The council and climate crisis

Climate and ecological emergency

At the Full Council meeting on Tuesday 30 July 2019 Uttlesford District Council declared a 'climate emergency'.

Councillors pledged to take local action to contribute to prevent a climate and ecological catastrophe through the development of practices and policies, with an aim to achieving net-zero carbon status by 2030 and to protect and enhance bio-diversity in the district.

The council pledged to:

1. To declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency, acting now to prevent a climate and ecological catastrophe that will greatly impact our children, grandchildren and future generations

2 . To commit to achieving net-zero carbon status by 2030 and protecting and enhancing bio-diversity by:

• requesting the Cabinet Member for Environment and Green Issues to establish an Energy and Climate Change Working Group of Cabinet
• working collaboratively across the council and engaging with individuals, community groups, businesses and other partners in the district, including young people who should have a voice to help shape our future
• lobbying central government to urgently provide funding and implement necessary policy changes
• producing a bold plan of action that is realistic, measurable and deliverable  
• ensuring significant progress has been made to deliver the action plan by April 2023
   

Climate crisis strategy

We have now approved a strategy, the Climate Crisis Strategy. This sets a clear direction for tackling the climate crisis. We've allocated £1million to support climate crisis projects over the next 3 years.

What steps have we taken

We have already taken some practical steps to reduce our carbon footprint, including:

• making our buildings more energy efficient
• bringing in electric vehicles as part of our fleet with Uttlesford Norse
• saving paper by starting to switch to digital forms

Now we are exploring further, wider reaching measures, designed to limit the effects of global warming both internally within the council and wider within the district.
 

Climate Local Commitment

In 2015 the council pledged a Climate Local Commitment. This set out our early objectives and a framework for local action on the climate crisis.