Response to the Planning White Paper Consultation
Authors: Rachel Coxcoon and Graham McGrath, CSE, and Hugh Ellis, TCPA
October 2020

The planning system has a unique contribution to make in the effective delivery of the UK Government’s carbon reduction target. Planning is a powerful tool in framing practical and place-based pathways to a zero-carbon future.

At its best, planning can shape the most cost-effective policy choices for carbon reduction and do that as part of a wider democratic conversation with the local community.

Planning is fundamental to successfully delivering new renewable energy systems, to minimising the carbon emissions of what we build, of finding the right sustainable locations and of designing places that support healthy and zero carbon transport options.