We do not feel that the wording of this policy is strong enough in the light of the ongoing climate emergency. This comment is true of a number of aspects of the climate change policy including references to promotion of sustainable transport and to encouraging renewable energy but I would like to specifically focus on the role of green infrastructure and in particular of trees and woods.

It is stated that development must include green infrastructure but there is no mention of the specific ability that trees and woods have to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, which is much greater thatn, for example, areas of intensively mown grass. There is a further advantage that woods can be considerably cheaper to manage than intensively mown grass, as evidenced by research which is outlined in the Woodland Trust's Trees or Turf report, which is available from the publications section of our website.

Trees can also help in adaptation to the impact of climate change, for example by significantly reducing midsummer temperatures in urban areas. This could be referred to in the policy.

There is a reference to the need to reduce surface water flooding but again no reference to the specific role that trees can play in this, particularly in urban areas. Research by the University of Manchester has shown that run off of water into drainage systems can be reduced by up to 60% by presence of trees: trees achieve this through their foliage reducing the rate at which rainwater reaches the ground.