Devolving powers to cities will be critical to the Government achieving its net zero goals, a think-tank has argued.
A new Centre for Cities report explores what the UK can learn from international cities, arguing that those with more powers over transport and planning are better able to encourage and enable people to live more environmentally friendly lives.
The think-tank said that with cities accounting for 41% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2022, devolving more power and resources would be crucial if the Government was to achieve its missions of a cleaner power sector by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Centre for Cities chief executive Andrew Carter said metro mayors in England had used existing powers to help the transition to net zero, citing Greater Manchester’s Bee Network and Liverpool City Region’s upcoming spatial plan as examples.
But he said mayors’ powers were still ‘pretty limited’.
He added: ‘There are many more good ideas from around the world for these places to draw on – they just need the powers and resources to implement them.
‘The more power cities have, the more they will be able to achieve.’
