Integrating justice into local government net-zero strategies: lessons from the Devon Carbon Plan

Recent years have seen a steep rise in the adoption of climate emergency declarations and net-zero plans by local authorities around the world. Despite the advantages of emergency framings in propelling action, concerns remain about their potential to encourage net-zero responses that ignore wider justice and well-being concerns. The integration of justice considerations into net-zero responses matters for more than “just” ethical or moral reasons; perceived fairness is also a major determinant of public support for climate policies. However, research on justice and climate policy has tended to focus on conceptual concerns or justice debates in international, national and urban contexts and further research is needed into how fairness is being interpreted and enacted in local, non-metropolitan plans where policies and initiatives produce their most tangible impacts and different effects to those encountered in urban settings. This paper investigates how the county of Devon, UK, has worked to integrate fairness into its climate emergency planning. Through analysis of the Devon Carbon Plan process and interviews with key actors involved in its development and implementation, the paper explores the challenges faced, how these have been managed, and lessons gained from these experiences. The analysis shows how determinations of fairness in local climate emergency planning are inevitably negotiated and contested, and that interpreting fairness becomes increasingly complex as planning moves from general principles to specific actions. It examines how local authorities can struggle to balance justice with ambitious net-zero policies and explores the roles played by justice champions in ensuring fairness concerns remain on net-zero agendas. It concludes by reflecting on the need for greater guidance for local authorities on how to manage the justice issues raised by efforts to achieve net zero.