Climate Change Strategy

Goal: 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

4.1 We have reduced our carbon emissions in Coventry by 48% (compared to 2000 levels) but have a long way to go to get to net zero. This pathway explores where we need to focus our efforts to decarbonise the city, and to ensure we maximise the benefits for and with local residents and businesses, as well as encourage investment into the city.

4.2 To better inform our priority areas for reducing emissions, the Council commissioned an independent Zero Carbon Routemap for Coventry.

Figure 8 shows Coventry’s past, present and projected emissions. Domestic accounts for emissions from homes, whilst commercial accounts for emissions from commercial and public buildings.

Figure 8 – Coventry's carbon footprint past, present and projected (Source: Coventry Net Zero Routemap, 2023)

Figure 9 shows the current picture, broken down by sector.

 

The Routemap tells us:

• Further reductions, assuming business as usual, will not reduce emissions in Coventry to net zero by 2050. The Routemap predicts Coventry’s carbon footprint will be just 65% lower in 2050 than it was in 2000 unless action is taken.
• Homes and transport are the two biggest sources of emissions, followed by industry, commercial buildings and waste.
• An average Coventry household spends £2,813 a year on energy (inc. costs of transport based on 2022 estimates) and this is predicted to rise further.
• It estimated that citywide spend on energy in 2023 was £635m – but adopting widely available measures could save the city £327m a year and create significant new job opportunities.

Climate Action at a local, national and global level

4.3 The government’s 2021 Net Zero Strategy sets out a series of policies and commitments designed to enable the UK to reach net zero by 2050. The timeline shows some of the key targets and milestones towards achieving net zero:

• 2008 We were a founding signatory of the Global Covenant of Mayors which set a target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
• 2019 The UK government passed legislation committing it to achieving ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It more recently introduced an interim target of 68% reduction by 2030. Achieving net zero will require changes that are unprecedented in their scale and scope, including changes to the way electricity is generated, how people travel, how land is used and how buildings are heated.
• 2021 Council leader Cllr George Duggins signed the Declaration Covenant of Mayors interim target of achieving a 55-65% reduction in carbon emissions from 1990 levels by 2030.
• 2030 We will strive for a 68% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 in line with government targets.
• 2050 Government commitment for UK to ‘Net Zero’. UK government passed this legislation in 2019.

4.4 We are an ambitious and innovative city, and we will use this to drive action towards achieving net zero. There is already a huge amount happening in the city to reduce carbon emissions and support the aim of achieving net zero, which includes establishing a Strategic Energy Partnership.

Strategic Energy Partnership

4.5 The Council’s partnership with E.ON has been established to support the city’s journey to net zero, bringing together the public and private sectors to help find new ways to deliver cleaner, greener energy and help drive the local green economy that will bring jobs and skills to the city, across four key themes as set out in the partnership Strategic Business Plan:

• clean local energy
• jobs and skills
• innovation and scale
• community benefit

4.6 Social Value is an overarching principle and commitment of the partnership to ensure that through projects we improve outcomes, tackle inequalities and increase economic prosperity. Example projects delivered in the first year include a domestic retrofit programme, roll out of more EV charges and supporting Council building decarbonisation, including schools.

4.7 A key piece of work during the partnership’s first year has been the development of an energy masterplan for Coventry, which provides a strategic long term energy vision, reference point and prioritised pipeline of energy projects for the partnership to take forward. Focus will be on areas where the partnership can add most value. One of the main areas of focus will be heat decarbonisation of buildings.

4.8 There are huge potential investment opportunities in some of the larger scale projects and the related social value benefits will bring even more value into the city. Further updates on the energy masterplan, investment opportunities and related project delivery will be provided on the SEP webpages.

Homes

4.9 There are over 143,000 homes in the city, which account for approximately 30% of the city’s emissions. This presents a huge opportunity to decarbonise which would lead to warmer more efficient homes, helping to reduce bills. It also provides a significant chance to grow the local economy through scaling up retrofit skills and building materials and installer supply chain capacity.

Figure 10 – Benefits of domestic retrofit on our economy, communities and climate

4.10 The Routemap identified that a business-as-usual scenario1 will likely only reduce housing emissions by 0.2% by 2050. We are taking a proactive approach, working with partners to explore innovative solutions to this citywide challenge and have secured over £30m since 2022 to support domestic retrofit programmes in the city.

4.11 There are a number of programmes we are working on to support retrofit of domestic properties, however this is challenging area with some key barriers to delivery. Part of the challenge is funding, the majority of households in the city aren’t entitled to any grant for home energy upgrades and the outlay costs can be expensive with long payback periods. We are working to address this through exploring opportunities for green finance products and scaling programmes to make costs more affordable for householders. Another key challenge is that residents fear the works could be disruptive; even when there is grant available to cover the costs there can be a lack of take up. We are working hard to try and debunk some of these concerns to help residents know exactly what to expect when it comes to their home being retrofitted and help sell the benefits which are a reduction in bills and a warmer home, alongside cutting carbon emissions. We want to work closely with communities and involve the public in this information campaign.

