Essential reading: Climate action and sustainable development

Photo by Matt Palmer on Unsplash

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.

Primer: Climate Change & Biodiversity

This primer introduces you to the role of local authorities in tackling the climate emergency and highlights three key areas of climate action. It is part of a series of primers, covering key local authority topics, which are aimed particularly at new councillors to help them settle into the role. Read here.

Bundle: Economic opportunities from climate action

This bundle presents LGIU’s latest report, Exploring Economic and Enterprise Opportunities from Climate Action, alongside two supplementary briefings. The first summarises the findings of the report, drawing out key lessons and signposting back to case studies. The second provides coverage and analysis of a recent conference on the same subject. View bundle.

Bundle: Adaptation to Climate Change

While reducing greenhouse gas emissions and working toward other mitigations are important, adaptation must become a central part of local authority climate governance. View bundle.

Bundle: Flood resilience and recovery

Local authorities have a significant role to play in flood preparation and response, from mitigation, education and preparation activities to emergency support, communications and recovery. View bundle.

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

Recent headlines suggest that the UK is on its way to meeting the target of net zero by 2050. Referring to examples from across the UK, this briefing sets out ten actions that councillors can take to meet the challenge of eliminating remaining 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

Sign up to our website and we will keep you up to date whenever we publish something on a topic you are interested in. Create your website account, it’s free and easy to do, when you get to the ‘My interests’ page select ‘climate change and sustainable development’ and any other topics you want.

Are you an LGIU member?

LGIU was founded in the UK in 1983. Now as  LGIU England & Wales, LGIU Scotland, LGIU Ireland and LGIU Australia, we work for and with local authorities around the world, helping them to serve their local communities more effectively. We provide our members with the mix of insight, ideas and innovation that they need to get the job done and plan for the future. Put simply, we are here supporting local government every day. Find out more about LGIU membership or register for free on our website.