Coventry’s Independent Climate Change Board - Print version

Coventry’s Independent Climate Change board has been set up to help shape and move forward local actions to reduce the impact of climate change.

Its aim is to share policies, plans, good practice, innovation and lobbying and to work collaboratively to keep the city on track for a zero-carbon future. 

The Board will focus on five areas of sustainability and will identify opportunities in the city, deliver innovative solutions and bring together the necessary resources to support priorities. 

Board Members

Margot James - Executive Chair

WMG, University of Warwick

Margot is 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.

Cllr Jim O'Boyle – Vice Chair

Coventry City Council

Jim is Coventry’s Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change at Coventry City Council. Jim was elected to Coventry City Council in 2007 and is committed to creating an environment where business and innovation can succeed in order to create jobs and spread wealth evenly across the city and wider region.

You can watch a video from Jim and Margot talking about their plans:

Julie Nugent

Chief Executive, Coventry City Council

Dr Julie Nugent joined Coventry City Council as Chief Executive in June 2023. She has a strong track record in attracting and delivering investment to support businesses, people, and communities. She has worked at senior level across a range of organisations, at national, regional, and local level – including senior roles in government, the voluntary sector and education.

Lisa Hofen

Director of Estates and Facilities, Coventry University

Professor Stephanie Panichelli-Batalla

Academic Lead for Sustainability, University of Warwick

Clive Robinson

Sustainable Development Manager, University Hospital Coventry

Clive has been the Sustainable Development Manager at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust since April 2010 and the Chairman West Midlands NHS Sustainability Network since October 2014. The NHS has been on a sustainability journey for the last 15 years primarily due to the impact on the population.

Chris Lovatt

Chief Operating Officer, EON

Chris is Eon UK’s Chief Operating Officer for Energy Infrastructure Services, leading a team that leads on the role out of smart meters and the provision of energy efficiency measures. EON are also delivering new energy solutions such as heat pumps, solar and battery storage plus electric vehicle charging systems.

Rachel Jones - Pathway Lead, Low Emission Pathway working group

Chief Executive, Act on Energy

Corin Crane

Chief Executive, CW Chamber

Ed Green - Pathway Lead, Nature Based Pathway working group

Chief Executive, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (WWT)

Ed has been the CEO of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust since May 2014 and is passionate about bringing wildlife back to Warwickshire and empowering communities to take action for nature. Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is supported by over 26,000 members and over 600 volunteers.

Audrey O'Connor

Heritage & Environment Manager, Canal and Rivers Trust

Audrey O'Connor is the heritage advisor for the Canal and River Trust, a charity that look after and bring to life 2,000 miles of waterways

Neil Griffiths

Strategic Enabler for Sustainability, West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS)

Neil has been working on opportunities through the WMFS’ extensive activities focused on prevention and protection for the City of Coventry as a Strategic Enabler for Sustainability. Its role is to work with the public and businesses to assist climate change and can support reaching the heart of the community.

Matthew Rhodes

Director, Camirus

Matthew has supported low carbon business for the last 20 years. Matthew is heavily involved in the LEP and the Combined Authority. He is the Chair of Energy Capital which finds better ways of working with infrastructure providers to deliver zero carbon.

Sophie Mason

Energy & Sustainability Lead, Coventry Building Society

Coventry Building Society is aiming to be carbon neutral by the end of the year. CBS has worked with the council for several years, particularly on social value and they are looking forward to working collaboratively particularly supporting education and schools.

Sarah Windrum

Chair of the CWLEP, Coventry Warwickshire LEP

Sarah has been a Board Director for the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) since 2016 driving the development of digital creative clusters with national and regional stakeholders. She became CWLEP Chair in April 2021 leading the public private partnership to implement the Strategic Reset Framework and transition to delivering on the Net Zero and Levelling-Up ambitions of Central Government.

Louise Woollen

Environment and Sustainability Manager, West Midlands Police

Louise is relatively new to the position of the Environment and Sustainability Manager at the West Midlands Police. The West Midlands Police are keen to have an environment strategy in place and are currently engaging widely to shape the strategy with the aim to set net zero goals from a policing point of view.

Charlotte Heaney

Finance and Business Partner, Net Zero and Sustainability Lead, Severn Trent Water

Severn Trent is committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 as part of its triple pledge on carbon. It supports the need to adapt and take action to cope with future weather changes.

Suzanne Ward - Pathway Lead, Resilient and Adaptation Pathway working group

Environment Agency

Suzanne is an Environment Leader with a demonstrated history of working in the environmental services industry. Suzanne is Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency covering West Midlands Combined Authority and Warwickshire.

