Bucks Council approve climate change strategy
Blueprint will see trees planted and air quality improved
Last updated 22nd Oct 2021
The Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy will see Buckinghamshire Council aim to reduce it's carbon emissions.
By 2030 they want to have reduced them by 75% and to net zero no later than 2050.
The council will work with partners and residents to ensure the aims are achieved.
Feedback from a survey that was carried out in 2020 has been used to help develop the plan.
The council say alongside the feedback, other engagement work showed 'overwhelming support' for the proposed work.
The council has set aside a £5 million Climate Change Fund that will in part be used to plant 543,000 trees (one for every resident) as well as improving infrastructure for travel and electric vehicles.
Cllr Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment, told Greatest Hits: "It's not good enough to say this is a global problem, therefore only global leaders can solve it.
We've got nearly half a million residents and Buckinghamshire. And if all of them do a little bit, I think we can make a difference to fend off whatever other climate catastrophes lie down the road.
Perhaps it's leaving your car in the garage two days a week. Perhaps it's turning your thermostat at home down one or two degrees.
Perhaps it's being more aware of recycling or driving electric vehicles. Perhaps it's buying cleaner, greener energy.
There's any number of things that we can all do which will make a difference."
The strategy comes just a month before the council co-hosts a transport event at COP26.
The international climate change conference that is being hosted in Glasgow, will see Bucks Council's Green Wheels in Motion Regional Roadshow live-streamed from Silverstone.
A range of innovative technologies and initiatives that are being developed or rolled out in Buckinghamshire to decarbonise transport will be showcased.
Speaking on the event Cllr Strachan, said: "I think it's a very good indicator of the seriousness by which we take this whole piece'
When asked if Buckinghamshire Council is ahead of other authorities across the country when it comes to climate change, he added: "We are part of the sort of leadership example of how this can be done.
Maybe some counties will turn to us and perhaps reflect o our best practice. And then we could all learn together and all help solve this problem more quickly."