Climate change strategy 2022
Strategy for Gateshead
This strategy starts to provide a framework for grass roots action to tackle climate change at the local level, with local actions, collaborations and behaviour changing. This strategy is intended to be a 'starter for ten' allowing for a collaborative approach to set goals and actions that the whole community in Gateshead can buy into and implemented through Ward Level Action Plans, Gateshead wide actions and other plans, actions and strategies.
Our strategy will be implemented through: sharing best practice, education, collaboration, hard work, commitment, funding, embedding climate into everything we do, behavioural change, taking account of carbon cost in addition to monetary cost, pledges and learning through mistakes.
Gateshead council pledges to:
| Pledge | Delivery mechanism | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lead by example by meeting our climate commitments and recognising that this is only 2.5% of Gateshead emissions, so ensuring the Council supports, regulates, lobbies, procures, engages and educated to further its role and responsibility | Implementing the Council Climate Action Plan and be accountable through annual independent audits | Carbon neutral (scope 1 and 2) by 2030. Annual reporting. |
| 2. Support and enable local businesses and residents to drive Gateshead to be carbon neutral by 2030 | Ward Level Action Plans which will be delivered by the Council and partners. Economic Strategy. Procurement Strategy. Transport Strategy. Waste Strategy. Zero Carbon Heat Strategy Neighbourhood Management. Training. | Action Plans to be complete 2023.
Ongoing. |
| 3. Support local businesses and residents to become resilient to climate change | Business support. Emergency Planning. Lead Local Flood Authority. In partnership with the Environment Agency and emergency response teams. Local Plan. Adoption of Climate Adaptation Strategy. | Ongoing.
2025. |
| 4. Lobby and influence national and international policy on climate action and environmental protection | Responding to consultations. Declarations. Liasing with our MPS. Working in partnership with government departments. Correspondence with leaders. | Ongoing |
| 5. Ensure that co-benefits are fully exploited including, health, air quality and addressing inequality to enable Gateshead residents to thrive and the environment to flourish | Joint working within and outside the Council. Embedding climate change into other plans and strategies. Social prescribing. Energy efficiency. Re-use and recycling. Mobility hubs. | Ongoing |
| 6. Embed Climate Change into Council and partner strategies taking account of any projected growth where required | Sustainability and climate implications assessments for Cabinet reports. Local Plan. Waste Strategy. Transport Strategy. | 2021.
Ongoing. |
| 7. Manage land to ensure carbon sequestration opportunities are taken up where possible | Local Plan. Corporate Asset Strategy. Working in partnership with land owners. More and better Woodland Action Plan. | Ongoing. |
Governance
The strategy will be delivered with support from all services in the Council. This will be in partnership with Gateshead businesses and organisations and the whole community, and championed by all Ward Councillors.
Climate change is everyone's business and we have embedded it into everything we do. No one person is responsible, Cabinet have taken shared responsibility to reach out goals.
Carbon Budget for Gateshead
This data is provided by Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. The table below presents the Gateshead energy CO² only budget in the format of the 5-year carbon budget periods in the UK Climate Change Act. To align the 2020 to 210 carbon budget with the budget periods in the Climate Chang Act we have included estimated CO² emissions for Gateshead for 2018 and 2019, based on the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) provisional national emissions data for 2018, and assuming the same year on year reduction rate applied to 2019.
| Period | Budget |
|---|---|
| 2018 - 2022 | 4.4 |
| 2023 - 2027 | 2.2 |
| 2028 - 2032 | 1.1 |
| 2033 - 2037 | 0.5 |
| Year | Reduction in annual emissions |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 23% |
| 2025 | 62% |
| 2030 | 81.3% |
| 2035 | 90.8% |
| 2040 | 95.4% |
| 2045 | 97.8% |
| 2085 | 98.9% |