Attendees
| Doug Eltham | Devon County Council (Environment Group) |
| Emily Reed | Devon Climate Emergency |
| William Jackson-Nichols | Devon Climate Emergency |
| Jason Ball | Mid Devon District Council |
| Matthew Blythe | East Devon District Council |
| Adam Williams | South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council |
| Polly Frost | Devon County Council (Economy Team) |
| Linda Spiteri | Devon County Council (Economy Team) |
| Sara Gibbs | Public Health Devon |
| Jen Manning | Dartmoor National Park Authority |
| Louise Raymond | Devon Air Ambulance |
| Dean Kinsella | Dartmoor National Park Authority |
| Lesley Newport | Environment Agency |
| Mark Kentell | North Devon District Council |
| Claire Gibson | University of Plymouth |
1. Minutes of the previous meeting and matters arising
The minutes were accepted to be a true record. No further questions asked.
2. Race to Net Zero
Doug introduced Jen Manning from Dartmoor National Park Authority, who went on to present the Race to Net Zero.
Jen drew attention to some key points in the report, including:
Race to Zero Commitment:
- UK national parks are the first in the world to join Race to Zero.
- Commitment to respond to the five Ps (People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, Partnerships).
Carbon Baseline Footprint:
- Collaboration with Small World Consulting to produce a detailed carbon baseline footprint.
- Goal to reduce from emitting 11.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases per year to absorbing 303.5 million tonnes by 2050.
Net Zero Pathway:
- Detailed net zero pathway for each National Park.
- Goal to achieve net zero landscapes by 2040.
- Application to Race to Zero accepted in 2024.
Progress Tracking:
- Tracking progress through CDP submissions.
- Initial submissions made last year; bespoke protected landscape submissions being developed.
Next Steps:
- Each National Park to produce a climate action plan by July 2025.
- Vision for Dartmoor to be carbon negative by 2045, aligned with Race to Zero goals.
Partnership and Planning:
- Dartmoor Partnership Plan (Management Plan) is key for delivering Race to Zero goals.
- Review of the current plan (2021-2026) to strengthen partnership working.
Adaptation Plans:
- National adaptation programme requires embedding adaptation plans by 2028.
- Development of specific adaptation and climate action plans for each park.
Emission Categories:
- Highest emitting categories: energy (vehicle and household fuel use) and agriculture (livestock rearing, fertilisation).
- Travel emissions from visitor travel to and from the National Park.
Monitoring and Reporting:
- Dashboard created for monitoring annual progress against targets.
- Annual updates to track progress towards climate action goals.
Future Work:
- Climate change risk and opportunity assessment needed.
- Focus on habitats and species within the National Park.
- Continued collaboration with partners to achieve Race to Zero goals and shared resources.
Jen concluded the presentation and opened the floor for questions.
Doug highlighted the unique situation of national parks with high agricultural emissions and showed interest in working together on this issue for transferable learnings. Doug asked for reflections on the Race to Zero application process. Jen explained being not directly involved in the application but found having a lead from national parks helpful. Key learning point was the significant amount of work required for reporting through CDP, particularly accessing data and aligning climate mitigation and adaptation work across partners.
Emily discussed collaboration opportunities to address travel emissions, noting the strong theme for cooperation given the interconnected travel between different parts of Devon. Jen emphasised the importance of not leaving rural areas behind and supporting communities in rural settings like Dartmoor.
Claire congratulated national parks on their commitment and questioned the supportiveness of government policy and funding frameworks for carbon sequestration goals. Jen acknowledged support in areas like peatland restoration but indicated the need for more work and collaboration to achieve goals, particularly highlighting the importance of national parks as carbon sinks. Claire suggested interested parties follow up separately to explore collaborative efforts and ensure the right policies and support are in place.
Doug mentioned an active carbon offsetting group across Devon run by Plymouth Climate Partnership. Details to be circulated for further discussion.
Polly highlighted the potential of rural areas in Devon, including Dartmoor, to be carbon sinks. Emphasised joining efforts to maximise this opportunity, linking to green finance initiatives.
Polly mentioned an informal group chaired by Tim Young focusing on green finance for natural areas.
Polly raised a question about the relationship between stakeholders and accountability in the Race to Zero initiative and asked if stakeholders are required to include targets in their business planning processes. Jen explained efforts to improve shared ownership of the partnership plan, linking it to partners’ objectives. No accountability within Race to Zero but working on strengthening shared ownership and monitoring. Polly discussed the challenge of partnership delivery and ensuring commitments are met and suggested catching up offline for further discussion.
Claire noted that Heart of the Southwest LEP had signed up to the Race to Zero pledge and its clean growth blueprint. Although it may be overlooked now, it laid the groundwork for the Devon Energy Plan. Doug acknowledged the legacy of the clean growth blueprint and its role in the development of the Devon Energy Plan.
Doug thanked Jen for her presentation and expressed pleasure in having her as part of the partnership.
3. Progress Reports
3.1 General Progress Report
The group considered the Progress Report appended to these minutes.
Emily highlighted recommendations from the climate task force, emphasising: ongoing work with the Carbon Trust for a workshop; importance of senior leaders’ attendance and practical, high-impact actions; focus on broadening outreach to businesses and community groups; funding for research on business resilience to climate change; developing peer-to-peer learning projects on climate adaptation; and engaging with DEFRA on environmental management issues affecting farmers.
