19 Dec 2006 - Our Chair, Prof. Peter Roberts, and Town and Country Planning Association Chief Executive, Gideon Amos, essay on Planning for Climate Change.
19 Dec 2006 - Our Chair, Prof. Peter Roberts, and Town and Country Planning Association Chief Executive, Gideon Amos, essay on Planning for Climate Change.
The central theme running through the pamphlet is that ‘post industrial' countries are witnessing a change in public opinion in favour of a ‘green shift'. Other contributors to the pamphlet include the following;
The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP - Chancellor of the Exchequer;
The Rt Hon David Milliband MP - Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;
Sir David King - Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government;
Peter Ainsworth MP - Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and
Chris Huhne MP - Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Peter and Gideon's joint chapter; Planning for climatechange focused on the vital role of urban and regional planning in both mitigating and adapting to climate change. Key issues highlighted within the chapter included;
Climate change requires individuals to make difficult decisions such as what type of home to live in; and walking, cycling and using public transport instead of the car;
Planning has a strategic role as a placemaking activity and can also contribute to creating sustainable communities and a reduction in carbon emissions;
The built environment contributes 50 per cent to current carbon dioxide emissions. This figure must be reduced;
While we must strive to prevent the worst aspects of climate change, we must also adapt our behaviour as well as climate change in already happening. Planners need to consider greater green cover in towns and cities to reduce the affect of increasing temperatures;
Planners need to develop a new set of skills to embrace climate change, building on Sir John Egan's review ‘Skills for Sustainable Communities and the need to enhance generic skills, knowledge and behaviour;
We need an energy distribution system which moves away from large scale generation in major power stations to a decentralised and distributed power network. This would enable smaller renewable energy producers such as wind, solar and biomass which are able to sell back to the National Grid.
There is a clear link between energy consumption and social justice as low income groups spend a higher proportion of their income on energy. This could be tackled by reformed pricing structures or social energy allocations.
