Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy

Adopted in March 2021, our Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy sets out our approach to tackling the climate crisis. This includes how we achieve our ambitious targets set in our 2019 climate emergency declaration to be a carbon-neutral council by December 2025 and to work with communities and businesses towards a net zero borough by December 2030.

Guided by this strategy, and as reported to the council’s Environment and Infrastructure Committee in December 2024, we’ve shrunk our carbon footprint by around two thirds and cut the borough’s carbon emissions by almost a fifth since our emergency declaration in 2019.

With our target to be a carbon-neutral council by December 2025 now in reach, we are refreshing our current strategy to focus on how we work with partners and communities to bring down the borough’s emissions as quickly as possible.

Key areas for action

Action by all - the need for everyone in the borough to contribute
Buildings - tackling emissions from heating and powering our buildings
Transport - tackling emissions from vehicles
Zero carbon electricity - supporting the transition to a decarbonised electricity system
Waste and consumption - reducing waste and consumption
Natural environment - maximising the climate mitigation and adaptation qualities of the natural environment

As a council, we:

• lead by example as a community leader and by tackling our own emissions
  
• enable by facilitating change through policies and strategies, details of which may be developed elsewhere, but with climate change and air quality at their core
  
• inspire by educating, encouraging and empowering our residents, businesses and communities to take action
  

Further details are set out in the full strategy below.

Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy(PDF) [2 Mb]

Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy - Equality Impact Assessment(PDF) [185 kb]

Updating the strategy

Proposals for updating our Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy are currently being developed. This includes technical work and workshops that bring together the knowledge and expertise of local experts, community groups, councillors, businesses and regional and national organisations.

People and organisations will have their say on the borough’s proposed approach and ambitions for reaching net zero in a public consultation in summer 2025. The feedback will help to shape the final version of the strategy that councillors consider for adoption in winter 2025.

Contact the team