Making the local economic case for low carbon: an Oxfordshire case study

The case for a low carbon economy is usually made in terms of the imperative of avoiding dangerous climate change, linked to an analysis showing that overall economic impacts are acceptable, nationally or globally. However, for local economic decision makers, the important factors are more likely to be employment and wealth creation within the local economy. This paper reports a study designed to address these questions for the County of Oxfordshire in the UK. The analysis considers the impacts of a low carbon transition in creating opportunities for local businesses and research organizations, and its links to the modernization of local infrastructure. It draws on both scenario modelling and case studies of existing initiatives. The results show that a shift to a low carbon economy is consistent with Oxfordshire’s strengths as a knowledge economy and plans for economic growth, with key sectors for potentially positive impacts being building technologies, alternative fuels and vehicles, and renewable energy technologies, as well as related research and service sectors. These sectors correlate with needs for local infrastructure investment, potentially allowing local schemes to act as ‘living laboratories’ for innovation. The scale of investment required is large, across research, commercialization and deployment, and will require a coordinated approach from local political and economic decision-makers. In the last two sections of the paper we reflect on our experience of doing this work, engaging with local stakeholders, and trying to achieve shared understanding of terms which were vague or unclear at the outset. The final discussion considers how the approach taken for this report could apply to other city-regions, but that the context and economic reality of each new place would have to substantially shape the detailed findings of any such report.