Agenda and minutes

The Chairman of the Concurrent Meeting, Councillor Anne Welburn welcomed all to the meeting. The roll-call for both Members and Officers was undertaken, during which apologies were noted from Councillors M Boles and R Waller.

Members may make any declarations at this point but may also make them at any time during the course of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest made at this stage of the meeting.

The Procedure by which the Concurrent Meeting would be held was noted.

Members gave consideration to a report which presented the Council’s Carbon Management Plan and draft Sustainability, Climate and Environment Strategy and action plan for approval prior to submission to Full Council for adoption.

In summary the report provided

·                a brief reminder to Members setting out the original rationale for this work, arising from a Motion to Council and the approach adopted to undertake the task 

·                information produced by the Carbon Trust detailing the Council’s revised carbon footprint and an associated carbon reduction action plan.

·                the proposed Council’s Sustainability, Climate Change and Environment Strategy and action plan for consideration and an outline of the process followed to develop the Strategy; and

·                details of further matters for consideration to progress this agenda.

In presenting the report it was noted that a key message of the Strategy was that in addressing climate change a number of important co-benefits could accrue. In addition to greenhouse gas reductions, long-term sustainable financial savings; better development; improved health and wellbeing; new technologies and skilled employment; greater community resilience and secure energy supplies could be realised.  Further information was contained in Section 2 of the report.

Climate change and its adverse impacts was considered one of the biggest issues individuals, communities, organisations and nations faced. Reference was made to the special report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which stressed the urgency with which greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

The draft strategy and action plan, supported by a CMP, before Members set out the Council’s response to this challenge. It provided a path way for the Council to follow in order to reach a net-zero carbon position across its own operations and for the wider District to achieve the same position by 2050 at the latest. It was considered not taking immediate action was not an option.

The scale of the carbon reduction challenge had been calculated. The Council’s most recent carbon footprint had been calculated at 3428t CO2e pa, with an initial targeted footprint of 2089t CO2e pa. to be tackled.  The  Council’s current carbon ‘hotspots’ have also been identified. The carbon footprint of the whole District was estimated at 524kt CO2e pa. which signified that the Council’s overall impact was minimal in comparison. However, as a leader of place it was considered vitally important that the Council brought to bear its influencing skills to support and encourage all stakeholders across the District to also meet the challenge.

The key contributory factors to climate change had been identified and were discussed and detailed within the strategy. Their identification provided a robust framework against which action could be taken to mitigate their harmful effects on a themed approach.

The report also set out the key steps undertaken during the strategy’s production. These included work with the Carbon Trust to deliver the CMP; two phases of consultation; training/awareness packages for staff and Members; the production of a communications plan; updates to the website and keeping abreast of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.