Denbighshire climate change strategy approved by Full Council
A plan to tackle climate and ecological change has been approved by Full Council.
In 2019 the Council declared a climate change and ecological emergency which included a commitment to make the authority net carbon zero by 2030, enhance biodiversity across the county and produce a clear plan to guide the work.
The Council’s Climate and Ecological Change Strategy which covers the years 2021/22 – 2029/30 sets out how the Council aims to become Net Carbon Zero and Ecologically Positive by 2030.
The strategy includes targets to reduce the Council’s carbon emissions from a range of sources, including a 50 per cent reduction from the energy and water used in Council owned buildings, as well as targets to increase the amount of carbon absorbed by the land the Council owns at the same time as creating more diverse habitats for plants and wildlife.
The work has been guided by the Climate Change and Ecological Emergency Working Group, set up as part of the emergency declaration, and is made up of two representatives from each political party represented in the Council and the two Lead Members for climate and ecological change.
Cllr Graham Timms, the Council’s Climate Change and Ecological Emergency Working Group Chair, said: “I’m delighted the strategy has been approved by Full Council. The strategy sets out what we mean by the goals net carbon zero and ecologically positive Council, how the Council is currently performing on both, what we hope 2030 will look like for the Council having achieved our goals and the changes and actions we hope to deliver over the next nine years.”
Cllr Brian Jones, the Council’s Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, said: “This is another positive step for the Council in its work to protect the environment and reduce our carbon footprint.
“We have already achieved a lot, we have reduced carbon emissions from our buildings and fleet by 15 per cent since 2017, the Council now only uses renewable electricity for its own buildings after switching to a renewable only energy provider for its schools, leisure centres, libraries, council offices and depots and we are over halfway to reaching our target of planting 18,000 trees by 2022.”
You can read the strategy online at www.denbighshire.gov.uk/climate-change.
Have your say on climate change
There is a new way to get involved with the climate and ecological change agenda here at the Council. We have launched ‘Discussions’ where you can share your views and ideas and get involved in a variety of climate and ecological change topics.
You can sign up to take part by registering for the Y Panel Climate and Ecological Change sub-group on the County Conversation web site. This will enable you to post a comment, reply to existing comments and also receive notifications when a new topic is ‘live’.
Discussions are message boards - like an online chat forum. We’ll pin up a message about a topic and you can post your replies, and reply to other people. There will be a new topic to get involved in every 4 weeks and each topic will remain open for discussion for 2 weeks.
The first one was entitled ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ and focussed on discussions around nature’s recovery - as it coincided with the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch which took place at the end of January. Did you take part? The Climate Change team submitted our results and our sightings included blackbirds, robins, house sparrows, starlings, coal tits, blue tits and woodpigeon. Quite an impressive list. The photo shows a blackbird captured by the wildlife camera in the garden of one of the team. Over 12 and a half million people have submitted their results to the RSPB so far. We hope you took part too!
This month’s discussion topic is on ‘Getting to your destination in a low carbon way’. It will be concentrating on travel and how you are doing that in a low carbon way. Perhaps you're not travelling as much as you used to? Many of us are working from home and staying more local now but many still have a need to travel. We'd love to know if you are conscious about your carbon footprint when it comes to travelling and what this means to you.
This is your chance to share your knowledge, have your say and engage with other like-minded people. Why not sign up to Y Panel at countyconversation.denbighshire.gov.uk and get involved? We can’t wait to hear from you!
Council secures over £560,000 for waste reduction
The Council has secured more than £560,000 for waste reduction and re-use projects in the county!
The Welsh Government funding is for four projects under its Green Recovery Circular Economy fund which aims to help keep materials in circulation for as long as possible to avoid waste.
The funding will support work to increase the reuse of a range of unwanted items brought to Denbighshire’s three household waste recycling centres, to deliver a project to increase the kerbside collections of textiles for re-use by preparing clothing and other items for re-sale, to support the role of charities in providing places for the donating and selling of goods otherwise disposed of as waste, and to help deliver a social supermarket project based at Market Hall, Ruthin, to sell and distribute local food produce and reduce food waste.
Councillor Brian Jones, the Council’s Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, said: “The Council welcomes this funding which will provide a boost for our town centres as well as supporting the environment by keeping keep materials in circulation for as long as possible. Keeping materials in use for longer reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps to sustain our environment for future generations. The Council looks forward to working with our third sector partners on these projects which will benefit the whole county.”
The Council has made protecting the environment a priority and this funding will help contribute to the wider work ongoing in the county which includes the Council’s declaration of a climate change and ecological emergency which states a commitment to make the authority net carbon zero by 2030.