monitored and tracked.
 
Highlights of comments on specifc themes etc
· 
There was significant
agreement with the goals and objectives of the draft CAP:
Adaptation (77%), Buildings (77%), Transport (72%), Consumption
(76%) and Environmental Quality (78%). The majority of respondents
across all the themes stated that they would have a positive
impact. Further insight for individual themes below:
· 
Adaptation theme:
there is a need for greater recognition of adaptation actions
alongside net zero, noting for many people this appears an
immediate concern. In particular the impacts of extreme weather -
flooding, heat waves and fires and the role of better
resilience;
· 
Buildings theme: there
are concerns about high financial cost of retrofitting especially
for older buildings with significant technical constraints,
alongside the demand to adapt existing buildings to extreme
weather;
· 
Transport theme: there
is strong support to further encourage walking and cycling,
including the need for more cycling infrastructure and pedestrianised areas, better access to public
transport and reduction in bus journey times through reduced
congestion and support for continued improvements in air quality.
There were a number of negative concerns noted that included
impacts on businesses and income, costs associated with cars,
traffic and journey times;
· 
Consumption theme:
there is support for improvements to recycling facilities, as well
as making it easier to recycle and repair, plus a need for more
emphasis in the role of behavioural change in reducing consumption
emissions; and
· 
Environmental quality
theme: there is support to improve air quality, provide more green
space and trees, actions to improve biodiversity, enable better
protection of water bodies, as well as the positive role of
environmental community groups as a volunteer resource.
 
A
draft consultation report was produced in early February 2023 and a
revised CAP was produced, based on a detailed analysis of the
consultation responses that included feedback from the public,
businesses, community organisations, focus groups with residents on
specific issues and pre-engagement with the environmental community
of interest. The analysis and actions encompassed:
· 
A review of all
consultation responses by external consultants and internal
officers with key updates incorporated into the revised
CAP;
· 
A review of goals (to
make them smarter where possible) and the objectives (rewording to
make more specific);
· 
Inclusion of a new
section per theme of Council specific targets/outputs for the next
three years generally drawn from the draft Implementation Plan to
make the Council’s own commitments more explicit in the
revised CAP;
· 
Updating the social
justice sections of the revised CAP based on the Equality Impact
Assessment (see Appendix 2);
· 
Updating some of the
finance sections with more information about the Council approach
to addressing the funding needed to reach net zero amongst others;
and
· 
including a more
developed section in the revised CAP on monitoring and reporting
commitments.
 
Internal review of the revised CAP identified a need for
further assessment of the CAP borough-wide goals and objectives. It
also included a review of the Council deliverables for the next
three years (generally taken from the draft IP). Key changes
are:
· 
Minor amendments to
specific thematic goals;
· 
Inclusion of new
objectives to reflect gaps;
· 
Making existing
objectives more outward facing, so they are more clearly collective
and less about the Council, unless it has sole
responsibility;
· 
Better reflecting the
fact that the IP should cover the detail of Council activities in
the next three years, not the CAP;
· 
Reducing duplication,
ambiguity or any unwarranted overlap of 
objectives, deleting some in the process;
· 
Further prioritising
based on impact and influence, ensuring three year objectives are
the key ones, and taking a more strategic rather than catch all
approach that could dilute focus and reduce impact; and
· 
Ensuring Council 3
yr deliverables contained in the CAP
are sufficiently robust and clear.
 
There are a number of cross-cutting issues, and in
particular, the CAP considers two specific aspects which impact on
all the themes. These are the green economy and social
justice.
 
Green economy
The transition to net zero in Hackney is creating economic
opportunities. A growing green economy means opportunities for
businesses already delivering green products and services, and
opportunities for new green businesses to emerge. This growth and
transition will create job roles in London, mainly in skilled craft
work and in managerial and professional jobs but also in the
evolving circular economy which is well represented in
Hackney.
 
There is a clear need to specifically support individuals
whose livelihoods may be affected by the transition because their
economic activity is dependent on businesses and services that
contribute to climate change. Retraining programmes and new
opportunities for jobs, skills and business should be widely
available to Hackney’s residents - the green economy as a
whole should be diverse and inclusive.
 
The Council’s regeneration programmes and procurement
should be used to provide green economic opportunities for
residents and business. Together, the Council, businesses and
institutions need to address existing skills gaps in the
construction industry and with science, technology, engineering or
mathematics (STEM) degrees. By working with partners in
London’s skills system we can better prepare our residents
for the possibilities a growing green economy has to offer, and
further, address the lack of diversity among potential entrants
into green jobs and the green economy.
 
