Zero carbon and doubling nature strategies
Doubling nature
Our vision is to double nature in South Cambridgeshire by 2050 and, in so doing, enable wildlife and people to thrive and businesses to prosper. This means:
- more wildlife-rich habitats
- an increase in tree canopy cover
- better accessibility to green space.
Our Doubling Nature strategy sets out what we are doing to tackle the ecological crisis.
Zero carbon
Our Zero Carbon Strategy [PDF, 5.5MB] outlines our commitment to reduce our emissions and support our community to lower their carbon emissions and protect the environment.
Zero carbon means no longer adding to the total amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Our targets are to:
- support the district to halve carbon emissions by 2030, and
- reduce them to zero by 2050
- reduce our own carbon footprint of at least 45% by 2025, (on a 2019 baseline)
- and at least 75% by 2030.
Our action plan
Our action plan has been developed in response to the climate and ecological emergency, to deliver the objectives agreed by Council in the Zero Carbon Strategy adopted in May 2020 and the Doubling Nature Strategy adopted in February 2021.
Read our Zero Carbon and Doubling Nature action plan [PDF, 2.5MB] [PDF, 2.5MB].
Read a summary of our progress against our action plan [PDF, 2.5MB].
Our Business Plan 2019 to 2024 includes a broad and far-reaching programme consisting of high level actions on reducing carbon emissions. These are listed below.
We will cut the Council’s own carbon footprint
We aim to improve this by:
- undertaking a programme of energy efficiency improvements and install renewable energy technologies at our offices
- exploring replacing our vehicles including bin lorries with low or zero carbon vehicles
We will help cut the carbon footprint from transport
This accounts for around 50% of emissions from the district. We aim to improve this by:
- improving walking, cycling and public transport links between existing villages and employment sites
- making sure homes and jobs are close together or can be accessed by good walking, cycling and public transport links
- looking into how electric vehicle charging points can be delivered in the district
- reviewing our taxi licensing policies to encourage taxi operators to switch to electric vehicles
- influencing the planning and delivery of new major transport routes such as the proposed East West rail line to ensure that they are planned to deliver net benefits to the environment.
We will help cut the carbon footprint from homes
This accounts for around 20% of carbon emissions from the district. We aim to improve this by:
- developing planning guidance to help cut carbon emissions from new homes
- improving existing Council housing to reduce carbon emissions and running costs.
We will help cut the carbon footprint from businesses
This accounts for around 30% of carbon emissions from the district. We aim to improve this by:
- providing businesses with information and advice on generating their own energy and improving their energy efficiency
- providing a brokerage service to help businesses invest in renewable technologies.
We will support our local communities to make the transition to zero carbon
We will be doing this by:
- upgrading the 1,800 street lights we own to reduce the electricity they use (and deliver savings to parish councils who pay the electricity bills)
- providing communities with grants and advice on carbon-cutting projects.
We will support tree planting to take up carbon emissions
We will identify sites and opportunities for tree-planting (and habitat creation) to offset the environmental impact of developments in the district
Tracking our progress
We track our progress to net zero through annual greenhouse gas emissions reports. Our Climate and Environment Advisory Committee and internal audit team review these reports. Below are our reports from previous years.