Matthew suggested raising the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) emergency response trigger at the Chief Officer Executive Board meeting. Sara mentioned that the LRF is increasingly thinking about whole-society resilience. Dean highlighted challenges in getting appropriate level of attendance and the need to demonstrate the value and impact of workshops.
Polly suggested leveraging the existing structure of Team Devon, a network of local authorities and key organisations, for business engagement rather than creating new structures. Doug highlighted the importance of carefully selecting workshop representatives to ensure productive discussions. Workshops are meant to prioritise actions in the carbon plan, not to restart conversations. Polly agreed on the need for careful management of workshop participants and mentioned the Carpenter Trust’s role in advising on this.
3.2 Climate Adaptation Strategy Progress Report
Emily mentioned a few key updates. Water Resources Management Plans: awaiting publication of the Water Resources Management Plan and West Country Water Resources Regional Plan. Climate Change Awareness Campaigns: drafted a 2025 adaptation communications calendar, seeking collaboration to increase reach. Business Resilience: need better baseline understanding of existing business resilience; to be discussed in the Carbon Plan workshop. Climate Change and Crime Rates: working with national partners for research on the effects of climate change on crime rates and civil disorder, noting the impact on domestic violence incidents.
4. Net Zero Delivery Challenges and Successes
The group discussed net zero delivery challenges and successes. Doug shared a success regarding Devon County Council’s electric vehicle charge posts. Issues with software reliability were mitigated by setting the charge posts to plug and play mode, which improved reliability. Future plans include connecting them via wired network for internet access and charging data.
Appendix 1 – Project Progress Report
Period: December to January 2024
Partnership Update
General Communications
For the second month running the overall number of followers contracted, in December this was by 0.6%. This was due to a slight loss of followers on X and the newsletter which was not offset by the growth in Instagram followers. The reduced capacity of the team following the resignation of the Climate Emergency Support Officer is impacting on channel growth, though for X it is compounded by challenges around changes to the culture of the channel. The new Climate Emergency Support Officer is starting on the 13th of January which will provide greater capacity.
Partners’ Notable Activity
Activity is recorded centrally on the Taking Action pages of the Devon Climate Emergency website.
- South Hams District Council have established a new community woodland in South Brent, planting 2,500 trees with community volunteers.
- Exeter University recognised for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Leadership’ by the Times Higher Education awards.
- Plymouth’s Young Climate Ambassador scheme seeks to engage youth aged 11 to 17 in local climate issues, fostering a generation of environmentally conscious advocates.
- A single bus journey will cost just £1 on all bus services in Devon and Torbay across three ‘Super Saturdays’ this January.
Oversight of the Devon Carbon Plan
The Progress Reports detailing known activity against each action are on the website. A summary of the number of actions categorised by each RAG status is provided below, split by theme.
Note that each theme of the carbon plan is reviewed every 6 months, which means the RAG status will not change significantly within the monthly periods of this progress report.
Blue = Completed
Green = Generally progressing well
Amber = Progressing but geography or scope is limited
Red = Not started or activity significantly limited
Grey = Not yet assessed
Built Environment
Common Issues:
- Finance required to expand geography
- Finance required for more people resource, particularly spatial planning
- Uncertainty regarding the implications of a written ministerial statement on Local Plans.
Economy and Resources
Common Issues:
- Clearer guidance from government on aspects of waste management needed
- Finance required for more people resource
Energy Supply
Common Issues:
- Availability of capital finance
Food, Land and Sea
Common Issues:
- Complexity of agendas, e.g. Land Use Framework and Local Nature Recovery Strategy
- Finance required to expand geography and scope
Transport
Common Issues:
- Public concern about EVs and reallocating highway space for sustainable modes
- Grid capacity
- Availability of capital finance
Cross-Cutting Themes
Common Issues:
- Finance required for more people resource, particularly spatial planning
- Finance required to expand geography
The first phase of monitoring indicators are online. The University of Exeter has helped to expand the indicator set, which will be added to the web page early this year.
Oversight of the Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Climate Adaptation Strategy
The Climate Impacts Group is continuing its programme to review all the risks and near-term actions each year. No change to the RAG ratings this month.
Feedback from the Climate Task Force
The Devon Climate Task Force held its latest quarterly meeting in December and made the following recommendations to the Response Group:
- Use the Local Resilience Forum emergency response trigger to ensure sufficiently senior leaders, as well as personnel who will implement actions, attend the Carbon Trust workshop.
- Ensure the workshop focuses on practical, high-impact actions, and addressing barriers to success.
- Ensure the Carbon Trust workshop includes a focus on broadening outreach to businesses and community groups.
- Secure or provide funding to research business resilience and understand what businesses are doing around climate resilience.
- Develop a project to capture and share peer-to-peer learning about climate adaptation through resilience stories from businesses.
- Engage with Defra regarding options for environmental management and regulatory issues affecting farmers’ adaptation efforts e.g. water abstraction licencing.
Devolution Update
In Devon and Torbay, and also Plymouth, the devolution journey continues. Draft regulations to create the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority are progressing through Parliament and are due to come into force early in 2025. However, the Government’s “English Devolution White Paper”, published on the 16th December, sets out further changes to give places and communities more control over shaping their area.
Following the Devolution White Paper, the Government has outlined a programme of local government reorganisation for two-tier areas, where there are District and County Councils. Councils will be invited to make proposals for new unitary councils. The implications of this for Devon are evolving at pace and look likely to have significant ramifications for local authorities in the partnership. Consequently, the risk register has been updated to reflect the risk that negotiations regarding a transition to unitary status creates uncertainty and reduces the capacity of partner organisations.
