Institute for Transport StudiesFACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

Climate justice: the distribution of responsibilities, costs and benefits for residential carbon reduction in the UK.

Karen Lucas - Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, UK

Ruth Mayne – Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford

J R F

Outline

1. Evidence review of climate change and social justice for Joseph Rowntree Foundation

2. EVALOC interviews with residents in 6 DECC-funded Low Carbon Communities (LCCs)

3. Recommendations for further research

4. Recommendations for future policy

JRF evidence review

• Rapid Evidence Assessment method (REA) of 1000+ journal papers and policy documents

• 70 high quality texts identified for detailed analysis

• Supplemented with c. 30 additional text identified by key experts

• Experts and key stakeholder evidence gathering workshop

• Internal workshops and knowledge exchanges between 3 project partners and JRF

• Peer reviewed final report

Research questionsImpacts 1. What is the interaction between the direct effects of climate change (including flooding,

heatwaves, drought and coastal erosion) and social vulnerability? 2. What are the likely indirect effects of climate change and the social consequences for the UK and social justice questions arising?

3. How could the direct and indirect effects of climate change exacerbate existing poverty and disadvantage or create new forms of poverty and disadvantage?

Adaptation 1. What do we know about the interaction between adaptation policy and practice responses and vulnerability? 2. Which elements of existing adaptation policies/practice appear socially just/unjust?

3. What do we know about the relationship between social vulnerability and our preparedness for different potential impacts (e.g. heatwaves, drought, water management, flood risk, flood insurance, coastal erosion)?

4. How can we support the development of more effective and socially just adaptation policy and practice responses, which can also build community resilience? e.g. Would stronger national commitments to fairness in adaptation policy help?

5. How can the costs of delivering climate adaptation policy be met in a just way?

Mitigation 1. What do we know about the interaction between carbon emissions reductions and issues of social vulnerability, equality, poverty and disadvantage?

2. What do we know about how to achieve socially just mitigation and are there socially just solutions that might be highlighted in the move towards a low carbon economy (e.g. relating to job creation, new technology and infrastructure, and in the way policies are funded)?

3. How far it is possible to tackle both climate change and fuel poverty at the same time?

4. Which elements of existing mitigation policies/practice appear just/unjust? 5. How can the costs of delivering carbon reduction policy be met in a just way?6. Are there alternative models for mitigation policy which are both practical and achievable?

4 different types of social justice

1. Distributive - is concerned with giving all members of society a ‘fair share’ of the benefits (based upon notions of equity, equality or need)

2. Procedural - is concerned with making and implementing decisions according to fair processes and unbiased decision

– Those carrying out the procedures and making the decisions should be neutral

– Those directly affected by the decisions should have some voice or representation in the decision-making process

3. Retributive - people deserve to be treated in the same way they treat others and justifies punishment as a response to past injustices or wrongdoings to set the balance straight

4. Restorative - is concerned with healing victim's wounds, restoring offenders to law-abiding lives, and repairing harm done to interpersonal relationships and the community

A focus on energy justice

• Gough et al (2011) - all categories of per capita emissions rise with income e.g. domestic energy, transport, food, consumables and private services

• Preston et al, (2013) - the wealthiest 10% of households are responsible for 16% of UK household energy and personal transport emissions, while the poorest 10% are responsible for just 5%.

• Despite overall distribution of emissions there remains a significant group of low income households with high domestic energy use (1.7 million), particularly those that use electricity to heat their homes (1 million of the 1.7 million).

• Half of the poorest fifth of the population do not have a car, but social housing estates and low-skilled jobs are increasing located away from town or city centres with little or no public transport

Triple injustices of carbon mitigation policies

Domestic energy:•Preston et al, (2013) - the wealthiest 10% of households are responsible for 16% of UK household energy •They benefit less from policies - approx. 2.8 million of the lowest income households are in fuel poverty. •The lowest income quintile households also pay the highest energy tariffs

Private transport:• The richest 10 per cent of the population effectively receive 4 times as much

spending on transport as the poorest 10 per cent• The cost of fuel and VED represents 8.1% of the budget of the poorest 10% of

car owners, but only 5.8% of the 10% with the highest incomes• The poorest travel half as much and highest income and their emissions from

private vehicles are around 7-8 times lower– International aviation emissions of households in the highest income decile are more than 10

times that of the lowest income decile– Children in SEG 5 are 5 times more likely to die in a pedestrian accidents and are more exposed

to traffic pollutants than in SEGs 1 & 2

Review findings

• Climate change is still seen as an uncertain and distant problem rather than a direct, personal risk especially in the case of lower income ‘at risk’ and ‘hard to reach’ groups

– There is an urgent need to develop effective communication strategies and community level responses to engage lower income ‘at risk’ and ‘hard to reach’ groups in Climate Action Plans

• Climate impacts and adaptation and mitigation responses affect multiple interacting systems e.g. housing, transport, healthcare, social welfare, spatial development and flood risk management.

