Target City centres for net zero, Governments are told
Planning and transport changes in cities would bring UK 26% closer to its target say centre for cities.
The Government needs to press ahead with planning reform to meet its net zero target according to Centre for Cities’ research in partnership with HSBC UK.
Local Government should see cities as having the best chance of reaching net zero, despite being the biggest carbon emitters, a report has found.
It suggests the right policy could see the UK a quarter of the way closer to achieving carbon neutrality.
Doing this this will require the Government to progress its planned reforms as the current system is a barrier to reaching net zero.
Centre for cities encourage housing development in isolated areas over better-connected inner-city and suburban brownfield sites.
Houses emit more carbon than flats, but they accounted for nearly eight in ten homes built in 2019 – an increase of 12 percentage points since 2013. Therefore, providing a more balanced mix of low-rise flats and terraced houses close to city centres would therefore help the UK reach net zero.
The report suggests building new homes centrally would also reduce car dependency.
It says if the share of journeys made by public transport rose from one third to two thirds then it would halve carbon emissions. Making improvements in those areas crucial.
The number of people using public transport fell sharply during the pandemic and has not yet reached pre-Covid levels. Reaching net zero will be impossible, according to the report, while so many people continue to shun public transport in favour of cars.
Centre for Cities’ Chief Executive Andrew Carter said:
“The majority of people in the UK are based in our cities and largest towns. This means that changing the way that we live, work and move around them will be essential if we’re to reach net zero by 2050.
“Because 64% of the UK’s total carbon emissions come from homes and transport, it will be impossible to reach net zero without changes to our planning and transport systems. If the Government does these together it will help it reach its goals of becoming carbon neutral and levelling up.”
Ian Stuart, CEO of HSBC UK said:
“This report shows the key role Britain’s town and cities, and decision-makers leading them, are going to play in helping the UK reach its net-zero ambitions. Consumers, businesses and local communities will need support from both central and local government if we’re going to make the big lifestyle changes needed over the coming years in the way we travel and in the way we build and heat our homes. There is a real opportunity to build a partnership between the public and private sectors to create the new solutions to meet the climate challenge and to open up new green opportunities for growth for small and medium sized businesses right across the country. HSBC UK stand ready to play our part in this partnership.”