Category: Cities and local authorities, Policies and measures

Ealing Council Climate Action Plan Multi-Criteria Analysis

Aether developed a multi-criteria analysis of Ealing Council’s Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy (CEES) to support the Council with prioritisation and delivery of climate actions to reach their 2030 target of carbon neutrality.

The challenge

Ealing Council declared a climate emergency in April 2019 and set a target of 2030 to reach carbon neutrality for the Council and borough. The target covers all carbon emissions, both produced and consumed, by everyone in the borough. Ealing Council adopted the Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy (CEES) in 2021 and a two-year action plan was created for 2023-2025 which outlined key activities to push towards the 2030 target.

 

The solution

To aid with the prioritisation and delivery of these decarbonisation actions, Ealing Council commissioned Aether to estimate the implementation costs and wider benefits of the actions and to develop a tool to enable Council officers to refine and update the analysis as new information becomes available. This was developed through a multi-criteria assessment of the CEES actions.

This involved:

  • Stakeholder engagement to realise a political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE) analysis to understand the broader influences and success determinators of the actions
  • Estimating capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX) of the actions, including staff time for the Council, asset purchases, external resources
  • Analysing wider social, economic and environmental impacts of the actions beyond decarbonisation, aligned with the 9 priorities identified in Ealing’s Council Plan
  • Qualitative assessment of the GHG emissions impacts of the actions

The analysis was developed in a Climate Impact Action Tool in Excel that the Council can use independently to view and refine the multi-criteria assessment in the future. This includes graphic viewers of the results across actions and detailed dives for specific actions.

A gap analysis of climate actions for the decarbonisation of Ealing was performed to help identify opportunities for further ambition and GHG emissions reductions.

 

The result

Ealing Council has a user-friendly multi-criteria assessment tool established to aid with the prioritisation and analysis of Ealing’s policies under the Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy. The tool can be used to update analysis as more data is collected. The next steps for Ealing will be to review the impact scores of their actions, consider further actions that could be drafted, and to make demands of Central Government to enable the significant changes that are required to meet the challenges of reaching net zero carbon.

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Kathryn Hampshire

Principal Consultant

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“The support provided by Aether for this project was especially remarkable considering the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tools and methods used in order to engage local stakeholders really added value to the capacity building of the national team.”

Shanna Emmanuel, Saint Lucia BUR Project Coordinator

“Both the face-to-face training and the online version have been of high quality, with dynamic methods and a practical orientation that have allowed students to reach a solid knowledge base. The products have been delivered within the stipulated deadlines with an excellent quality and the team has always shown willingness to make adjustments according to the requirements of CONAF. We are very satisfied with the work. ”

Javier Cano Martín, Professional Unit for Climate Change and Environmental Services, CONAF (National Forestry Corporation), Chile

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Umhverfisstofnun, Environment Agency of Iceland

“From their winning bid to final delivery, Aether's work with North Norfolk District Council was positive and thorough. They brought a clear understanding of the challenges local authorities face regarding carbon emissions and quickly understood the unique nature of the Coastwise project. Communication was effective, and the outcomes combined a depth of research with real-world utility for the council's activities around carbon emissions and mitigation.”

Alastair Zangs, North Norfolk District Council

“We have worked with Aether since 2019 to baseline, and subsequently update, our council and borough greenhouse gas inventories. It is a pleasure working with Aether’s professional, responsive, collaborative and helpful team. ”

Merton Council

“The Aether team were a joy to work with and I would recommend the consultancy - the service provided throughout the process was exceptional.”

Clare Bayley, Defra

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Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research

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UNFCCC Secretariat

“Saint Lucia embraces the professional approach with which this project was undertaken by Aether, particularly their ability to develop mentorship relations with local government experts. This provides a basis for ensuring that the pool of local experts remain engaged and recognized over successive processes.”

Annette Rattigan-Leo, Chief Sustainable Development and Environment Officer

“The professional service provided by your company was of very high quality and completed within agreed timelines.”

Matthew Dudley, UNFCCC Secretariat

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