Corporate Carbon Descent Plan

In March 2021, Cabinet approved the Corporate Carbon Descent Plan.

The Corporate Carbon Descent Plan outlines the council’s vision for managing and reducing emissions arising from its own activities in order to reach its net zero target by 2030. This plan is accompanied with an action plan which is reviewed and updated annually. 

The Council engaged an external consultant (LASER) to conduct a detailed assessment of current CO₂ emissions across the Council’s services and estate. This enables the Council to know its total footprint and identify the areas generating the highest CO₂ emissions so they can be prioritised first for future action.

This Corporate Carbon Descent Plan brings together the results of the carbon audit and the extensive modelling work conducted by LASER and the CEAP panel. It includes some obvious measures (such as LED lighting and solar panels) but also sets out less obvious potential measures such as Power Purchase Agreements and investment in an out-of-borough solar farm.

The aim of the year 1 action plan was to set the scene and initiate various activities specifically around behaviour change, service provision and building assessments to identify where significant improvements could be made to reducing the Council’s own carbon emissions. The actions and projects proposed each year have evolved and changed each year as progress is made.