Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Public Realm and Climate Change introduced a report on the proposed roadmap and framework that would assist the Council in achieving its commitment of becoming a carbon neutral Authority by 2030 and for the wider Borough to become net zero carbon by 2050.

The Cabinet Member advised that the Council had commissioned Anthesis, a leading sustainability consultancy, and the Carbon Trust to identify the Council’s and Borough’s carbon footprint (based on 2019/20 data).  That data showed that the Council itself was deemed to be responsible for 119,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions through its day-to-day operations, corporate estate, fleet and supply chains, over 70% of which related to purchased goods and services and leased buildings.  The Borough-wide footprint had been assessed at 566 kilo-tonnes of CO2 emissions.  The work carried out by Anthesis and the Carbon Trust also included the production of roadmaps that contained ambitious targets and trajectories to support the journey to net zero. 

Stemming from that work, the Council had developed a framework of actions and interventions that achieved a balance between ambition and deliverability, reflecting the Council’s position as an ‘enabler’ and agent for change.  The Cabinet Member referred to the significant cost challenges associated with achieving net zero, referencing a projected £9m cost merely to upgrade the Council’s Refuse vehicle fleet to green energy. 

It was noted that the Council had been awarded a £48m grant to support its plans to decarbonise its corporate estate, including homes and buildings, as well as installing additional electric charging points and the Cabinet Member was hopeful that future grant applications would also be successful to enable the Council to continue its journey.  Another exciting initiative was the recently signed partnership agreement between the Council, the Seoul Digital Foundation and other organisations which would see the launch of a Smart Homes Innovation Hub in the Borough and the development of solutions to improve the energy and heating efficiency of existing homes.  The Cabinet Member also confirmed that the Council had planted 52,000 new trees and restored 50 hectares of wetlands over the past two years to capture carbon emissions and reduce its carbon footprint, with plans to plant a further 50,000 new trees by 2030.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Approve the Council’s Operational Net Zero Carbon Roadmap at Appendix 1 to the report;

(ii)  Approve the Borough-wide Net Zero Carbon Roadmap at Appendix 2 to the report; and

(iii)  Approve the Net Zero Carbon Delivery Framework at Appendix 3 to the report.