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the value of a climate emergency;

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Plymouth sectoral emissions;

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emissions forecast for Plymouth;

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climate emergency action plan;

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corporate carbon reduction (aim and scope)

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Climate emergency summary.

(a)

whether the survey that the Council had commissioned with the Centre for Energy and Environment at Exeter University relating the city’s current emission had been bespoke to Plymouth, ie had the city’s buildings/road network been mapped and scanned;

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in response: Exeter University had looked at both the national carbon figures and the local context; this provided an overview of the sectoral emissions; the top three (buildings, transport and power) were generally the top three in most cities;

it was proposed to undertake a bottom up exercise, in order to fully understand where the greenhouse emissions being produced and to also review the hot spots identified within the city;

(b)

as the Council only had direct control of 1% of the city’s carbon output, what work had been undertaken to engage with the top 10, 15 or 20 organisations to reduce their carbon emissions and which 10 local authorities had the Council engaged with regarding this issue;

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in response: currently the focus had been on engaging with organisations, to ascertain what work/initiatives were being undertaken to reduce their carbon emissions; once this work had been completed, the data would be analysed which would help inform which areas to target;

over the next year, work would be undertaken to form a repository which would provide information for organisations and to facilitate the sharing of best practice;

a list of the 10 councils that Plymouth had worked with, so far, would be circulated outside of this meeting;

(c)

whether grant funding had been secured for some of the initiatives identified such as electric vehicle charging points;

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in response: the Cabinet had approved the allocation of £250,000 for the climate emergency action plan; however it should be noted that the climate emergency was not the sole responsibility of the local authority, everyone would need to play their part in reducing carbon emissions;

grant funding had also been received which included £500,000 for the installation of electric vehicle charging points, £880,000 for local renewable energy and £200,000 to reduce carbon emissions from heating;

(d)

the rationale behind the reduction in the emissions forecast since 2014;

?

in response: during this period power plants had switched from using coal to gas and there were more renewable energy initiatives (this was a national issue);

(e)

whether the option to ban cars from the city centre, as other local authorities had done, such as Bristol and York, would be required in order to meet the target of carbon neutral by 2030;

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in response: the Council would look at other local authorities which had banned cars from their inner cities, to ascertain whether this had been successful; however, a range of issues would need to be considered such as behavioural changes (encouraging people to use the bus once a week), the introduction of cleaner buses, electric taxis, etc;

the Plymouth Plan and the Joint Local Plan set out the Transport Strategy 2034 and the Growth Strategy both of which would need to be recalibrated in light of the declaration of the climate emergency;

(f)

whether the Council had received feedback from its partners relating to the operation of electric buses in the city, given its topography and if any information was available on the measures that the haulage companies would be taking to reduce carbon emissions;

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in response: regular discussions were held with the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure and the bus operators; other options were being considered such as hydrogen buses; discussions were also being held with the business community on how the Council could support businesses that wished to become carbon neutral;

(g)

whether the Council could lobby for the electrification of the rail network as part of the climate emergency agenda;

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in response: the Peninsula Rail Task Force together with the city’s MPs continued to lobby the Government for the electrification of the rail network, however there were no current plans to electrify the network from Bristol to the peninsula;

(h)

it was reported that in order for Plymouth to reach carbon neutral by 2030 it would cost approximately £442m or £1,625 per household; this would be a hefty burden for residents who were already struggling with other financial obligations;

in response: it was not the intention of the Council to charge £1,625 per household; these figures had been produced to demonstrate the investment that the city would need to make to support both national and global climate changes; it was everyone’s responsibility to reduce carbon emissions; the Council would need to spend money in a different way in order to achieve the benefits such as LED street lighting invest to save scheme which had reduced the Council’s energy costs;

(i)

what robust plan was in place to increase the city’s recycling rates from 39% to 65%;

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in response: there were a number of measures being undertaken  such as a leafleting campaign, encouraging residents to compost, registering for the garden waste service and working with enforcement to ensure residents were recycling more effectively; there would however need to be a behaviour change from residents in order to meet the 65% target; residents would be fully informed of the benefits of recycling that would save the Council money which would allow it to spend it in a different way;

(j)

how the reduction in carbon emissions was measured in the city;

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in response: currently the measurement of carbon emissions was done on a national basis; it was the intention to install air quality sensors in the city, in order to capture information to demonstrate that improvements had been achieved;

(k)

whether consideration had been given to permit electric vehicles to use the existing bus lanes;

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in response: there would be a range of policies to consider, prior to any decision being made to permitting electric vehicles to use the bus lanes;

(l)

whether consideration had been given to operating electric taxis within the city;

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in response: the Council was currently working with Dundee City Council (which operated a fleet of 130 electric taxis) to investigate the feasibility of installing vehicle charging hubs, funding for this project and how best to support the trade in making the transition to electric taxis;

(m)

whether increasing the amount of freight that came into the city via Cattedown wharves had been investigated;

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in response: a wide range of issues would be considered such as electric ferries and the onward transportation of goods that came through the city;

(n)

the cost of installing an electric vehicle charging point,  the lead in time for this work to be undertaken, whether planning consent was required and would 100 workplace charging points be installed by April 2020;

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in response: a substantial amount of research and pre-planning had been undertaken regarding the installation of 100 workplace electric vehicle charging points; an assurance was given that 100 charging points would be installed by April 2020; the cost of the installation would largely depend on the existing infrastructure;

the location of the 100 workplace electric vehicle charging points and the cost of installation would be provided outside of this meeting;

(o)

sought clarification as to the worse air polluted areas in Plymouth;

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in response: Plymouth had a single air quality monitoring area (AQMA) which had been declared in 2014 for nitrogen dioxide (largely due to road traffic emissions); the AQMA covered Exeter Street, Mutley Plain, Stoke Village,  Royal Parade and Tavistock Road; however the air quality within the city was good;

further information on the AQMA together with the tree planting associated to transport schemes would be provided outside of this meeting;

(p)

it was widely recognised that trees would remove carbon from the atmosphere, however there were no details within the action plan that identified the locations that the trees would be planted in nor the size of the trees;

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the planting of trees was one element in reducing carbon emissions; both sea grass and sea kelp took carbon from the atmosphere up to 35 times faster than trees;

tree planting in the city associated with transport schemes would be provided outside of this meeting;

(q)

whether the action plans could be reviewed on a six monthly basis;

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in response: it was considered that a six month update on the actions could be provided to the Committee, rather than reviewing the suite of documents.

(1)

support and endorse the corporate reduction action plan 2019/2024;

(2)

support and endorse the 2019 climate emergency action plan;

(3)

support an annual review of the corporate carbon reduction plan 2019-2024 and the climate emergency action plan;

(4)

receive an update against the actions on a six monthly basis with regard to the climate emergency action plan and the corporate reduction plan 2019-2024.