Mapping the Big Green Challenge - The Skills & Learning ...

Mapping the Big Green Challenge 314 The Big Green Challenge and UK Climate Change PolicyKey FindingsUK Climate Change Policy as expressed in Committee on Climate Change and Defra provide aframework for classifying low carbon goals and their relative feasibility (technically, economicallyor socially). These have been used to benchmark the goals contained in BGC proposals so thatthe 3 rd Sector’s contribution can be measured against nationally identified priorities.On this basis proposals can be seen to utilise both current and less certain technologies and totarget behaviours which were recognised as ‘difficult’ as well as more ‘straightforward’ in termsof the public’s acceptance and willingness to act.Only a minority (20%) of Challengers restricted their applications to general awareness raisingwith the rest targeting specific goals. Those most commonly addressed were renewable energy& micro-generation (non-residential), transport modal shift, and lifestyle measures relating towaste reduction. This shows an interest in going beyond measures relating to the household.In terms of potential impact on carbon reduction (as assessed by the CCC) the measuresproposed by BG Challengers correlated strongly with those identified as having the mostpotential (energy use in buildings and transport). Challengers give more weight to measuresinvolving waste reduction and eating locally produced food than current national priorities oncarbon reduction would suggest.Reducing short-haul flying and low impact diets were two measures rarely tackled by proposals.These are recognised as having high potential for carbon reduction but have not featuredprominently in Government campaigns such as ‘Act on CO 2 ’.Over a third of all carbon reduction measures targeted involved ‘lifestyle’ changes and one ormore of these measures appeared within nearly 80% of all proposals. This is an important areawhere identified goals have proved difficult to achieve in practice.58% of the proposals that gave details of the carbon reduction measures included goals frommore than one top level category (e.g. combining residential energy use and transport, orResidential energy use, non-residential energy use and waste). This suggests an integratedapproach to low carbon goals.Key ConceptsCarbon Reduction Goals (top level): The main area of action on carbon reduction as defined in theCCC report, e.g. Residential Energy Use, Non-Residential Energy Use, Transport Use, Waste.Carbon Reduction Measures (mid level and detailed level): Hierarchical system for classifyingmore detailed carbon reduction measures. For example, mid level measures within ResidentialEnergy include Insulation, Heating, Renewable heat & micro-generation. The mid level category‘Renewable heat & micro-generation’ is further broken down into the detailed measuresaccording to the power source: Biomass, Wind, Photovoltaic generation, Solar thermal waterheating.Appleby Ltd July 2009