Wiltshire Council on track to reduce carbon footprint by 80% this year
A full review of it's progress will be made later this year
Wiltshire Council say they are currently on track to reduce their carbon emissions by 80% from 2014/15 by the end of this financial year.
In 2018, the local authority declared a climate emergency with the aim of making the county carbon neutral by 2030.
Since then, they have seen a 68% reduction on it's carbon emissions.
The prediction is based on a range of changes that the council have made to it's services over the last couple of years.
On February 2nd, Cabinet will be asked to approve a report on the council's climate change progress which then will be fully reassessed in the summer.
Cllr Richard Clewer, Cabinet Member for Climate said:
"We’re pleased to have made such good progress in reducing our carbon footprint over the past few years, but there is much more to do as we seek to make Wiltshire carbon neutral by 2030.
We have a dedicated climate team in place to drive this forward, and they will be developing a Carbon Management Plan to plot the council’s pathway to zero carbon, including offsetting any residual emissions. They are also developing a Climate Strategy, which we will look to consult on later this year.
There have been many challenges for the council during this past year, and while there are many more to come, addressing our climate ambitions is a priority for us."
WHAT WILTSHIRE COUNCIL HAVE DONE
The local authority say they have done a number of things already to help reduce it's carbon footprint.
These include:
- Switching to a green energy tariff which ensures all energy the council uses comes from renewable sources
- Wiltshire's Conservation and Museums Advisory Service has developed a Sustainability Action Plan
- A Green and Blue Infrastructure Strategy has been prepared to support the implementation of policies within the Local Plan
- Improving biodiversity in the county
- Improving bus services
- Converting streetlights to LEDs
WHAT WILTSHIRE COUNCIL ARE HOPING TO DO
As well as the action they have already taken, they have bid for government funding for several schemes to help with reducing emissions, which are:
- £550,000 to improve insulation in 100 council homes
- £4.5m from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme for things like replacing gas heating at four large leisure centres
- £1.2m to modernise and enhance existing DRT scheme in Pewsey Vale
For full details of what Wiltshire Council are doing, visit their website.