Category: Cities and local authorities, Emission inventories, Policies and measures

Merton Council Climate Emergency Support

Aether and SE2 supported Merton Council in developing their action plan to meet targets to decarbonise the Council by 2030 and the borough of Merton by 2050

The challenge

Merton Council declared a climate emergency in July 2019 and set carbon reduction targets to decarbonise the Council by 2030 and the borough of Merton by 2050. Merton has a history of taking strong action in this area and has had a climate strategy since 2009. However, unprecedented change will be necessary going forward. Merton Council contracted Aether, along with SE2, to provide support in the preparation of Merton’s climate action plan. The challenge was to identify and quantify a range of actions that Merton might undertake to achieve the decarbonisation targets.

The solution

To underpin the development of Merton's Climate Strategy & Action Plan, Aether supported Merton Council by:

  • Establishing the scope of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to be included in the inventories and net zero carbon targets
  • Developing GHG inventories for the borough and council
  • Modelling decarbonisation pathways to reach the targets
  • Identifying and costing the range of actions that may be required
  • Identifying means to track progress towards the targets.

We partnered with SE2 to deliver two workshops; a small initial session with council staff focusing on the scope and principles of the targets, and a larger workshop with local stakeholders and interest groups to discuss the key actions that should be included in the decarbonisation modelling scenario.

Our modelling used the Carbon Scenario Model (CSM), an Excel based tool to develop decarbonisation pathways for the council up to 2030 and the borough to 2050, including individual GHG savings and costs of actions.

The result

Merton Council now has a greater understanding of the actions that are required within Merton to meet their decarbonisation targets. The actions identified and cost estimates have been used in the preparation of the new Climate Strategy & Action Plan.

Find out more about how Aether is supporting local authorities with Climate Emergency declarations here

 

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Testimonial

Don't just take our word for it...

“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

“Engaging Aether to support us to develop the first GHG Inventory System and first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for the United Republic of Tanzania has been a rewarding experience due to their high level of professionalism, creativity, timeliness and value for money. We will definitely consider Aether in our future initiatives.”

Abbas Kitogo, Programme Specialist Energy and Climate Change, UNDP Tanzania

“I must congratulate each of you for your professional and tireless efforts. Let me point out that this has been the 'neatest' in-country review expert review team I have coordinated, and it has been a real pleasure.”

UNFCCC Secretariat

“Aether is a great partner for work in the area of European Air Emissions. The team was committed, reliable, well organised and had a deep technical understanding and motivated other partners with their good spirit.”

Umweltbundesamt: Environment Agency Austria

“Professional team and very collaborative communication. Effective result in terms of suggestions for improvement in the quality of the inventory and proposals on how to streamline specific topics.”

Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research

“The Aether team were a joy to work with and I would recommend the consultancy - the service provided throughout the process was exceptional. Where there were problems, they provided solutions. The team were working to very short time scales but were able to deliver a high quality piece of work within the specified time frame.”

Sefton Council - for the Merseyside Atmospheric Emissions Inventory

“It has been a pleasure to work with Chris Dore and Richard Claxton from Aether: they did their job in a very professional and timely manner. The workshop was organized and carried out in a cooperative spirit; the information provided to the workshop participants was complete and clear.”

Alina Novikova, UN/ECE Secretariat

“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

“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

“Aether delivered training workshops and generated learning materials for our SSN members, providing technical content in a manageable and comprehendible format. We particularly benefitted from their extensive knowledge and ability to interpret the needs of our members into the training materials.”

Jennifer Anderson, Sustainable Scotland Network

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