Social justice
Climate action in Hackney can reduce inequalities and
create benefits such as improved air quality, mental health, and
biodiversity enhancement. By ensuring inclusive decision-making,
prioritising accessible and affordable solutions, and tackling
systemic issues a fairer, more equitable, and inclusive environment
will be enabled. Encouraging community engagement, raising
awareness, promoting financial viability of sustainable options,
and regularly monitoring progress will help ensure climate policies
and initiatives remain effective and inclusive for all community
members. Key aspects based on responses received during the public
consultation are further elaborated on below and apply to all key
stakeholders.
· 
Ensure inclusive
decision-making: Involve diverse communities, including vulnerable
and underrepresented groups, in the planning and implementation of
climate policies and actions;
· 
Prioritise accessible
and affordable solutions: Develop climate initiatives that cater to
the needs of low-income, minority, and vulnerable populations,
focusing on affordable housing, public transport, and access to
green spaces;
· 
Tackle systemic
issues: Address the root causes of climate change and social
inequalities, such as poverty, racial and class disparities, and
hold polluters accountable;
· 
Offer targeted
support: Provide resources and assistance to vulnerable groups for
climate adaptation, resilience, and mental health support to cope
with climate-related stress and anxiety;
· 
Raise awareness and
educate: Conduct outreach and educational programmes on climate
change, its impacts, and sustainable options for diverse audiences,
emphasising the importance of inclusivity;
· 
Foster community
engagement: Encourage active participation from various social,
economic, and cultural backgrounds in climate initiatives and
sustainable practices;
 
Themes, goals and objectives of the
Hackney Climate Action Plan
Themes: The Hackney Climate Action Plan sets out the
ambitious, science-based changes that we can work towards achieving
a reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. All of these changes are
organised into five themes: Adaptation, Buildings, Transport,
Consumption and Environmental Quality. Within each theme, are a set
of ambitious 2030 goals.
 
The themes define the broad areas of focus within the CAP,
reflecting the need to reduce emissions, protect the natural
environment and build resilience to climate change, alongside wider
benefits to responding to climate change, such as the potential to
improve public health.
 
Climate action is a complex and systems-wide challenge. To
be effective, climate actions must be designed collaboratively, and
with attention to who might be affected, and how. Proposals related
to the green economy and social justice are part of all areas of
climate action. Each theme identifies some of the key issues that
need to be addressed to help ensure that climate action in Hackney
is just and equitable. The five themes are set out
below:
· 
Adaptation - ensuring
that we are prepared for and resilient to the impacts of the
climate emergency, protecting our most vulnerable
residents;
· 
Buildings - removing
gas boilers, adding solar panels and decreasing energy use in our
buildings, reducing fuel poverty;
· 
Transport - reducing
emissions from the transport network, improving air quality and
helping residents live active and healthy lifestyles;
· 
Consumption - changing
what and how we buy, use and sell, creating a new green economy in
Hackney; and
· 
Environmental Quality
- maximising the potential for biodiversity in our green spaces,
reducing pollution and helping local ecosystems thrive.
 
Goals: Across the five themes in this document, there
are 21 goals which set out the ambitious changes that we
collectively need to make by 2030. This will require significant
changes in all of our behaviour, infrastructure, business models,
and co-operation. These goals are ambitious, borough-wide and
aligned, where relevant, with the Paris Agreement. Reaching these
goals at a local level doesn’t rely on action by a single
organisation, they are for everyone: residents, community groups
and organisations, businesses and institutions.
 
The borough-wide modelled pathway in Figure 1, illustrates
the territorial emissions savings that could be achieved if the
2030 goals of the CAP are delivered, and then continue to remove
fossil fuels beyond that date. In this case, there would be a 94%
reduction in the Borough’s territorial greenhouse gas
emissions in 2040, compared to 2010, and a 77% reduction by 2030.
This ambitious pace of change is closely aligned with the pace of
decarbonisation that the borough needs to achieve to contribute to
limiting global warming by 1.5oC, based on current greenhouse gas
emissions and Tyndall Centre modelling.
 
Objectives: Each goal has a number of key objectives.
Objectives are the activities that we will need to work on together
to progress towards realising the 2030 goals. They are made up of
objectives for all Hackney stakeholders, as well as some specific
Council objectives where it would have the lead responsibility.
Together, it is intended that the themes, goals and objectives
provide a framework that shapes future action planning and decision
making for all Hackney stakeholders.
 
Council Implementation Plan
Sitting alongside the CAP is a Council Implementation Plan
(IP), which provides a detailed set of proposed key actions for the
Council to undertake (by theme) initially over the next three years
and that contribute to delivering the goals and objectives,
considering where the Council has direct control and most influence
to maintain momentum with its own climate response.
 
