The Plan to 2030
This plan, in summary:
- reaffirms our commitment for the borough to be carbon neutral by 2030, and provides targets for the council to deliver on this pledge
- highlights our commitment to work with residents and businesses to deliver change locally, and share best practice and learning
- explains how we will lobby central government for resources and legislation to make the 2030 target possible
- sets out actions that will be taken to:
- build and retrofit home
- provide for clean and sustainable travel
- generate clean, renewable energy
- reduce consumption and waste
- support the creation of low carbon jobs
- acknowledges the local effects of climate change
- confirms our commitment to continue to work with partners and central government to enable the council to react to the effects of climate change
The climate emergency task group will report to members on the progress made with the implementation of the Climate Emergency Action Plan at regular intervals. A full annual update will be presented to members at full Council each year. In addition, regular updates on progress made will be published on the councils website.
The action plan reviews will also allow for updates to include technological advances, changes in legislation and improvements that have been made across the borough.
The council acknowledges that we cannot deliver this target alone – to be successful it will require the support and collaboration of central government, our residents and our businesses, and other governments internationally. The plan is ambitious, but necessary in order to provide a healthy and sustainable borough for the generations to come.
Whilst this plan focusses on our actions to 2030, we are fully accepting there will be more we can do both between now and are target date of 2030 and beyond. The role of the annual review of the action plan is to enable new ideas, new technology and changes in public opinion and legislation to be adopted and included.
Our aim for future generations of this borough is to leave a legacy of a green, sustainable borough in which green choices are affordable to all.
The investigation of the councils (and the borough’s) carbon footprint has identified that the biggest contributions to out carbon emissions are the use of diesel and other fuels, gas, and the waste we produce. When prioritising the actions within the plan these are the areas where we will look to concentrate our efforts.
During the next year the emphasis of the work will be on internal operations to showcase the council as a community leader and on building community interaction through schools, businesses and community groups.
Carbon reduction measures
Fundamental to becoming a carbon neutral borough is reducing our carbon emissions. The actions required to reduce carbon emissions across the borough has been broken down into 4 sections:
- transport
- energy and the built environment
- consumption
- waste and water
We also then consider, as a fifth action area, the options for offsetting for those residual, remaining carbon emissions.
The sixth area of action is focused upon having a council that is prepared and resilient for the effects of climate change.
The actions provided for within this plan have been assigned timescales for implementation. Whilst it is acknowledged that some of these will be subject to change, for example due to emerging technologies or pandemic restrictions, they illustrate how the council is to prioritise and progress these actions during the coming 9 years, to the final position of a carbon neutral borough in 2030.
The timescales have been broken down as:
- short term = 2021 to 2023
- medium term = 2024 to 2027
- long term = 2028 to 2030
- ongoing / annual to 9 year commitment, from 2021 to 2030.
This action plan specifies those actions required across the borough, but also the actions that the council is intending to take as an organisation and local employer. For ease, the actions that are borough wide are presented within the action tables in black, and those relating to the council as an organisation and employer are provided in blue italic text.
In implementing those internal actions, marked in blue italics, we are seeking to act as a community leader, setting high standards to show the improvements that can be achieved, so we are able to help others around the borough in doing the same.