Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment.

Recommendations:

1.    That Cabinet approves the Climate Change Action Plan in Appendix 2, noting the key achievements and opportunities summarised in Appendix 1 and section 2 of this report.

Consideration was given to the report which provided an update on the Council’s Climate Change activity for the previous year. A full progress report and action plan for 2024/2025 was detailed within Appendix 1 and 2. Key progress was highlighted in the report with respect to the specific themes of:

·       Monitoring and measurement

·       Energy decarbonisation

·       Transport

·       Housing

·       Waste

·       Built & Natural Environment

·       Influence & Engagement

·       Adaptation

An eighth theme ‘Adaptation’ was added in the 2022/23 annual report to reflect scientific evidence that some degree of climate impacts were already being experienced and would continue to be felt in the future irrespective of widespread collective carbon reduction.

An update on the Council’s action plan to reduce Single Use Plastics (SUP) was also included with this report. Single Use Plastics were of public interest and contributed to the Council’s carbon emissions (Scope 3). It was therefore important that the Council continued to remove SUP from its operations and  encouraged good practice locally.

The Council continued to administer the successful ECO4-Flex scheme, through which people living in fuel poverty could access energy performance upgrades to their homes. Between April 2023 and January 2024, the Council had approved 452 ECO4-Flex projects, while 134 Households were supported by its Community Energy Support Scheme. The average funding received by each retrofitted property currently stood at £6,745.

Paragraphs 2.51 to 2.59 of the report detailed the action plan for 2024/25.

Resolved:

1.    That Cabinet approves the Climate Change Action Plan in Appendix 2, noting the key achievements and opportunities summarised in Appendix 1 and section 2 of this report.