Challenges and opportunities for the local government

Running head: SUSTAINABILITY
SUSTAINABILITY
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
Challenges and opportunities for the local government......................................................3
Making environmental sustainability a part of the curriculum of students education in
schools.........................................................................................................................................4
Recognizing the different environmental efforts made by different local communities,
business and authorities through tax reliefs and exemptions.......................................................5
Extended facilities of recycling for the purpose of managing the household waste
properly........................................................................................................................................5
Organizing different programs for the purpose of environmental performance
improvement................................................................................................................................6
The WDC strategy or Walmington district council.............................................................7
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................10
References..........................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
Sustainability refers to the ability of humans to coexist with the biosphere. Sustainable
development according to the Bruntland report, refers to the ability of the people to meet their
needs without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs.
Sustainability is therefore based on three elements that is people, profit and planet. These three
pillars are also known as the triple bottom line (Morelli 2011). The three components of planet,
people and profit are interdependent upon each other and cannot exist without each other.
However the focus of this paper will be on the achievement of environmental sustainability (Dias
2017). The communities and the society at large also has an important role to play in the
improving the conditions of climate change. This is so because the local communities can help in
reducing the carbon footprint fair improving the condition of climate change through attending
workshops on carbon and also low carbon solution for the purpose of improving their
environmental awareness. Moreover the local communities can also help in dissemination of
information through organization of different competitions (Ekins 2000). Moreover the
ecological footprints includes- measurement of the consumption by humans, measuring the
actions related climate change, measurement of household consumption of food, water, transport
and energy. The local community can help in delivery of international climate policy at the local
level by making environmental sustainability a part of the curriculum of schools such that the
awareness can be improved. Some of the major global negotiations on climate change includes
the- UN climate convention, Paris agreement and the Kyoto agreement. The main objective of
the UN Climate convention is to fight the climate change and prevent the interferences of
humans into the climate system globally (Moldan, Janoušková and Hák 2012). Some of the
major factors that can inhibit the success of the climate change conventions includes-

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disagreement among the member nations, lack of technology in the developing countries which
makes it difficult for them to reduce their carbon footprint easily (Ampaire et al. 2017). On the
other hand, some of the major factors enabling those conventions includes- reciprocity, trust,
communication, fairness, reputation and enforcement (Obergassel et al. 2015). Reciprocity refers
to exchange of things between countries for the purpose of mutual benefit and therefore it
includes the privileges’ provided by one country to another. For instance USA may decide to
help other developing countries in reducing their carbon footprint (Repar et al. 2017). These
activities usually arise out of a sense of altruism. The main aim of the paper is to discuss about
the implementation of a local carbon sustainability strategy in the local community for
contributing effectively to national efforts in addressing the climate change. The paper will
discuss about the concept of sustainability, the challenges and opportunities for local government
and strategy that could be employed by Walmington District Council in this regard.
Challenges and opportunities for the local government
The local government has got a major role to play in engaging the citizens in low carbon
initiatives and even in case of other sustainability initiatives. Different programs have already
been undertaken by the government of United Kingdom for the purpose of improving the
environmental sustainability such as the Environmental and sustainability policy (Asgari et al.
2015). The main aim of these policies is to ensure that UK’s environmental policies aligns with
that of international environmental legislations such as ensuring that UK’s commitment to Paris
agreement is fulfilled, for the purpose of improving the performance of environment reduce the
environmental impact by reducing the waste of resources like water, energy and others. However
there can also be a number of challenges that can be faced by the local government and some of
these challenges have been discussed below.

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Making environmental sustainability a part of the curriculum of students education
in schools
The local government can help in engaging citizens in low carbon initiatives and other
sustainability initiatives by improving their awareness about the concept of environmental
sustainability (Seidel et al. 2018). Therefore in order to improve the awareness of the citizens it
is necessary that they start learning at a young age about the subject. Therefore the government
can make environmental sustainability a part of the curriculum courses of the students in schools.
This will ensure that they are well aware of the concept of environmental sustainability. It will
help in improving awareness from a grass root level and therefore it will provide an opportunity
to the government to engage more people into various environmental programs. This is so
because when more people will be informed, they will support the environmental sustainability
programs (Markantoni and Woolvin 2015).
However, some of the major challenges that may have to be faced by the government
includes- facing resistance from the stakeholders of the schools because they may not understand
the motive for change and secondly they may not be interested in the same. Further the
government may be faced with the challenge of restructuring the entire curriculum of the
students and that may also lead to a chaos because the entire curriculum will be changing
(Turvey 2019). Moreover, the government may have to face problems related to costing because
if the subject of environmental sustainability is to be added. This is so because for the plan to be
implemented, first the educators are to be given proper training because they will have to
understand the concept of environmental sustainability first only then can they explain it to
others. Therefore, additional costs will have to be borne by the government for the purpose of
training the educators and for also for carrying out infrastructure activities.

