Part One: Spatial Strategy and Policies (Regulation 19)
12. Climate Change
12.1. The Council declared a climate emergency in July 2020 and pledged to achieve carbon net zero carbon by 2030 and a carbon net zero Borough by 2041. Alongside this, the West Midlands Combined Authority declared a climate change emergency in June 2019 and committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2041. This means that the Council will be working towards meeting these targets through the timescale of the Dudley Local Plan and beyond.
12.2. Information from the Met Office[42] indicates that under projections looking at potential climate change over land to the 2070s, a location in the middle of England is likely to experience changes in precipitation and temperature in both summer and winter[43] equating to:
|
Summer rainfall change |
41% drier to 9% wetter [low emissions scenario]. |
57% drier to 3% wetter [high emissions scenario] |
|
Winter rainfall change |
3% drier to 22% wetter [low emissions scenario]. |
2% drier to 33% wetter [high emissions scenario] |
|
Summer temperature change |
No change to 3.3 °C warmer [low emissions scenario] |
1.1°C warmer to 5.8 °C warmer [high emissions scenario] |
|
Winter temperature change |
-0.1 °C cooler to 2.4 °C warmer [low emissions scenario]. |
0.7 °C warmer to 4.2 °C warmer [high emissions scenario] |
12.3. Local planning authorities are bound by the legal duty set out in Section 19 of the 2004 Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act, as amended by the 2008 Planning Act, to ensure that planning policy contributes to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.
12.4. The NPPF sets out in more detail the duty of planning in helping to contend with a changing climate and the vulnerabilities it generates in the built and natural environments. This includes planning for zero and low carbon development, requiring renewable and low carbon energy supply, reducing emissions and greenhouse gases, the mitigation of flood risks and employing appropriate policy and design solutions to address rising temperatures, ventilation, the need for additional green infrastructure and the protection of the natural environment.
12.5. To help Dudley Borough become a more efficient and resilient place, policies in the DLP will encourage development to:
- improve energy efficiency and move towards becoming carbon net zero, in accordance with national targets and with the aims of the West Midlands Combined Authority commitment to achieve carbon net zero by 2041 and the Council target by 2030.
- help decarbonise the transport system by locating developments sustainably to reduce new trips and encouraging less energy intensive and more sustainable modes of transport (as set out in the Transport section).
- ensure buildings and infrastructure are designed, landscaped, and made suitably accessible to help adapt to a changing climate, making efficient use of water, reducing impacts from natural hazards like flooding and heatwaves, and avoiding contributing to the urban heat island effect.
- create a safe and secure environment that is resilient to the impacts of climate-related emergencies.
- take an integrated approach to the delivery of strategic and local infrastructure by ensuring that public, private, community and voluntary sectors plan and work together. Factors which may lead to the exacerbation of climate change (through the generation of more greenhouse gases) must be avoided (e.g. pollution, habitat fragmentation, loss of biodiversity) and the natural environment's resilience to change should be protected.
[42]https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/metofficegovuk/pdf/research/ukcp/ukcp18-infographicheadline-findings-land.pdf
[43] All results are for the 10th-90th percentile range for the 2060-2079 period relative to 1981-2000
