Climate Change Strategy

Coventry's Independent Climate Change Board

Margot James

I am proud to chair Coventry’s Independent Climate Change Board, which I have done since its inception in 2021. We have seen the partnership grow from strength to strength during that short time. The board represents a huge breadth of expertise and passion for making a difference in Coventry, and a contribution to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

We represent a diverse group of almost thirty organisations that represent industry, public bodies, charities and voluntary groups all of whom have a part to play in tackling climate change. All members of the board and the organisations they represent share the same aims with regard to harnessing the opportunities of new technologies and ways of thinking that will impact positively on the climate crisis.

The Board and its Pathway Groups have been instrumental in helping to shape Coventry’s Climate Change Strategy, which is an important step for the city in its efforts to tackle the climate and nature emergencies.

We will help shape the city’s vision and make key recommendations for how we can improve the environment in Coventry, and play our part in the global fight against the adverse effects of climate change.

We are committed to supporting the Council to implement the Strategy and Action Plan, which will endeavour to create new opportunities for all of the city, as well as engaging all our residents and organisations.

Taking bold action will help create a better future for everyone, and the Board and Pathway Groups will continue to have a key role in ensuring its success. I am most grateful to the members of the board for their work and to the organisations they represent.

Margot James

Former Executive Chair of WMG, responsible for the strategic direction and development of WMG, at the University of Warwick.
Prior to joining WMG Margot served as Minister of State for Digital and the Creative Industries and Member of Parliament for Stourbridge.

Coventry’s Climate Change Strategy is an important step for the city in its efforts to tackle the climate and nature emergencies, taking bold action will help create a better future for everyone

Tacking the climate and natural emergencies are arguably two of the biggest challenges we face as a city, and globally. The Council recognise the importance of our role as a leader in tackling the causes and consequences of climate change in Coventry, however we cannot do this alone so in November 2021 the Council led the development of an Independent Climate Change Board Chaired by Margot James, with Vice Chair Cllr Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change.

The Board will oversee implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan, as well as continue to generate new ideas and opportunities, alongside establishing effective ways to engage and involve residents and organisations.

Sustainable development goals

The Board and this Strategy will deliver against the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which provides a holistic approach to tackling the climate and natural emergencies. To do this we have adopted (and tweaked) the principles of the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives Five Development Pathways. Pathway Groups are working as part of the Climate Change Board to identify priorities and opportunities to ensure we deliver lasting and meaningful change through the following goals which this Strategy seeks to address:

Adaptation and Resilience Pathway:

  • Reduce the impacts of extreme weather and climate change and enable quicker recovery through creating a more resilient city

Route to Net Zero Pathway:

  • Reduce carbon emissions across the city to support our transition to net zero, whilst benefiting local people and businesses through creating warmer homes, cheaper bills, cleaner air, new jobs and skills

Circular Economy Pathway:

  • Develop new models of production and consumption to reduce our reliance on natural resources

Nature Pathway:

  • Support nature recovery and create better access to green and blue space for wildlife to thrive and communities to enjoy

Fairer Green Future Pathway:

  • Ensuring a just transition for all

The work of the Climate Change Board and delivery of the Strategy is underpinned by a commitment to ensure a just transition. The impacts of climate change and measures taken to address it can affect communities disproportionately. All organisations represented on the Climate Change Board are committed to tackling the climate and nature emergencies in a way that helps to address existing inequalities and making sure new ones aren’t created as a consequence of the action we take.

We have developed and adopted The Eight Principles for ensuring a Just Transition for Coventry:

  1. We will draw on the expertise and lived experience of people living and working in affected sectors, industries, businesses and communities in planning for the future.
  2. We will place our young people and the needs of more vulnerable citizens at the heart of our work toward a Just Transition.
  3. We will use what we know already about the factors that impact on health and wellbeing in areas of deprivation in the city to ensure that addressing the impacts of climate change in these areas is prioritised.
  4. All of our communication about the climate crisis will be clear and accessible.
  5. Workers in the city will be supported in training/re-training for a greener future and the unemployed will be trained and supported to seize the job opportunities created by the newly emerging green technologies.
  6. Communities will be empowered and supported to take climate and ecological action at a very local level.
  7. We acknowledge that while individuals can take action, we do not all have equal power to bring about solutions.
  8. We will stand in solidarity with those experiencing the worst climate and ecological impacts across the globe and recognise that our citizens are connected to and affected by these global impacts in a myriad of ways.

The organisations involved in the Board and Pathway Groups have pledged their support to helping to deliver the city’s Climate Change Strategy, which are set out below:

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