Climate change strategy 2022

Commitments 

In response to the climate emergency declared in 2019, we are committed to:

• making the council's activities carbon neutral by 2030
• achieving 100% clean energy across the council's full range of functions by 2030
• ensuring that all strategic decisions, budgets and approaches to planning decisions are in line with a shift to zero carbon by 2030
• ensuring that political and chief officers embed this work in all areas and take responsibility for reducing, as rapidly as possible, the carbon emissions resulting from the council's activities, guaranteeing that any recommendations are fully costed
• supporting and working with all other relevant agencies towards making the entire area carbon neutral within the same timescale
• working with, influencing and inspiring partners across the borough to help deliver this goal through all relevant strategies, plans and shares resources by developing a series of meetings, events and partner workshops
• the council and its partners taking steps to proactively include young people in the process, ensuring that they have a voice in shaping the future
• calling on the UK Government to provide the powers, resources and help with funding to make this possible, and asking local MPs to do the same

Your commitments 

Delivering the Climate Change Strategy is not just the responsibility of us. You can make your own personal or organisational pledge.

Examples of pledges to make:

• businesses can make a pledge to begin monitoring carbon emissions
• organisations can pledge to embed climate and environmental action within all activities 
• individuals can pledge to reduce waste going into the green waste bin 
• individuals can pledge to reuse, recycle, begin composting and wasting less
• individuals can pledge to swapping one of their car journeys and instead walk, cycle or use public transport instead

We recognise that not every action will be popular with everyone, but to ensure that we still have a planet that is liveable, some sacrifices will need to be made. Fortunately, many changes have additional benefits to saving the planet, like saving money or improving your health, all of which will encourage the change.