New action plan is a major step to cutting council emissions

South Oxfordshire District Council has adopted a new Climate Action Plan, taking a major step towards cutting its emissions and becoming a carbon neutral organisation.

The plan outlines how the council will become carbon neutral within its own operations by 2025 – this means the carbon produced from the council’s buildings and services will be balanced by the amount removed from the atmosphere.

To achieve this target, the plan includes some important changes for how the council delivers its services, the policies it adopts and the projects it supports. 

Staff will soon receive training to ensure they are aware of the impacts of carbon emissions and the council will move to a digital by default approach meetings to help cut down on vehicle emissions. The plan also outlines how the council will support local efforts to tackle the climate emergency. 

The council’s Climate Action Plan, agreed by Cabinet members last week, follows significant work from officers and councillors, and feedback from parish councils, local climate action groups and from the council’s Climate and Ecological Emergencies Advisory Committee. 

The plan was a specific commitment in South Oxfordshire’s Corporate Plan 2020-24. To ensure the council is open about the progress towards its targets, officers will now carry out quarterly reviews and report to the Climate and Ecological Emergency Advisory Committee and South Oxfordshire’s Cabinet.

Cllr Sue Cooper, Cabinet Member for Environment, Climate Change and Nature Recovery, said: “I’m very pleased that we now have a Climate Action Plan in place. This is a key milestone that ensures we will become more focused on reducing emissions from across our services.  Climate action will now be at the heart of everything we do and I’m really looking forward to seeing projects move forward as we look to adapt how we work.

“Residents have told us that tackling the Climate Emergency is really important to them and our new plan also puts us in a better position to support our communities, local businesses, the voluntary sector, and our key partners, to make an impact across the district and the county.”

ENDS

To find out more about climate action in South Oxfordshire visit southoxon.gov.uk/climateaction