Climate Change - what are we doing?
Climate Change Strategy
The council adopted a Climate Change Strategy in April 2014, which was refreshed in 2017 to bring it up to speed with other local and national developments in the climate change agenda. It included the adoption of national targets around carbon emission reductions and the use of renewable energy. The following three pledges underpin the work the council has been doing on climate change:
- To lead by example in reducing its carbon emissions year on year.
- To help residents, community groups and businesses to reduce their emissions and manage climate risks.
- To work with partners to help raise awareness and support initiatives to reduce and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Draft Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy
We are now developing a draft Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy that we plan to publish for consultation later in 2020. This will outline the steps that we’ll be taking to tackle the issue and reduce our impact on the environment.
Our progress to date
The drive to become a carbon neutral borough by 2030 starts now and we have started work to set out the steps we as a council can take and how we can work together as a borough.
In December 2019, we held a climate change summit to bring together ideas with partners. View a copy of the climate change summit presentation (opens in a new window) (PDF) [5,320kb] and the climate change summit Outcomes Report (opens in a new window) (PDF) [1,504kb].
Already we have:
- Installed solar panels on the roof of several of our council buildings.
- Introduced electric vehicle charging points.
- Improved the energy performance of the council’s Deanes and Parklands buildings
- Set up a group of Environment Champions to promote sustainable practices among staff.
- Installed a fresh air cooling system at the Civic Offices, as well as being environmentally-friendly, the initiative will generate a saving of £9,500 per year.
- Introduced fines for idling vehicles.
- Reduced the distances our bin trucks travel by rebalancing the rounds, with a monthly carbon saving of 3.8% per month.
With partners, we have:
- Adopted a transport strategy with a focus on encouraging more sustainable transport including cycling and walking.
- Introduced a campaign to prevent idling cars creating air pollution.
- Given out loans and grants to improve insulation and install renewable energy sources.
- Supported residents to apply for government funding for energy efficient boilers.
We are working on our next steps looking at greener ways of delivering council services. Here are just a few of the projects we are working on:
- With advice from the Energy Savings Trust we are exploring greater use of electric vehicles.
- Updating our Local Plan to ensure tougher standards associated with climate change and emissions.
- Reviewing the energy efficiency of our accommodation and our staff and councillors’ travel.
- Increasing opportunities for smarter working.
- Investigating buying our energy from renewable sources.
- Delivering 3,500 homes at Manydown using the Garden Towns’ principle.
- Exploring opportunities for businesses to develop low carbon solutions.
Contact the team
Climate Change team
If you have an enquiry about climate change or sustainability, send a message to the Climate Change Team