Why is more not doing more?

While climate change is a pressing issue, councils have other priorities that see funding and resources needed elsewhere as well as barriers from the national government, and conflicting views on climate change policies.

One such policy that sees kickback from conservative-led councils is the expansion of Ultra Low Emissions Zones (ULEZ).

Poor air quality, mainly caused by polluting vehicles, is impacting the health of Londoners. To combat this, ULEZ were created.

ULEZ aims to help improve air quality by reducing the number of vehicles in London that don't meet emissions standards.

Vehicles that use these zones and do not meet the emissions standards or have exemptions will be charged a daily road usage tax of £12.50.

According to the Inner London ULEZ One Year Report, the ULEZ has already helped to reduce harmful nitrogen dioxide pollution by nearly half in central London and a fifth in inner London.

The expansion of the ULEZ to all London boroughs is due to these successes and the fact that the greatest number of deaths related to air pollution occur in outer London areas.

However, five conservative councils in outer London claimed that the ULEZ expansion was an unlawful money-making scheme that would unfairly affect lower-income households.

The five councils challenged the legality of the expansion in the High Court but lost after the ruling in July determined there was no legal impediment to the expansion, with the judge stating the mayor's expansion decision "was within his powers".

The case cost the five councils £230,941 in disbursements and £500,000 in legal costs to Transport for London.

A climate change plan needs to be developed where all authorities can achieve the goals set out. It needs to be backed by (peer-reviewed) clear, scientific evidence which can not be debated or misconstrued by those who do not believe in climate change.

Most importantly, a large boost of funding for sustainable projects is desperately needed to achieve net zero carbon by 2030.

Many councils report that the biggest barriers to implementing meaningful change and sustainable options are national government policies and inadequate funding.

According to Climate Emergency UK, 169 out of 388 UK councils have lobbied the national government calling on them to take further climate action or to provide further funding, powers, and climate resources so that councils
can take action themselves.

The national government are roadblocking climate action by rolling back on net zero policies, signing off on new oil and gas deals, and not giving authorities the resources and funding needed to implement long-lasting, sustainable changes despite urgent calls from councils, organisations, and experts.

Sunak has faced criticism for claiming that net zero ambitions will still be met while rolling back on multiple green policies, including delaying the deadline on the sale of new diesel cars.

One recent rollback by the Conservative Government was the scrapping of the "seven bins" policy.

A policy which did not seem to exist until Sunak scrapped it.

Addressing the confusion around the seven bins policy, Sunak said he would “never impose these unnecessary and heavy-handed measures on [households]”.

The fabled "seven bins" policy is actually part of the Consistent Recycling Collections strategy outlined in the Environment Act, which would see separate bins for different categories of recyclables to help increase the recycling rate.

It never stated that households would need seven different recycling bins. Instead, it outlined a need for a more standardised recycling approach that incorporated all recyclable categories such as glass, paper, hard plastic, etc.

Defra issued communications that said: "It was never the case that seven bins would be needed by households, this new plan ensures."

The new plan is the Simpler Recycling scheme where all recyclables are to go in the same bin and will later need to be separated at a waste facility.

This flip-flopping and uncertainty from the Government is causing frustration for many trying to achieve sustainability goals set out by the government such as the 65% municipal recycling rate by 2035 target.

UK’s second largest waste and recycling authority, North London Waste Authority (NLWA), expressed concerns that the Government’s announcement is another tactic to delay meaningful action to support increases in domestic recycling.

NLWA had already spent resources on developing a waste collection strategy in line with the Consistent Recycling Collections guidelines.

NLWA chair and Waltham Forest councillor Clyde Loakes said: “The government proposed its consistent collections reforms in 2018 and even now – a tortuous five years and four Secretaries of State later – many important details are still unclear."

Slow action on implementing successful climate change policies by the Government is leading to frustration and increased fear for what kind of world future generations will inherit.

Executive Director of the United National Environment Program Inger Andersen stated: “In 2023, climate change yet again became more disruptive and deadly: temperature records toppled, while storms, floods, heatwaves and wildfires caused devastation.”

The Climate Change Committee reported that net zero carbon can only be achieved if Government, regional agencies, and local authorities work seamlessly together.

With such an ambitious task and not every player on the same team, success is not in plain sight.