Peterborough City Council to outline carbon neutral plans

The plan will be discussed by cabinet members at a meeting on Monday 3 February 2020.

The creation of the plan follows the declaration of a climate emergency by Full Council and the commitment to, amongst other things, produce an action plan detailing how the council intends to reduce its carbon use to zero in the coming decade.

The Carbon Management Action Plan includes a top 20 pledges or actions for 2020/21, which includes replacing the mayor’s car with an ultra-low emissions vehicle by January 2021, continuing to plant new trees and considering leasing additional office space to reduce energy demands. It also commits to appraising the impact of the street light dimming trial to see whether further dimming would be possible, and to review the council’s electricity and gas contracts and where possible seek to amend to 100 per cent renewable energy tariffs and 100 per cent carbon off-set gas tariffs.

It also sets out a baseline position in terms of carbon emissions arising from city-wide and council activities. It calculates that the council currently emits around 11,549 tonnes of CO2e per year.

Since the declaration last summer a number of other actions have also been taken. A Climate Change Member Working Group has been set up and has met twice. Council officers are also required to complete a carbon impact assessment for any proposals they put forward.

It is also proposed that 4 March 2020, the day Full Council is asked to adopt the Carbon Management Action Plan, is designated as a ‘climate action day’ whereby the council encourages staff and residents to do their ‘extra bit’ to reduce their carbon impact on that day. It is hoped that if someone reduces their impact on one day, then they might be persuaded to repeat such an exercise more frequently.

Councillor Marco Cereste, cabinet member for waste, street scene and the environment, said: “We owe it to our children and grandchildren to take action now to reduce our impact on the environment and that is why our members unanimously declared a climate emergency and committed to making the council’s activities net-zero by 2030. We also committed to achieving 100 per cent clean energy across our buildings and services.

“There is lots that we are doing already - many of our schools have solar panels and rain water harvesters, we’re dimming street lights to reduce energy use and building more homes in the city so that people are less reliant on cars and more likely to use public transport.

“However, the action plan is our first major step in delivering our commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions. It won’t be easy, but we have to take action now to reverse the trend of increasing consumption of natural resources and instead put Peterborough on the road to becoming a truly sustainable city.

“I would also support people to do their bit to support Climate Action Day on 4 March. You could cycle, walk or bus to work, lower the heating setting by a degree or two, buy only UK produced food or plant a tree at home.

“The action that we can take as a city can make a difference and it also sends out a clear message that we must all change our ways.”

You can read the agenda item for the cabinet meeting and the Carbon Management Action Plan at www.peterborough.gov.uk