Sustainable Community Strategy - Coventry Partnership

10. Making a positive environmental contribution and tackling climate change
Improving Coventryʼs environment and tackling climate change
10.1 This is the second underpinning theme which
aims to ensure that the Sustainable Community
Strategy focuses on wider environmental
sustainable issues across all themes and that
Coventry is tackling climate change.
10.2 This theme focuses on the things that we need
to do in Coventry to have a positive impact on
Coventryʼs environment. It considers how we can
reduce or mitigate the negative impact activity in the
city is having on climate change and to ensure that
the city is prepared for its possible impact. This
theme aims to address the wider environmental
issues that are not addressed earlier which focuses
on ensuring that Coventryʼs streets, neighbourhoods
and parks are clean and enjoyable places to be.
Where are we now?
10.3 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change and the Stern Review concluded that the
need to take action now to limit climate change is
imperative. Global impacts include global warming
with reduction in the extent of polar ice caps, melting
glaciers and warming of oceans. This is resulting in
increasing rainfall and large-scale, long-term
droughts, rising sea levels, and extreme weather
including hurricanes and storms.
10.4 It is expected that climate change will cause
more extreme weather conditions across Europe,
including more very hot days, more intense
downpours of rain and changes in storm patterns.
A heatwave in 2003 resulted in an estimated 35,000
excess deaths across Europe. It is estimated that in
the future there will be 2,800 heat related deaths in
the UK each year.
10.5 Urban areas like Coventry will be particularly
vulnerable. A lack of natural ventilation in buildings,
insufficient green open space and blocks of tall
buildings combine to exacerbate the heat island
effect, which could clearly affect some areas of
Coventry including the city centre and densely builtup
neighbourhoods like Foleshill and Stoke.
10.6 Other climate change impacts on Coventry
could include an increase in flooding and winter
storm damage, pressure on drainage systems,
habitat and species loss, summer water shortage
and low stream flows, increased risk of subsidence
in subsidence-prone areas, increasing thermal
discomfort in buildings and health issues in summer.
10.7 Coventry City Council signed the Draft
Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change in
October 2006 and has published a Climate Change
Strategy for Coventry. This sets out proposals for
actions that will address the factors which cause
climate change, and proposals for adaptations to
deal with the consequences of climate change. The
proposed actions being consulted upon aim to
deliver the target to reduce carbon emissions in
Coventry by 67% by 2050. One key vehicle for
delivery will be through climate proofing of Coventry
City Council policies and strategies, and those of
partner organisations.
10.8 Generation of Coventryʼs greenhouse gas
emissions for 2002-3 is split as follows:
• Housing 42%
• Transport 28%
• Industry/commerce 25%
• Local authority 3%
• Other public sector 2%
10.9 Coventry is ahead of schedule to meet the
Government target to save 30% of energy
consumption in the domestic sector by 2011.
10.10 The proportion of waste sent for recycling and
composting during 2006/07 was 24.21%. This
exceeded our own full year target of 23.72% (and is
ahead of Coventry's nationally set statutory
performance standard of 20% for 2007/08). This is a
significant improvement on the previous year's
18.10% (when Coventry's statutory performance
standard was 18%) and reflects the major
investment in new kerbside collection facilities
across the city. Coventry sent just 6.25% of its
domestic waste to landfill in 2006/07, showing a
small improvement on the previous year's 7.3%.
What things will we need to tackle?
10.11 The key action to be taken is to reduce the
carbon-dioxide emissions of Coventry. We also
need to improve the air quality of the city. We will
need to raise public awareness about climate
change and motivate Coventry people as individuals
and within organisations to choose more sustainable
behaviours to reduce their impact on climate
change.
10.12 We will need to promote energy efficiency,
reduction of energy use and the use of sustainable
energy sources and the micro-generation of energy.
We will need to make the cityʼs current housing
stock more energy efficient and encourage people
to use more sustainable forms of transport including
walking and cycling.
10.13 We also need to reduce the amount of waste
that is produced by Coventry and further increase
the amount of waste that is re-used, recycled or
composted. We will need to develop and implement
a city and sub-regional sustainable waste strategy.
10.14 We will also need to plan to adapt Coventry to
climate change. To do this we will need to better
understand the likely impacts of climate change on
Coventry, its infrastructure and people.
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