There is pressure on all of us to prioritise the climate emergency and this summer’s heatwaves and subsequent drought have served as a stark reminder of the situation we all find ourselves in. This year’s annual progress report from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) made for interesting - but not surprising - reading, finding that solid progress continues to lag behind policy ambition when it comes to reaching our net zero target.

During the Environmental Audit Committee’s subsequent questioning of the CCC, Lord Deben, its chairman, made the point fairly early on that central government needs to work closely with local government in the drive to reach net zero. This is because each local authority has an expert, multi-layered understanding of their locality, particularly the needs of the more disadvantaged areas and how they can be addressed in order to reduce carbon emissions.

With the cost of living hitting record highs, it will be increasingly difficult to maintain sustainable initiatives, yet it is vital that our progress towards net zero is protected. Our last urgent crisis was the Covid-19 pandemic, where sustainability was seemingly forgotten - the World Health Organisation reported that tens of thousands of tonnes of healthcare waste threatened human and environmental health. It’s hard to think long term during a crisis but we can’t afford to make purely cost based decisions during this latest crisis if we are to achieve net zero.

This is where local government has a starring role to play by seeking ways to help the more deprived and vulnerable areas of the UK to reduce emissions. Taking a fresh look at social value in procurement will pay dividends in our collective mission to achieve this.

The role of social value in reaching net zero

After a decade of embedding a 10% social value weighting into all procurement, the foundations of social value are firmly set in local government which puts it in a strong position to work creatively and collaboratively with suppliers on net zero.

Most are already committed to low emissions activities such as; buying local, procuring from environmentally friendly suppliers and negotiating green initiatives into new contracts but more can and must be done.

This year, the NEPO energy team won ‘best public sector project’ at the 2022 Social Value Awards for their work procuring energy contracts on behalf of local authorities and other public sector organisations. By collaborating with energy suppliers and 23 public sector organisations, they were able to deliver:

• Educational content which focused on net zero in primary and secondary schools which included information on ways carbon reduction can be achieved
• Financial investment in the installation of solar PV in two large schools in Durham which will generate renewably sourced energy and reduce their reliance on the grid - particularly timely given the energy price hikes expected this winter
• Collaboration with the North East VCSE sector, which represents 1,600 charities, voluntary organisations, community groups and social enterprises, assisting the local authority in strengthening the region as a whole

Using this example, it is clear that prioritising net zero initiatives as part of a social value strategy on a local government level ultimately strengthens communities by creating job opportunities, increasing spend in the area and educating the next generation on how to reduce carbon emissions.

Building stronger, more resilient communities lies at the heart of the social value movement and net zero is fast becoming an integral part of the agenda.

The importance of measuring, evaluating and reporting

Over the last few months, I’ve been leading a working group for the National Social Value Taskforce to understand how the social value movement can engage more meaningfully in the fight against climate change. This has led to the widely used measurement framework, the National TOMs, being significantly updated to address environmental challenges, enabling organisations to reach a good level of transparency when talking about their environmental performance.

There is still work to be done to understand the societal consequences of the move to net zero but measurement, evaluation and reporting are the only way we will truly get there. Understanding what actions have the most positive impact and, crucially, what more we can do together is the only real - and expedient - way forward.

Nathan Goode is chief strategy officer at Social Value Portal