To approve the council’s new Carbon Management Plan which sets out the council’s approach to deliver carbon neutrality by 2030/31 and sets an interim target of a 75% reduction of the council’s own carbon emissions by 2025/26.

The head of environment climate emergency and waste services attended for this item.

The cabinet member environment, economy and skills introduced the report. She thanked colleagues for their work on the new plan and paid tribute to prevision administrations for delivery of progress to date on reducing carbon emissions. An action plan would be produced showing the detail of the next phase of reductions. It was hoped that other organisations would work with the council to meet the objective of a carbon neutral county.

Points noted in discussion of the report included:

·        The impact of the coronavirus on the way the council worked, for example reduced travelling and increased working from home, with some changes likely to become embedded over the long term;

·        Schools represented 40% of the current emissions and would be a substantial part of the challenge to deliver reductions, it was recognised that children were supportive and interested in climate change and related projects;

·        The use of LED street lighting had delivered important reductions but lighting would be maintained in key areas to maintain safety.

In considering comments and questions from group leaders the members of the cabinet noted that:

·        Measures to reduce emissions would not necessarily cost money as they could include spend to save options, however where there were costs these would need to be budgeted for and the action plan would set out more details;

·        Extreme weather events such as flooding were now likely to be more than just potential risks and the county would need to adapt;

·        The inclusion of staff travel in measurements was welcomed;

·        There was a limit to what the council could achieve on its own, businesses and the public would need to be engaged;

·        The impact of the coronavirus on the economy and levels of unemployment might make it more difficult to deliver the changes proposed;

·        There was a need to increase the number of charge points for electric vehicles, three new rapid charge points were being installed at points along the A49 as a strategic corridor and a report was expected later in the year on how the market for electric vehicles could be facilitated;

·        Some changes that would deliver reductions involved areas that the council did not have direct control over for example building regulations and subsidies for domestic charging points and solar PV installations.

It was resolved that:

(a)   the Carbon Management Plan (2020/21 – 2025/26) which sets out an interim target for the council to reduce its organisational carbon emissions by 75%, based on 2008/09 levels by 2025/26 is approved.

To approve the council’s new Carbon Management Plan which sets out the council’s approach to deliver carbon neutrality by 2030/31 and sets an interim target of a 75% reduction of the council’s own carbon emissions by 2025/26.