Clare Wightman, Pathway Lead, Fairer Green Futures Pathway working group

CEO, Grapevine Coventry and Warwickshire

Clare is CEO of a national award-winning social action charity, Grapevine Coventry and Warwickshire. She is committed to putting people, relationships and collaborations at the heart of this work. Open-hearted collaborations solve problems and open up opportunities - for people, for organisations and for systems. We need that more than ever.

Professor Helen Wheatley - Pathway Lead , Fairer Green Futures Pathway working group

Director of Film and Television Studies, The University of Warwick Institute of Engagement

Russ Hall - Pathway Lead, Circular Economy Pathway working group

Principal Engineer – Circular Economy and Sustainable Manufacturing, WMG, University of Warwick

Russ is the lead contact for circular economy and sustainable manufacturing at Warwick Manufacturing Group. Russ works with manufacturers in all industrial sectors to help reduce emissions, improve energy efficiencies and highlight opportunities for resource efficiencies.

Liz Hopkins - Environmental and Sustainability Manager

West Midlands Fire Service

Carol Hardingham - Head of Environment

Galliford Try

Duncan Healey- Highways Environmental Lead

Galliford Try

Paul Warrington - Relationship Director 

Lloyds Bank

Kevin Rogers - CEO

Citizen Housing

Kevin was appointed Chief Executive at Citizen Housing in May 2015. Prior to that he was the Group’s Deputy Chief Executive and Group Finance Director having previously worked as a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Terms of reference

Vision and purpose 

• Creating a globally competitive city which provides a good quality of life to all of its citizens that is home to the green industrial revolution with a vibrant circular economy that provides a zero carbon environmentally sustainable and healthy future.
• To build an active partnership across the public, private, charitable and community sectors to set individual and collective goals, working in partnership with communities in an integrated way to transform Coventry into a sustainable zero 
• carbon city. 

Membership – the stakeholders 

The Council, public agencies, local businesses, charitable and community organisations. 

Objectives 

 The Board will work collaboratively towards a common goal in developing a zero-carbon sustainable city by: 

1. developing a multi-agency strategy which identifies the issues that need to be addressed by the collective and collaborative actions of the Partnership. 
2. securing commitments and agreeing roles and responsibilities for delivering integrated initiatives and actions within a comprehensive Action Plan which addresses sustainability through the following five International Council for local Environmental Initiatives development pathways:
   • low emission
   • nature based
   • circular economy 
   • resilience and adaptation
   • equitable and people centred
3. monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness in delivering actions across the Partnership and agreeing remedial action where necessary
4. monitoring the state of the city and the effectiveness of the Action Plan in delivering the intended outcomes and the production of an annual ‘State of the City Report’ identifying progress and its impact upon the quality of life of local people
5. reviewing progress and revising commitments and actions for change
6. engaging with the public and wider community to share actions and invite feedback.
7. providing advice and support and lobbying for changes in national and regional policy. 

Meetings

• All meetings will be Chaired by the independent chair and in her or his absence by the Vice Chair and will be held at least on a quarterly basis.
• A meeting will require at least a third of its membership to be present in order to be quorate.
• Decisions will be made by consensus. If not possible the Chair will have the casting vote.
• Meetings of the Main Board will be held quarterly where appropriate. Working group meetings will be held to progress matters set by the Board and individuals or organisations may be co-opted to assist where necessary. 

 Amendments, modification or variation 

Terms of reference may be amended, varied or modified in writing after consultation and agreement of the Climate Change Board.

Pathway working groups 

Our pathway working groups allow us to bring in together organisations across the city to further our climate change actions and support our city to prosper from the green industrial revolution. 

Priorities of work follow the five sustainability pathways.  Each pathway group is chaired by a member of the main Climate Change Board as follows: 

1. Route to Net Zero Pathway group: Rachel Jones, Act on Energy
2. Nature Based Development Pathway group: Ed Green, Warwickshire Wild Life Trust
3. Circular Economy Development Pathway group: Russ Hall, Warwick Manufacturing Group 
4. Resilient Development Pathway group: Suzanne Ward, Environment Agency
5. Fairer Green Futures Pathway Group, Clare Wightman, Grapevine Coventry and Warwickshire & Helen Wheatley, Warwick Institute of Engagement

Our actions 

Our agreed priority areas of action are as follows: 

Low Emission Development

• Residential energy efficiency 
• SME case studies 
• Heat Exchange research 

Circular Economy Development  

• CE integration into the university education programme 
• Closed loop recycling  
• Reuse centres development 

Nature Based Development   

• River corridors 
• Repurposing land for rewilding projects 
• Transboundary working 

Coventry’s Climate Change Board meeting dates 2023

• 11 January
• 20 April
• 6  July
• 5  October
• 23 November 

Coventry’s Climate Change Board meeting dates 2024

• 1 February 
• 9 May
• 19 Sept

Download meeting agendas and notes [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/7267/coventry-s-climate-change-board-meeting-notes-and-agendas]