Figure 12 - Properties retrofitted in Coventry by the Social Housing Decarbonation Fund (SHDF) Wave 2

4.12 We are working in partnership with Citizen Housing as part of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Wave 2. This is a fabric-first scheme, focussing on improvements to insulation, glazing etc, which will lead to the improved energy efficiency of over 2,000 Citizen properties across the city, one of the largest schemes in the country. We will continue to work with social housing providers to speed up the scale of energy efficiency improvements with the aim of improving all social housing stock to an EPC band C by 2035, and all ‘fuel poor’ households by 2030. Currently the Strategic Energy Partnership is delivering the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) Phase 2, improving the energy efficiency of off-gas homes across the city. We are also working to maximise investment and uptake of ECO4, an obligation placed on energy companies to invest in domestic energy efficiency.

4.13 We will also support people in privately owned and privately rented properties to improve their energy efficiency and make residents aware of programmes which they could benefit from, through our ‘Home Energy and Warmth’ web pages and via involving affecting communities in planning for the future. This will be with the aim of supporting those who qualify for grant funded programmes. We will also devise programmes to support those who rent privately.

4.14 The Council are also working with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to develop a Net Zero Neighbourhood (NZN) in the city. The NZN will involve working closely with the local community to address energy needs at a more local level leading to warmer homes, installation of renewables such as solar PV, more low carbon/net zero transport options, and other measures including creation of more green space and trees. This will create more attractive neighbourhoods, help to lower energy bills, reduce air pollution and make streets more resilient to climate change. The NZN aims to attract finance, which could enable us to replicate NZN’s across other areas of the city.

4.15 We are committed to developing green skills in the city to help local people access new green jobs. We have established a Green Skills Subgroup, a multi-organisational public-private sector team working with business to identify skills gaps and opportunities to support the city’s transition to a low carbon economy and create jobs for the future.

Case Study - Collaboration to grow skills as part of Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Wave 2

Collaboration on skills has also enabled skills training in the construction sector. Using the SHDF Wave 2 multi-year funding as a catalyst, Westdale Midlands Ltd has converted their Coventry-based office and warehouse into a bespoke facility for training unemployed people from Coventry. The Academy has been in operation since April 2023 and has been a useful enabler in developing the external wall insulation(EWI) supply-chain necessary for the growing scale of work to be conducted in the coming SHDF wave. The training academy is supported by Coventry College (who run 2-week bootcamps prior to those attending the academy), Citizen housing and the Council, demonstrating real collaborative working across the city.

4.16 The Council is currently undertaking its review of the city’s Local Plan, which provides the opportunity for updated policies to reduce carbon emissions from new developments. This is an important chance to set the standard for sustainable new development and promote new buildings in the city are built to high environmental and energy standards and won’t require retrofit in the future. Recommendations for the Local Plan Review include:

• A fabric first approach, ensuring all new buildings are well insulated.
• All new homes to be powered by renewable energy where viable, which includes rooftop solar.
• We will also ensure the use of energy to create the materials in the construction of buildings is considered when balancing out refurbishments against demolition and new build, alongside exploring innovative low carbon methods of construction.

Transport

4.17 Decarbonisation of transport is another priority, accounting for 29% of emissions across the city. The Routemap identifies that under business-as-usual, transport emissions are estimated to reduce by 73% by 2050. Significant efforts are required to go further to reach net zero.

4.18 Our Transport Strategy sets out plans to bring about a fundamental change in travel behaviour. Our aim is to encourage people to travel by active travel modes and public transport wherever they can, and to use an electric vehicle if they need to travel by car. Our role is to put the infrastructure in place to make this transition as easy as possible for local people. We are doing this through introducing:

• The first all-electric bus fleet in the country, by 2025, complemented by new on-demand bus services
• Significant improvements to walking and cycling across the city, including developing a network of segregated cycle routes, supported by increased training, hire bikes and storage facilities, introducing measures to create more attractive and safer streets
• A first-of-its-kind Very Light Rail system - a new form of mass transit, similar to trams seen in other cities but with smaller, electric-powered vehicles (see figure 13)
• Better accessibility to rail, including increasing station capacity, supporting the development of new local stations and increasing the frequency of services

4.19 Recognising that some journeys will still need to be made by car, the Council is also encouraging residents to switch from petrol and diesel to electric. We have installed over 2000 charge points across the city – the largest public electric vehicle charging infrastructure outside of London. Many of the charging points are on residential streets where households don’t have driveways to install private chargers. and our Electric Charging Strategy sets out a range of measures to increase EV take up, including:

• Create super charging hubs and a multi-fuel hub, service station style facilities providing rapid charging/refuelling facilities for owners of zero emission vehicles
• Encourage local businesses to switch to electric vehicles via travel planning support and rental of EV cars and vans for trial periods
• Pilot innovative methods of electric vehicle charging, including static induction (wireless) charging and dynamic charging (charging of a moving vehicle). These technologies could help to support operators of larger, higher mileage vehicles to switch to zero emission alternatives, as well as provide more accessible charging to address equalities
• Piloting new ways to help residents charge electric vehicles at home using kerbo charge gullies to safely connect home chargers to kerbs via pavements, benefitting households without driveways

We recognise that whilst EV infrastructure is important to support an uptake in EVs, this alone won’t help households who cannot afford an electric car. We need to find ways to make EVs more affordable, which will involve working with private sector providers to expand the range of car club/car sharing services available to hire, as well as boost the second-hand EV market.

