Meeting Report: A Local Green New Deal for Brighton and Hove
What exactly is a ‘Green New Deal’? What are the ‘must-haves’ and the ‘like-to-haves’? What are the ideological underpinnings of a Green New Deal?
What are the opportunities to create a Green New Deal locally? And what are the constraints - institutional and financial? How much room for manoeuvre does a local authority really have?
Which sectors show promise for a Local Green New Deal in Brighton and Hove? Energy? Transport? Active travel? Green spaces? What is already being done? And what is next?
How do the public feel about the different elements of a Green New Deal in Brighton and Hove? How can they be involved and enthused?
An open meeting was held on 30 November 2023, to launch a Report from the Centre for Research on Energy Demand Solutions and the New Economics Foundation on ‘Local Green New Deals: A Transformative Plan for Achieving the UK’s Climate, Social and Economic Goals Locally’. The Research Report can be downloaded here. The Powerpoint for the meeting can be downloaded as a pdf here. The transcript of the presentations and commentary by the discussant is here. A video of the powerpoint with audio can be accessed here.
We were glad to welcome Tim Foxon, Donal Brown and Christian Jaccarini to introduce their report, and Caroline Lucas MP to act as discussant.
Here is a short report on the meeting.
1. Simon Maxwell welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Climate:Change as an epistemic community, where we come together to analyse the issues and to build consensus around climate change action in Brighton and Hove. He introduced the meeting topic – A Local Green New Deal for Brighton and Hove – and the panelists: Tim Foxon, Donal Brown and Christian Jaccarini - before giving a special mention to our discussant, Caroline Lucas MP.
2. Tim, Donal and Christian then presented slides capturing the key points of the recently launched report on Local Green New Deals focusing on housing, transport and green spaces. The slides can be accessed here, a transcript of the presentation is here, and a video of the slides with the audio track is here.
3. Looking at future scenarios, Tim emphasised that a 50% reduction in energy demand by 2050 is possible, with action at the local level being essential.
4. Donal summarised some of the evidence used in the report, which maintained a local focus and included:
National retrofitting strategy and heat pumps – while acceleration at the national level is key, a downscaling exercise revealed that retrofitting 316k homes in Brighton would lift over 40k people out of poverty, decrease energy bills and create new jobs. Implementation could use a finance model including public and private investment and be means-based.
Transport – exploring options seeking alternatives to projections of increasing car journeys.
Identifying areas for afforestation projects.
A survey of 350 Brighton residents found all measures to be popular, with the least popular proposed measures being changes to diet and car sharing.
5. Christian then spoke on creating community wealth through the net zero agenda:
Housing – caution advised around working with big companies. Key recommendations included a 10-year retrofit delivery framework requiring support from Local Authorities and national government as well as a national awareness campaign and training programmes run locally but funded nationally. The case study of Glasgow demonstrates their expertise and success in sustainable building and they have got a much more diverse workforce as a result of this than the general construction sector.
Transport – there is a need for a review of transport in Brighton, as currently three separate bodies are operating independently. Therefore, options for a more holistic approach and being open to a not-for-profit system and redistribution of power are options that could facilitate effective review, proposals and implementation. Caution against top-down approach to low-traffic neighbourhood proposals. Transport-led housing should also be considered if funding is available.
6. Before opening the floor for discussion, Simon noted how the term ‘Green New Deal’ has been attached to very different proposals, giving the example of comparing the Labour GND with the US GND, with the main point being that there are different ideological strands in the different reports. What, he asked, was the ideological underpinning here?
7. Simon then handed over to Caroline Lucas, who made the following comments (the transcript is here):
Praised the comprehensive identification of obstacles and not shying away from the important recognition of centralised nature of power in our country.
Expanded on Simon’s point about different GNDs; Labour are framing their GND as a more industrial strategy but Caroline advocates for a GND being about transformation, with environmental and social justice at the core.
The issues confronted by a GND are fundamentally about ownership, power and wealth ad should include, for example, social care, in a truly holistic approach.
Brought attention to two workstreams, Local Edge and the IPPR Environmental Justice Commission, which evidence the necessity of fairness and social justice being put at the heart of an environmental transition.
How a GND is implemented is just as important as the content and it is essential that all people are brought along – this must be done ‘by and with people not to people’.
Further discussion is needed to identify and mobilise resources to fund a transition, but the is reason for optimism as many in government are supportive.
Closing comments on sector-specific recommendations:
o Reiterated energy efficiency as important not to overlook and initiatives like retrofitting offer a clear win-win-win situation for reducing the cost of energy bills, reducing emissions, and improving health outcomes. Noted evidence in favour of street-by-street initiatives as well as individual grants and loans.
o In relation to transport, the issue of ownership is key and the bus system in Manchester offers an example for how power can be redistributed for better outcomes. Emphasised that nationalising public transport does not necessarily mean a return to, for example, British Rail, it can mean something much more engaged with and driven by the local community.
Concluded by praising further aspects of the report including food, land, and trams, overall welcoming the call for a reduction in demand rather than just expansion of renewables and other green industries.
Finally, Caroline underlined her support for devolution and getting power down to the local level as well as improving democratic participation and accountability that means this is done in a way that is supported by communities.
8. The discussion ranged over a number of issues:
(Not much discussed, but an issue of what is necessary and what optional in a Green New Deal. For example, Caroline Lucas recommended including social care.). A point was also made that we were talking about a local plan but scope 3 emissions were also important e.g., global supply chains.
On the ideological foundation of different Green New Deal proposals:
o Donal – GND is pretty centrist but framed as radical because of how extreme our economics and politics have become. It is a more Keynsian, social democratic position but not the stuff of a ‘loony left’.
o Caroline – concerns about the left-coding of the GND as the policies are popular. Backs a wealth tax as a stream of public funding for a GND and gave examples of Norway, Spain and Switzerland as countries that are not considered extremely radically left-wing.
o Tim – policies can framed as achieving social and environmental goals alongside economic growth, rather than just following a mantra of economic growth.
On the room for manoeuvre for local authorities:
o Christian – market-based approaches can be inefficient (example of retrofitting) but is it high-risk for Local Authorities to make huge changes due to restrictions and obstacles.
o Donal – noted that Local Authorities have the power to set higher carbon standards.
o Dan – some Local Authorities, such as Manchester, are offering 0% loans for home improvements.
o Vic from the Food Partnership said the Partnership is looking at a place-based answer but is butting up against national policy.
o There was interest in a direct labour option for the Council. Christian said the council directly employing staff to undertake maintenance on council housing be important for achieving net zero.
On generating public support:
o Dan from the Brighton & Hove Energy Services Co-operative spoke about an ongoing project. With funding from the Greater South-East Energy Hub, BHEsco are trialling a street-by-street retrofit approach, with a plan to package up a series of retrofit installations – Bristol are doing this and taking packages to capital markets.
o Paul – a key point is missing which was raised at a citizens assembly, which is that the most popular measure was a car-free zone.
o Aidan, (a transport professional) - a culture shift is needed for more active travel so we could be considering behaviour change initiatives, which could be a relatively cheaper option.
o Vic - consumption changes can help but personal choice messaging versus social behaviours can be problematic.
9. Closing the meeting, Simon referred participants to posts on the website dealing with the issues raised, including transport, public participation, and LTNs. He recommended the World Bank book on navigating the political economy of decarbonisation - reviewed on the website here.
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EP/SM
Photo credit: Stuart Robinson, University of Sussex