The Council’s own ability to make carbon reductions
is based on what it can control or influence. It is directly
responsible for about 5% of local area territorial emissions.
However, it has many levers that can be used to deliver wider local
action to reduce emissions and prepare local areas for a changing
climate particularly through leadership and placemaking.
 
There are a further 25% of territorial emissions that it
has strong influence over. For example, from a built environment
perspective the Council would be considered to have high influence
over new housing and social housing activities. There is also good
influence in respect of transport and waste.
 
Much of the remaining non-territorial emissions associated
with consumption are where the Council’s leverage may be more
variable. Many decisions lie with individuals and require
behavioural change; consumption emissions are also from a diverse
range of sources. Notwithstanding, the Council has prioritised
areas where it has strong levers to effect change such as waste,
food, procurement, the circular economy, the Council's pension
fund, as well as the embodied carbon within its own future
developments amongst others.
 
An initial period of three years was selected for the
implementation plan to:
· 
provide a sharper
focus on the key actions needed now to maintain
momentum;
· 
help focus on actions
that would enable the Council to scale activities for the period
post the initial three year plan robustly; and
· 
recognise that the
technology and costs associated with net zero actions are changing
rapidly and hence deliverability may change markedly over time
potentially creating shifting focuses for action in the
future.
 
A
draft of the implementation plan was included in the appendices for
the October 22 Cabinet approval for public consultation. Although
this wasn’t a formal part of the consultation, a number of
detailed comments and suggestions were received, generally from
those with a specialist knowledge of the climate and ecological
agenda. These have been assessed as part of the consultation
responses.
 
Original plans were that the IP should form part of the
additional documents for this Cabinet report. There are however a
number of more significant revisions needed to the IP, including a
further prioritisation of the detailed actions already included for
impact, both from a carbon perspective, but also those with
significant co-benefits. As a result the IP will form part of the
annual report to Full Council in July 23.
 
Monitoring and reporting
framework
A
commitment was made in the October 2022 Cabinet report to develop a
monitoring and reporting framework and include it as part of the
adoption of the CAP. This has been progressed, assessing both
Council and borough-wide monitoring and reporting needs. Where
there is certainty regarding future monitoring and reporting, this
has been included in the revised CAP.
 
Monitoring and reporting is an important tool to assess
progress towards net zero, informing decisions that may be needed
to update the scale or pace of interventions accordingly. It is
widely agreed to be key to credible, long term climate action
by:
· 
Maintaining transparency and
accountability: Monitoring climate action gives councils and other
stakeholders the ability to demonstrate progress and quantify the
benefits of climate action. This can aid future decision making by
indicating where climate action has been most successful, and most
challenging and when carbon offsetting has been used for emissions
that can’t be reduced;
· 
Providing
key review points: testing whether what we are doing collectively is having
the desired impact on progress, whilst enabling opportunities to
revise actions;
· 
Communicating with stakeholders on progress with
targets: The Council alone cannot deliver the actions needed to
reach net zero and therefore must work in partnership with other
organisations and individuals and enable stakeholders to make
change happen; and
· 
Building a
case to improve delivery and/or secure further funding:
Monitoring can help
identify where further resources, investment or investigation is
needed, and build the evidence base for this – ultimately
informing further action planning.
 
The development of a monitoring framework will therefore
support the need to measure the reduction in carbon emissions
amongst other climate related actions, and track progress towards
the 2030 goals of Hackney’s borough-wide CAP, alongside an
agreed reporting and review mechanism. For the Council's own
obligations, a key principle of the approach is to acknowledge its
existing reporting systems for subsidiary plans and strategies, so
that the monitoring framework can build upon and complement these,
rather than duplicating them.
 
Monitoring
Monitoring will be completed through a variety of
interrelated mechanisms. Further detail can be found in the revised
CAP (Appendix 1).
· 
Council territorial
emissions initially aligning with the UK100 membership scope but
expanding over time, using the Local Partnerships GHG accounting
tool;
· 
Borough-wide emissions
principally initially via The London Energy and Greenhouse Gas
Inventory (LEGGI) and Consumption-Based Emissions Accounting
Framework (CBEA);
· 
Monitor an agreed set
of key performance indicators to track Council and borough-wide
progress; and
· 
The Council’s
Implementation Plan for its own actions, to support delivery
of  goals and objectives which reflect
its control and influence, supported by:
o 
More granular
monitoring through other established Council plans and
strategies;
o 
Key performance
indicators to track Council progress where required.
 
