The impacts of climate change can no longer be ignored. From flooded high streets and crumbling coastlines to grassland, woodland and crop fires and dangerously hot homes, the climate crisis is well and truly on our doorstep
Climate impacts are playing out very differently across the diverse physical and social geography of the UK. Urban and rural areas, upland and coastal places all require tailored responses. Already, many homes and businesses face financial hardship because repeated flooding, rapid coastal erosion or other risks such as subsidence puts the cost of insurance out of reach.
Meanwhile, vulnerable populations, such as older people and low-income households, continue to experience the most damaging outcomes of climate change.
With the current pace of climate change, the UK’s weather and climate will continue to change faster than ever, meaning that mitigation and adaptation are of critical importance.
Planning for the climate crisis
The scale of the climate challenge can feel overwhelming. But the planning system has unique – and vital – role to play. Planners can support a range of practical, place based initiatives that cut emissions, strengthen local resilience and protect communities.
That’s why the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Town & Country Planning Association (TCPA) have published new guidance to help local authorities understand how they can use existing planning powers to take climate action.
Now in its fifth edition, Planning for the Climate Crisis: A Guide for Local Authorities offers clear, accessible advice on climate action.
The resources aim to give the reader the confidence needed to act locally now, by making best use of existing policy and legislation and drawing inspiration from innovative local authorities from across the UK.
Climate action: An overarching development plan priority
This edition of the climate guide is formed of three groups of resources covering the policy context across the four UK nations, climate mitigation and climate adaptation.
The topic resources present advice on the range of policy issues that can be addressed through development plans to support action on climate change, including planning for net zero buildings, sustainable transport, renewable energy, flood and coastal risk, water scarcity and overheating.
However, the power of these policies will be significantly enhanced by a powerful overarching objective on mitigation and adaptation in the development plan.
This objective should inform the plan’s overarching strategy, which drives a spatial response to addressing climate change.
Community involvement
The planning system offers opportunities for genuine community participation in the decisions that will define our long-term survival. By bringing communities into the heart of local policy debate, local knowledge can help to shape decision making. This is particularly important where development plan policy will determine the future viability of vulnerable places.
There is widespread public support for action on climate change, and the public is eager to see immediate proactive steps. Many of the initiatives that can be taken to address climate change are win-win.
For example, community-owned renewable energy projects can reduce carbon dioxide emissions, with direct benefits to consumers and the local economy. In many cases, communities have been more accepting of development when it meets the highest possible environmental standards.
Clear opportunities
The guide acknowledges that efforts to address climate change through planning have been hampered by chronic under-resourcing of local planning authorities and weak policy at a national level that has often been delayed, inconsistent and de-prioritised.
However, there are clear opportunities to act now, and strong legal and policy requirements remain in place.
The RTPI and the TCPA believe that climate change should be the top priority for planning across the UK. We are pleased that the Climate Guide has been endorsed by key organisations in the environment and built environment sectors, including Ashden, Climate Emergency UK, the Centre for Sustainable Energy, Good Homes Alliance and the UK Green Building Council. We hope this guidance will empower and inspire planners across the UK to place climate resilience at the heart of planning practice.
We are grateful for the support of our sponsors, Buckinghamshire County Council, the Environment Agency, Project Groundwater, and LUC.