– A whole systems approach to adaptation and mitigation is needed to achieve socially just responses to climate change. ‘Siloed’ thinking will lead to partial accounts of vulnerability and resilience and lead to ineffective policy responses

• Current work on mapping vulnerability is not at a fine enough resolution to identify vulnerable households and individuals

– In the current financial climate many service providers needing to cut budgets, having a method that provides a rapid and targeted list of vulnerable people and places would significantly improve policy efficiency and reduce costs

EVALOC interviews with LCC residents

• 3 year study funded by RCUK as part of the Energy Communities programme

• 6 different DECC-funded LCC communities (mix of inner city, urban, peri-urban and rural plus more/less affluent areas)

• 15 households selected in each for h/h level panel survey (in 2 waves)

– 5 h/h have deep retro-fit energy saving interventions (e.g. solar PVs)

– 5 h/h have lighter touch interventions (e.g. energy monitors)

– 5 h/h have no interventions

• 1 -2 hour interviews about their energy behaviours and conversations

• Most questions relate to domestic energy use and environmental attitudes

• But also some transport questions included to identify and ‘spillover’ behaviours

Transport behaviours & attitudes

• Of 90 h/h very few mentioned transport issues at all (only 17 had anything substantive to say about it)

• Although most owned and used cars, very few were able to easily identify their annual h/h mileage

• Stated mileages ranged from 3,000 -25,000 p.a. with 8- 9,000 being the average

• Most people felt that about 8,000 m.p.a. was a ‘reasonable’ level of annual h/h car use (3,000 was low and over 10,000 was high)

• Issues raised car dependence, public transport use, cycling infrastructures, walking, informal car sharing, car clubs, electric vehicles, biofuels, carbon footprints.

The right to drive

I know but what I’m saying is the society now everybody thinks it’s their right at eighteen to get a car, so they have lots of cars and no one looks at it from the environmental

point of view because it’s how they’re brought up.

(Resident of non-intervention household Sustainable Blacon)

The responsibility to drive less

I try to drive nowadays as little as I need to, in other words I think about well if I go to there, there, there all in the same day

I’m not making separate journeys backwards and forwards and also on the motorways or anywhere else I only drive at an average of about sixty miles an hour on the slow lane which is saving me money and using a lot less energy to run the car,

that’s the way I look at it.

(Resident of non-intervention household, Amel Amen Tawe)

But all takes time

Well things like the Car Club I mean if more people did it again that’s early doors so it takes a while for people to get the gist of it and it’s going to filter in slowly while people when people need to renew a car is whether they decide not to bother and

they try without so that’s a long term project, but it does benefit the community because it’s stopping people driving a

car and buying a car, taxing it, insuring it, running it and everything else when they could just jump in one of the you

know and eight people use the same car or whatever so there’s a bit yes, definitely.

(Resident heavy-retrofit household, Hook Norton)

And there is policy failure

I mean cycling in Holland where I go regularly fantastic you know but here there’s no motivation from the government

because the roads are so extreme I wouldn’t, that’s why most people cycle on the pavement don't they I mean it’s just not

safe on the roads.

(Focus group participant, Sustainable Blacon)

And the problem of communicating climate change

The trouble with global warming is that it doesn’t feel as though it’s getting any warmer does it. Now you are

concerned about it because you do want to leave things for people in the future but you don't believe half of it and that’s the trouble you’ve got is convincing people there’s actually

anything in it because they’re saying it’s global warming and yet it’s blooming freezing this year so what the hell’s

happened?

(Resident of heavy-retrofit house, Eco-Easterside)

And thanks to you for listening

K.Lucas@leeds.ac.uk

@drkarenlucas

http:/www.leeds.ac.uk/people/k.lucas