Theme 4: climate emergency and environment resilience
Theme 4: climate emergency and environment resilienceEnhancing environmental resilience by reducing emissions, supporting biodiversity, and transitioning to a green economy.
We are already seeing the impact of climate change locally, responding to and recovering from the devastating effects on our communities from severe weather and unprecedented flooding in recent years. The repercussions of inaction will be significant for our local economy, the health and wellbeing of our communities and for our services. Biodiversity loss is another key area of global concern and we need to work to protect our extensive natural capital and landscape. We know how important our open spaces and green infrastructure are for exercise and wellbeing and we will continue to make sure our neighbourhoods and open spaces are clean, tidy and safe, take enforcement action where necessary, and work to improve and protect those spaces.
As a council we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint as quickly as possible, but we know that we have limited direct control over carbon emissions in our area. This is where we need to work with others to identify opportunities, and to help businesses and residents manage resources better, including waste. We recognise that the impacts of climate change will impact our communities in different ways and want to help the most vulnerable with issues such as fuel poverty and the impacts of extreme weather.
Our areas of focus for the next 2 years will be on:
- increasing recycling rates
- taking enforcement action when it's needed
- creating an infrastructure for electric vehicles
- protecting and preserving green spaces
- utilising land to grow food locally
| Activity | Milestone | Lead Director | Portfolio Holder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Develop solutions to nutrient neutrality issues to unlock the 1393 dwellings stalled (as of 12 June 2025). | By 31 October 2026 | Place and Economy | Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places |
| Procure an Electric Vehicle charge point operator and commence installation of charge points. | By 31 January 2026 | Place and Economy | Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places |
| Deliver deep cleans to Wigton, Aspatria, Silloth, Longtown, Maryport and in Carlisle to improve targeted delivery of public space cleanliness and renewal. | By 31 March 2026 | Place and Economy | Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places |
| Identify opportunities for utilising land to grow food locally through implementation of disposals policy. | By 31 March 2026 | Innovation and Commercial | Financial Planning and Assets |
| Use more low carbon materials on the highway to reduce the carbon footprint of the highways service. | By 31 March 2026 | Place and Economy | Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places |
| Work with partners to support delivery of 6 hectares of new trees, woodlands and forest to support biodiversity | By 31 March 2026 | Place and Economy | Environment and Planning |
| Through partnership and facilitation of private investment, support the development of new programmes of investment, including at Moorside and Port of Workington | By 31 March 2027 | Place and Economy | Leader |
| Deliver the element of the Waste Collection Review which relates to the switch from 4 weekly paper and card collection to fortnightly in the Allerdale area. | By 31 October 2025 | Place and Economy | Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places |
| Deliver the longer term element of the Waste Disposal Review that relates to identifying future commissioning options for waste disposal. | By 31 December 2027 | Place and Economy | Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places |
| Development and delivery of the first Natural Environment Management and Recovery Plan for the council's own assets. | By 31 March 2026 | Place and Economy | Environment and Planning |
| Explore a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to support a variety of different ecosystem service models. In the near term the SPV would seek to prioritise Biodiversity Net Gain and Nutrient Neutrality opportunities. | By 31 March 2026 | Place and Economy | Environment and Planning |
| Create a project pipeline of sites for the delivery of the Community Forest Plan. | By 31 March 2026 | Place and Economy | Environment and Planning |
| Support the delivery of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy through the Cumbria Local Nature Partnership and the working groups. | By 31 March 2026 | Place and Economy | Environment and Planning |
| Develop an Integrated Water Management approach for the Carlisle area | Place and Economy | Environment and Planning | |
| Develop and deliver measures to mitigate the council's impact on climate change. | By 31 March 2027 | Place and Economy | Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places and Financial Planning and Assets |
| Put in place a Private Sector Housing inspection and enforcement plan to ensure private rented homes have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or above (exemptions will apply) which aims to improve the energy efficiency and quality of rental home, in line with the UK's targets for decarbonisation. | By 31 March 2027 | Public Health, Customer and Community Wellbeing | Children's Services, Family Wellbeing and Housing |
Key performance indicators
| Key performance indicator | Target |
|---|---|
| Reduce greenhouse gas emissions (scope 1 and 2) | by 18% |
| Reduce greenhouse gas emissions (scopes 1, 2 and 3) | by 2% |
| Increase the number of publicly available EV charging devices. | Target to be finalised following appointment of contractor |
| Maximise the percentage of bins collected as scheduled. | 99.8% |
| Reduce residual household waste. | by 1% |
| Increase the percentage of waste sent for reuse, recycling, composting. | 56% |
Outcome measures for climate emergency and environment resilience theme
- reduction in district wide emissions per person
- reduction in carbon emissions from transport
- reduction in fly tipping incidents (percentage change on same month a year ago)