Figure 13 – Coventry Very Light Rail Prototype (2023)

Business & Industry

4.20 The third key sector highlighted within the Routemap relates to businesses and it identifies that under a business-as-usual scenario, industrial emissions will go down by just 35% by 2050.

4.21 In 2023, there were 10,335 enterprises in Coventry, the majority of which are SMEs. There are significant benefits for businesses to decarbonise, lowering bills and improving profitability and sustainability, as well as marketability.

4.22 We recognise the significant challenges for businesses to decarbonise and are committed to supporting businesses of all sizes across the city. The Council run webinars, events and podcasts for the Green Business Network of over 3,500 businesses in the Coventry and Warwickshire sub region and is now expanding the Network with new categories of business from a wider geographical area.

4.23 We are delivering the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), Decarbonisation Net Zero programme and the Business Energy Advice Service (BEAS) programme, helping small to medium sized businesses make energy and resource efficiency improvements.

4.24 We also work with businesses on travel planning to encourage active travel as well as promote the use of electric vehicles. This includes helping businesses implement EV charging points and working with them to promote commuter travel plans and car sharing schemes.

4.25 There is also opportunity to support business and industry decarbonisation through the Strategic Energy Partnership and working in partnership with key organisations such as the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce and Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub.

Energy Generation and Security

4.26 As part of the city’s plan to decarbonise, we need to move towards more local renewable energy generation to reduce emissions and increase the resilience of our energy supply.

4.27 The Council owns one of the largest district heating systems in the Midlands, the Heatline network currently provides heat from waste to power council buildings and other major buildings in the city centre. There is scope to increase the buildings it supplies to maximise benefits, such as to the new City Centre South development. If we can minimise heat loss, and encourage heat exchange between neighbours, this could lower bills across homes and businesses.

4.28 The Council has been involved in a pilot programme to introduce legislation for Heat Network Zoning (HNZ) in England by no later than 2025. Zones will be designated geographic areas within which heat networks are expected to offer the lowest cost means of decarbonising heat for a significant number of buildings.

4.29 We must also continue to explore opportunities for the roll out of more renewable energy generation across existing buildings, such as rooftop solar. We need developers to include renewables as part of new buildings too and consider new ways to store energy locally through batteries to capture energy to supply local demand.

4.30 This will go a significant way to providing more clean local energy, but to meet demand it is essential that the city also secures more significant sources of renewable energy supply through measures such as solar schemes and large battery storage. These will need to be balanced with land use requirements and involve close community engagement.

The Council's Estate

4.31 Significant progress has been made towards the decarbonisation of Council buildings, and since 2021 over £7m of energy projects have been funded, making Council buildings greener and costing us less to run. This has included the installation of Solar PV (see figure 14) insulation, LED lighting, air source heat pumps and battery storage, amongst other measures. Over 39% of energy used in Council buildings is from renewable sources, and in 2022-23, 16% was ‘locally sourced’ (district heat and solar PV).

Central Library roof with Solar Panels

4.32 The Council is currently working with Balfour Beatty on a project which will see streetlights across the city upgraded to energy efficient LED lighting, which will save 1200 tonnes of carbon every year, as well as improving lighting levels and safety, as well as reducing running costs.

4.33 As well as continuing to access funding to decarbonise its estate, the Council will work to establish ways of securing finance for independent organisations occupying Council owned buildings, this will help to reduce the energy costs for tenants and reduce carbon.

Recommendations

4.34 Whilst there are major challenges for Coventry in its decarbonisation and net zero journey, the opportunities are significant. It requires a city-wide approach with the Council, residents, community groups and businesses working together to achieve a shared vision. The Strategic Energy Partnership will have an important role to play, but so will all other organisations that operate in the city.

4.35 The city needs to be bold in its action, using innovation to try new methods and levering investment to allow delivery at scale and pace through initiatives to support the target of reducing emissions by 68% by 2030 and 100% by 2050.

4.36 The key areas we need to focus our efforts, supported by recommendations of the Route to Net Zero Pathway are:

• Supporting all housing tenure types with retrofit (including able to pay, willing to pay and fuel poor)
• Encouraging active travel and modal shift across the city to create lower carbon journeys, involving local communities in planning for these changes
• Work with key organisations to support businesses in their net zero journey
• Link with universities, schools and colleges to increase uptake and delivery of green skills
• Work with invested organisations in the development of renewable energy solutions in the city.

4.37 In order to support the delivery of practical interventions we will need to ensure a focus on communication and public involvement, promoting behaviour change and engagement with climate change projects across the city.

[1] A business-as-usual scenario includes ongoing decarbonisation of grid electricity, a continuation of the background trends that are gradually improving the energy efficiency of the housing stock in Coventry and forecast growth in housing numbers in Coventry.