This week, councillors in Stafford Borough were given an update on work being carried out by the authority to help tackle climate change.
Stafford Borough Council have set a 2040 date to be carbon neutral from its own activities. A ‘Climate Change and Green Recovery Strategy’ was approved by the council in November 2020 which outlined its commitments for the next 20 years.
And the authority also added ‘Climate Change’ as one of its top four priorities as part of its new business plan which was launched earlier this year.
An update on the activities was given at a meeting of the council at the town’s Rising Brook Community Church on Tuesday 14th September.
Councillors were told a dedicated full-time Climate Change Officer was in place and the authority has partnered with Keele University, the Centre for Alternative Technology and other Staffordshire councils to look at what is required to achieve the zero-carbon targets.
A carbon audit has already been carried out to identify which parts of the local authority produce the most emissions to help achieve their ‘net zero’ commitment. And proposals will be put forward to help remove carbon from the atmosphere – for example planting more trees where appropriate and improving local habitats.
Councillor Jonathan Price, Cabinet Member for Environment, said that tackling climate change was everyone’s responsibility and the council was already heading in the right direction to being a ‘zero carbon’ authority.
Previous measures included replacing cremators which more than halved gas consumption at the crematorium on the town’s Tixall Road and installing solar panels to the roof of the Civic Centre in Stafford.
Councillor Price continued:
“We have made tackling climate change a priority and I am pleased to be able to share what we have done, and are doing, to contribute to this. But I must stress that we are a very tiny cog in a global wheel and locally we need our community, businesses and organisations to do their bit to contribute to this agenda.
“Our role as a leader in the community is to lead by example and this report demonstrates we are doing this and the importance of our climate change and green recovery agenda and I am proud with the progress we have made especially when officers have been at the forefront of providing support during the covid pandemic.”
More information can be found on the SBC website
