Big Green Challenge blog

UK Low Carbon Transition Plan

Vicki Purewal - 17.07.2009

There are positive signs that the Government is moving forward on engaging with the importance of community action on climate change.

There are positive signs, through their white paper this week, that the Government is moving forward on engaging with the importance of community action on climate change.  

The paper outlines how the UK might achieve the legally binding target to cut 1990 CO2 emissions levels by 80% for 2050, and by 34% by 2020. It states that it is a combination of "dynamic, competitive markets, a strategic role for Government, and active communities" that will bring about the transition to low carbon, and that the Government plans to help "communities to act together through collective action and local authority involvement".  Good news.  

The Big Green Challenge is featured in the paper, including the positive news that DECC have supported NESTA to expand some of the grant and advice support that we're offering our Finalists, to some of our other Challengers.  These Challengers have now been announced.  

The Transition Plan also announces "£10 million for 'Green villages, towns and cities'- a challenge for communities to be at the forefront of pioneering green initiatives." This will be in the form of "a competition for 15 communities which will encourage local residents, businesses, and the public sector to work together, and encourage new approaches.  This is potentially great news.  Even better if it can enable the development and expansion of long term, citizen-led, outcome focussed solutions.   

The long term ambition is that the scheme will inform the 'roll-out' of a nationwide plan.  It's not completely clear yet what this will mean - whether the solutions developed by communities will be rolled-out, or the process of supporting them.  If it turns out to the be the former, there may be a danger that the solutions end up with a top-down feel and loose the very nature of what makes them work.  If it's the latter it will be a good opportunity for Government to use the lessons to set up new ways of supporting similar action.

Also published alongside the Transition Plan is the Renewable Energy Strategy, which also makes frequent mention of communities.  The strategy mentions the Big Green Challenge, as the kind of initiative Government should be encouraging, and highlights one of our Finalists. 

Other announcements in the Transition Plan and Renewable Energy Strategy, include carbon budgets for each government department, further plans for CERT, the announcement of the three-year Community Energy Savings Programme, and plans for Feed in Tariffs and a Renewable Heat Incentive.  Some of these announcements show positive signs of more innovative policy making.  Many of them mention communities, and we know from learning from our Challengers, that communities have the power to make a big difference to the effectiveness of many of the plans.  It will be certainly be worth keeping an eye on the detailed plans as they emerge.

Collectively we are successfully making the case for the importance of community-led action on climate change.  We now need to demonstrate how this makes a difference, and describe the radical new approaches will be needed to support it.  That's why we've published research - 'People-powered responses to climate change' - that looks at the types of ideas we gathered from our 355 Big Green Challenge entrants, and why we will be continuing to share lessons from the Big Green Challenge over the coming months.