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27 May 2022
A survey by national law firm, Sharpe Pritchard, and the Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) organisation has revealed significant opportunities for local government to contribute to achieving the government’s net-zero targets.
The survey revealed that 90 per cent of local authorities that responded have clear environmental objectives, showing a clear appetite to contribute to tackling climate change.
However, the survey also highlighted real challenges when it comes to translating intentions into actions. Nearly 60 per cent of lawyers polled either did not know how green goals would be achieved or felt they were unachievable.
Meanwhile, nearly three-quarters of officers polled did not understand what central government expected of local government in terms of net-zero.
The survey also found that nearly seven out of every 10 officers polled were not aware of the sharing of best practice across local authorities, meaning key opportunities for learning are being missed.
The results of the survey were presented to the LLG Spring Conference by Sharpe Pritchard Partner, Steve Gummer on Friday 27 May 2022.
He said: “It’s great to see that the overwhelming majority of local authorities have clear objectives when it comes to achieving net-zero.
“What is needed now is a greater focus on action to unlock local government’s potential contribution to tackling climate change. We have rightly been focussed on the end goals but now we really need to focus on practical delivery. We need to remember a lot of these projects need to be delivered on the ground and it takes more than good intentions to get projects away. We are asking a lot of local government and need to give them the support to deliver.
“Whether it’s decarbonising the supply chain, facilitating carbon neutral real estate developments or investing in renewables, there is enormous scope to translate good intentions into positive actions.
“We need to see greater collaboration within local government and between the private sector and local government to disseminate best practice and to ensure all opportunities to contribute to achieving net-zero are identified.”
Sharpe Prichard is itself contributing to the net-zero target with a goal to become net-zero by 2025, while working alongside clients to advise both on what can be done to achieve green targets and how it can be done.
Download a copy of the slide deck from the presentation delivered by Steve Gummer here
