Essential reading: Climate action and sustainable development

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With the impacts of climate change worsening with every passing year, local authorities hold a vital role in both cutting emissions and in developing more resilient places.

We have picked out a few items from our huge library of local government content that we hope will provide you with inspiration, ideas or just food for thought and make you want to delve deeper into the LGIU’s local government resources.

This page is part of LGIU’s resources for new councillors.

Backgrounder: Climate change & biodiversity

Sometimes you just want to know the essentials – the background to a subject – either because you are fairly new to it or you need a bit of a refresher. LGIU’s backgrounders give you that and this one focuses on the role of local authorities in tackling the climate emergency and highlights three key areas of climate action. Read here.

Global Local: Climate action during a cost of living crisis

Have you discovered our Global Local bulletin? Each week we take a theme and bring you stories, ideas and inspiration from local government and partners around the world. This recent edition looks at what councils are doing to address the climate emergency while supporting residents through the economic crisis. Read this bulletin.

Local government leading climate change action: case studies

Case studies are an excellent way to quickly grasp an issue and find out what other councils are doing in response. You will discover case studies embedded across many of LGIU’s resources – our members love them! This particular long read is only case studies – and it focuses on climate change and building local consensus for action. Read the full article.

Carbon offsetting for local authorities: what are they and how do they work

This is an updated publication on the topic of carbon offsetting, covering what it means for local authorities, how it works in practice and what the controversial aspects are. Read this publication.

Has your Council Declared a Climate Emergency? Ten things councillors can do to drive action for net zero

Referring to examples from across the UK, this briefing sets out ten actions that councillors can take to help meet the challenge of eliminating emissions. Read briefing. 

Delving deeper

If we’ve piqued your interest, why not browse through the our climate change and sustainable development page. From policy briefings to podcasts we have a wide range of content exploring this subject. Go to topic page.

Keep up to date on climate change and sustainable development with LGIU

The LGIU has extensive resources for both councillors and local government staff. The easiest way to keep up-to-date with what’s available is to sign up on our website (it’s free and easy to do) and opt to receive one of our newsletters.

If you are from an LGIU member organisation then you will automatically get access to all of our member-only resources when you sign up. Make sure you opt for ‘The essential resources’ update – it’s a key part of your council/organisation membership.