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Recognizing the different environmental efforts made by different local
communities, business and authorities through tax reliefs and exemptions
The government needs to recognize the efforts of the local authorities and communities
and even businesses such that they can be motivated to continue their operations of achieving
environmental sustainability (Camilleri 2015). Therefore, different parties will get a motivation
to continue carrying out activities related to environment protection and sustainability. The
recognition of the efforts may be done in the form of tax exemptions, concessions and others
such as lease of plants for various activities and others. Moreover, the government may provide
different types of benefits to the businesses (that are aimed at reducing their environmental
impact and take initiatives for creating environmental awareness among the local community
through organizing various programs) such as a certificate of green recognition that can further
help the businesses in creating a better public image.
Extended facilities of recycling for the purpose of managing the household waste
properly
The local government can extend facilities of recycling for the purpose of managing the
wastes from households. For this purpose, first the government need to communicate their
purpose and program to the local communities and authorities such that they can understand the
main motive behind the government actions and support them in their activities. Moreover, for
the purpose of managing the waste from the households, the government needs to make
investment for infrastructure where all the waste will be collected and treated. Also, government
will be required to train people for such program to be successfully implemented. The local
government will also have to recruit different people in different positions for the successful
implantation of the plan. Local communities need to be guided to separate their household waste

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into different categories and moreover they can be motivated to recycle and reuse waste material
themselves by avoiding making use of those plastics that can be used only once or that is also
known as the single used plastics. Moreover people can reuse bottles that are already bought
from the shop for different purposes. For instance the peanut butter bottles jars can be used for
keeping snacks.
Recycling and reuse activities are also important as it can help in reducing the negative
impacts of greenhouse gases generated on producing new products since they extend the life
cycle for existing product. Also, they can also help in reducing the pollution caused by poor
waste disposal resulting in large landfills and overall environmental degradation and resource
drain.
Organizing different programs for the purpose of environmental performance
improvement
The government of UK has undertaken a 25 years plan for the purpose of improving the
environmental health and the local community is a major part of the plan undertaken by the
government (Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. 2020). This is so because the UK government
supports the teachers, health professionals, health organizations, local authorities in promotion of
a healthier and greener natural environment (Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. 2020). The UK
government achieve the same by helping them in the promotion of a natural environment for the
purpose of achieving well-being and good health of the community at large
(Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. 2020). Along with that, the government is ensuring the
participation of the local communities by promising to help them in improving their health and
well-being. The government is using the principle of reciprocity for ensuring the participation of
the local communities. The term reciprocity means exchanging things for the purpose of mutual

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benefit. The government of UK is trying to exchange opportunity for improved health in
exchange of engagement of the local communities and societies. One of the major opportunities
that can be created by these programs includes the reduction of the negative impact on the
climate changes. However government may be faced with challenges related to lack of interest
among the citizens due to which they may not like to participate in the programs.
The WDC strategy or Walmington district council
The Walmington District is one of the most populated districts and also the religious and
political heart of London and that is why the local government has decided to carry out the WDC
strategy such that location. The carbon capture and storage or CCS, includes capturing the waste
carbon dioxide from some point sources and then transporting the same to a storage site that
helps in depositing the carbon dioxide in an area where it cannot escape into the atmosphere and
that area usually includes geological formation underground.
The main aim of this CCS process is to prevent the Carbon dioxide release into the
atmosphere from large sources such as heavy industries (Rackley 2017). Under the process the
waste carbon dioxide is stored in the geological formation for longer periods of times. Moreover,
many modern plants can adopt this technique for the purpose of reducing the emission of carbon
dioxide. Some of the major limitations of the CCS includes- the fact that many researchers feel
that deployment of CCS decades away and is unproven if it is commercialized (Rackley 2017).
In fact, many researchers are of the opinion that renewable resources of energy are a more
inexpensive and less risky option as compared to the carbon capture and storage (Rahman et al.
2017). Also, various environmentalists are of the opinion that there can be leakage of carbon that
is stored for too long (Rahman et al. 2017). Further there can be an energy penalty that includes
the reduction in the efficiency of the overall plant due to the process of carbon capture (Escudero

