Buckinghamshire Council contributes around 0.3% of Buckinghamshire’s carbon emissions

A Carbon Audit of the former Buckinghamshire county and district councils has revealed that their operations accounted for around 0.3% of Buckinghamshire’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The audit has identified the main sources of emissions from the council’s activities and shows that nearly half of emissions come from buildings, whilst over a quarter are associated with street lighting.

Bill Chapple OBE, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, commented:

“We’re committed to tackling climate change and improving air quality. In July, we passed a Motion to work alongside the government with the objective to achieve net carbon zero for Buckinghamshire as a whole by 2050.

“To help with this ambitious goal, we commissioned a Carbon Audit to help us better understand the make-up of our own carbon emissions. While we currently contribute around 0.3% of greenhouse gas emissions in Buckinghamshire, we want to take steps to reduce this to zero.

“One of the first steps we plan to take is the development of a Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy. This will determine the necessary actions we need to take to put our carbon emissions on a downward trend, with the ultimate goal of creating a zero emissions county before 2050.”

To inform the development of Buckinghamshire Council’s new Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy, they are seeking the views of residents and organisations through two surveys:

Residents’ survey – https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/environment/ccaq-public-survey-2020

Organisations’ survey – https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/environment/ccaq-org-survey

The deadline for responses is 9 October 2020.

Once their draft strategy has been produced, a formal consultation will be launched. The results of this consultation will be used to shape their final strategy.

Information about Buckinghamshire Council’s current approach to sustainability and climate change can be found at: www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/environment/sustainability-and-climate-change