Climate Change Management – Local

Pivotal to the effectiveness of Individual action – If you can collaborate all individual action, targeting specific areas of action, it is far more likely that progress will be made, rather than individuals pursuing change in different areas

Creating a culture of sustainability within the population – Advertising and schemes will make more people interested and get more people involved in improving their area’s sustainability

Various areas within a country are affected differently – local areas are important as they are affected differently by climate change, so a national plan may not be applicable – South West prone to flooding, but the midlands wouldn’t be interested in flooding schemes

‘Local authorities are well placed to drive and influence emissions reductions in their wider areas through the services they deliver, their role as social landlords, trusted community leaders and major employers, and their regulatory and strategic functions’ – Committee on Climate Change – Position of power as well as relationships with the local people means more people will get involved, progress made.

Local Agenda 21 – Rio Summit was the meeting of the UN, called the ‘Earth Summit’, with the view to combat the problem of climate change. The Local Agenda 21 was created and used in all UN countries, which told governments to put the emphasis on local councils to make the change

Local Councils in charge of improving the environment, reducing Carbon Dioxide emissions – The Summit targeted Carbon Dioxide as its major problem and barrier, while suggesting proactive plans by increasing green space and wildlife in all areas whenever possible

Various bin types – Glass, Compost, Plastics, Waste – In London, a key target was to improve recycling. London generally has the same schemes, but particular councils have different sets of bins due to their recycling abilities/facilities. These were made simple to follow by the different coloured bins, while fines were introduced if the wrong materials were in the wrong bins in some councils

Recycling Centres – All councils have at least 1 recycling centre, where items that are either too big or not allowed in their bins are taken. Here, there are many skips of all types of material are made available to all of the public, in an attempt to remove any excuse for not recycling their materials

Green Homes Programme (London) - Introduced by Ken Livingstone, 2007, he created the ‘Action today to protect tomorrow’ scheme, in an attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emission by 30% by 2025. A key aspect was the free or subsidised home insulation to improve energy efficiency in existing council houses

Enforced new building standards for efficiency – Plans to reduce the energy used in construction, as well as the reduction in price of energy-saving measures, such as double glazed windows, once again to improve energy-efficiency, reducing the demand for energy

Congestion Charge – Higher for more heavy polluting vehicles – A measure that induces a charge of £8 every day to cars that enter the ‘congestion charge zone’ in London. Heavy polluting cars are charged up to £25 every day. The aim is to stop people using their cars in London, thereby reducing emissions as well as traffic, while increasing the use of other methods of transport that have been invested in

Efficient Public Transport- Public transport in London has been greatly improved. Most notably in 2012, the London underground trains were replaced by energy efficient trains that use less energy.

The trains also have regenerative braking, which produces energy as the brakes are used, reducing energy usage by 25%.In 2013 London made the largest order of hybrid buses ever placed in Europe. It will deliver significant environmental benefits, including an expected reduction of CO2 emissions in the Capital of almost 20,000 tonnes a year. Independent emission testing of a prototype vehicle has shown it's the cleanest and greenest bus of its type anywhere in the world

Subsidised cost of eco-friendly cars – Cars like the Toyota Prius gain extra financial befits in London, as they receive 100% reduction in congestion charge prices, as well as the low cost of refuelling. A Nissan Leaf can be charged from flat to full for the cost of 96p, for 100 miles range.

Cycling schemes – The Barclays cycle hire scheme, introduced in 2010, has increased bike usage in London by 12%. Other schemes like the cycle2work scheme, where workers can buy a bike for 50% of the price if their employer is signed up to the scheme. This encourages the purchase and then use of bicycles as commuter transport.

Park and Ride – Renovated idea uses trains over buses. Reduced cost of parking at underground and overground train stations means more people use the efficient train system

‘Source London’ electric charging stations – Launched in 2011, there are now 1,300 electric car refuelling stations, which make it more viable to use as a day–to-day travel option.