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et al. 2016). It has been found that the accumulation of energy penalty includes 60% of the same
coming from carbon storage, 30% coming from carbon dioxide compression and the rest 10%
coming electricity requirements (Vasudevan et al. 2016).
Some of the major benefits provided by the CCS includes- reduction of carbon dioxide
emission, generation of additional power, creation of more fuel along with enhancing the
manufacturing operations and there has been an actual reduction in the emission although the
carbon dioxide is not completely captured. Therefore, it helps in mitigating the impacts of ocean
acidification and global warming through reducing the emission of the toxic substances.
Moreover it can also help in reducing the negative impact of climate change on the health of the
human beings. Along with that, when carbon dioxide gets stored, then it will lead to low
presence of the gas in the atmosphere which will help in keeping the climate under control.
The next initiative that can be taken by the district council of Walmington includes- home
energy management engagement initiatives. The home energy management engagement
activities includes- making use of existing technology for making an impact, understanding the
fact that education is always not sufficient and also understanding the fact that gamification can
provide more fun. Some of the existing technological devices that are used for this purpose
includes smart meters. Therefore, in order to engage the utilities consumer into home energy
management, firstly is acceptance of the fact that education is not always enough for changing
the behaviour of the consumers. There are many customers who are well educated and aware of
the effect of energy wastage and know ways of reducing the same however they still are not
ready to change their behaviour. For instance, many people know the fact that “exercise is
necessary for good health”. Similarly, they have proper knowledge about the same but without
any significant behavioural change. As such simply having education is not enough, as different

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tools and techniques are required for this purpose. Therefore, it becomes necessary to engage the
consumer and their families in the program of just preparing a list that provides tips and perhaps
making them a slogan for reducing energy usage. Moreover, different applications can be used
by the consumers for this purpose to understand their real time usage of energy and the way their
behaviour has a major impact over the energy usage.
Also, existing technologies such as Smart meter monitors, Smart clamp-on energy
meters, Circuit-breaker meters and Smart submeters can be used for the purpose of making an
impact (Lü et al. 2017). Consumers have pattern of behaviour of forgetting different monitoring
devices of energy as they may be fascinated by them devices for a shorter period of time, but
they may soon become bored of the same and forget about the devices. In fact, consumers can be
engaged into the home energy management activities if the same can be integrated into their
daily routines with the help of technology to which they are accustomed. The technological
devices to which the consumers are usually accustomed to includes- computers, smartphones and
tablets. Therefore, in order to engage the consumers into the home energy management, it is
necessary to make use of an existing application. This application can be used in two main ways-
firstly it can be used for the purpose of sending useful information to the consumers by way of
notification and these applications can also provide information related to the hourly, daily and
yearly usage of energy of the consumers. Therefore the consumers can understand the way their
behaviours affects the energy usage and try to reduce in the same regard.
Another activity that can be undertaken for the purpose of engaging consumers into the
home energy management activities includes making gamification a part of the Home Energy
Management strategy. This is because people get motivated by the rewards and recognition
(Hamid et al. 2017). Moreover, the gamification combines technology and education for helping

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consumers in changing their routines and it offers immediate goals, feedback, points, rewards,
and even competition. Gamification can be carried out in different forms such as an experience
that is like video game. For instance, different characters looking for phantom loads (phantom
loads occur when devices do not perform their functions properly) while exploring houses. One
of the most effective Home Energy Management strategies will include such gamification
activities which will help in preserving the program’s novelty and that will also motivate the
consumers to continue seeking more information and identification of ways by which the usage
of energy can be reduced. Leaders board can be created in the community for this purpose, where
the scores of different parties can be compared with each other. Through this board, neighbours
can compare their energy usage with each other. Moreover, one of the most effective ways of
reducing the usage of energy includes- involving and engaging the community at large such that
energy usage can be reduced collectively (Marshall et al. 2016). Interactive tools, education and
gamification can help in shifting the present generation towards a more energy conscious future.
Another concept for ensuring community engagement in low carbon energy includes- the
shared community solar gardens. It is a relatively new concept of generation of solar power. It
comprises of a solar panel array that is privately owned on a site that is a marginal field that will
not be suitable for agricultural purpose or even warehouse or factory. These gardens are usually
owned by the cooperatives who have a similar type of thinking (Peters et al. 2018). During
daylight, power gets fed into local electric grid by the array and then a share of the arrays power
is given to each of the parties who are sharing the community solar garden based on their energy
usage. However, one of the major drawbacks is that the solar energy is not free, since huge
amounts of investment are required to be made for them to be installed.

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Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that low carbon sustainability is
important not only for the purpose of improving the environmental health but also for the
purpose of improving the health of the community and the society as a whole. In other words,
sustainability in a low carbon future refers to ability to reduced wastage and depletion of natural
resources for the purpose of maintaining the balance of the biosphere.
From the paper it has also been understood that the local activities can also help in
reducing the impact of the climate change. Further from the paper, it has also been understood
that The WDC strategy of low carbon energy sustainability can be achieved through carbon
capture and storage facility, home energy management engagement initiative and shared
community solar gardens.
Some of the major recommendations for the purpose of ensuring the future success of
low carbon sustainability in Walmington District includes- increment in the budget allocation
for recycling facilities for better management of household waste, development of the awareness
amongst the general citizens of the region through seminars, continuous environmental impact
assessment at the regional sites and including the concept of low carbon sustainability in the
course curriculum at all school levels.

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