Reviewing
The impact on achieving Hackney’s borough-wide
emissions targets will be recorded by changes in the borough-wide
emissions footprint. This will provide an indication of the overall
direction of progress across the Borough and by sector. Reviewing
progress with meeting borough-wide and Council targets using a
suite of key performance indicators will provide a more detailed
assessment helping us to take more timely and evidence-based
decisions to:
· 
Understand
Hackney’s progress towards its net zero target based on
current and proposed actions;
· 
Understand progress
towards its 21 goals and assess where greater action or alternative
tactics are require;
· 
Track delivery of
actions annually towards Hackney’s borough-wide CAP with
SMARTer measures;
· 
Help measure (where
possible), the differential impact on different groups in
Hackney;
· 
Better understand the
success of climate action in delivering wider environmental,
social, and economic co-benefits; and
· 
Enable shared learning
and information sharing across organisations.
 
Reporting
The Council has made annual reports on its progress with
its decarbonisation commitments (for each 12 month period) for the
last three years to Full Council in July each year. The next one is
scheduled for July 2023. Whilst this has covered key progress at a
project level and informed the development of the draft Climate
Action Plan, a new format more accessible annual report on the
Council’s progress towards its own territorial emissions
reduction targets - supported by key performance indicators, will
be put in place for July 2024.
 
There are however a number of work streams that will have
to be undertaken in the 12 months post CAP adoption in May 2023 to
inform some of the above requirements and are set out
below.
 
Council
· 
Confirm headline
performance indicators and targets to track progress on territorial
emissions within the Council's direct control;
· 
Incorporate these
headline key performance indicators focused on Council controlled
carbon emissions reduction as part of the Council's update of its
corporate dashboard so as to provide high level corporate progress
monitoring, reflecting the priority given to addressing the climate
emergency in the Council's recently updated strategic
plan;
· 
Explore ways to reduce
the Council’s Scope 3 emissions;
· 
Review and embed
earlier Net Zero Energy Strategy monitoring and reporting
requirements into CAP monitoring and reporting requirements;
and
· 
Identify next steps as
to the role for the Scrutiny Panel and Commissions in
governance.
 
Borough-wide
· 
Update the current
borough-wide baseline assessment using latest data from 2022 to
establish an updated baseline and inform targets with which to
track progress against, whilst testing the existing modelled
pathway for conformity with net zero ambitions;
· 
Review other data
sources for borough-wide emissions including the Office For
National Statistics (ONS) on carbon dioxide emissions for local
authorities and whether/how to integrate;
· 
Develop options with
key partners to establish the headline key performance indicators
for tracking progress on carbon reduction associated with the
overall CAP, focusing on the relevant borough-wide goals in the
CAP. This will be developed collaboratively with external partners
to enable a response that is proportionate and where possible
relies on existing accessible data sets, noting key partners may
have their own performance monitoring mechanisms for their
organisations and the intention is not to duplicate
that;
· 
Review themes and
goals with others, where carbon reduction is not the focus to
develop headline key performance indicators;
· 
Consider future
options to assess wider social and economic co-benefits of climate
actions such as health to inform considerations of social justice
and inequalities; and
· 
Assess options with
key partners for public reporting of progress on the borough-wide
CAP. 
UK100 membership network and net zero
target for selected Council territorial emissions
 
The Council’s existing target for its own greenhouse
emissions requires a 45% reduction by 2030 based on a 2010 baseline
and ‘net zero’ by 2040. However, it has also been clear
that where it can move faster it will endeavour to do so,
regardless of the stated ‘net zero’ targets.
 
In January 2022, the Mayor and Lead Member made a statement
to Full Council outlining their ambition to rejoin the UK100 network. This followed earlier
work to review ‘net zero’ targets set out within the
original Climate Emergency declaration and to bring the Council in
closer alignment with key stakeholders across London. This has now
been progressed such that the Council now has a revised ‘net
zero target’ of 2030 for territorial emissions that fall
within the defined scope of UK100 membership requirements. The full
detail of the initial territorial emissions scope to be applied in
pursuance of the Council’s revised 2030 ‘net
zero’ target is to be brought to Full Council in July 2023 as
part of the annual decarbonisation report.
 
The Council was previously a member of the UK100 membership
network, albeit based on earlier membership requirements which
required the Council to sign up to a commitment to ‘use 100%
clean energy across the full range of functions by 2050’.
UK100 have modified their membership criteria and now require the
adoption of a net zero target for Council territorial emissions
(within the current UK100 emission scope) by 2030 and boroughwide by 2045 (some five years later than the
current Council net zero commitment). In respect of the latter,
committing to a boroughwide ‘net
zero’ target wider than the Council activities will require
further dialogue with stakeholders post adoption.