Case studies

To meet it’s target to be carbon neutral by 2030, the Council have developed a Carbon Neutral Plan.

In recognition of the climate emergency, West Sussex County Council launched its Climate Change Strategy during 2020. This underpins their corporate plan, making climate change a fundamental consideration of all actions going forward and elevating progress on a wide variety of supporting projects.

Solihull Council has embarked on a scheme to deliver an alternative source of affordable low carbon energy to the town centre. The network will distribute low carbon heat and power from a single energy centre directly into town centre buildings. The energy centre at the heart of this network will provide a range of renewable and low carbon energy solutions including air source heat pumps and gas combined heat and power.

As part of the Government’s drive for a green industrial revolution and the Council’s COVID-19 Economic Strategy and climate change commitments, Derbyshire County Council has launched a Green Entrepreneurs Fund – a £2 million grant fund to help local businesses develop and invest in green energy and carbon reduction, and provide a boost to the local economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic

In order to raise awareness through the community of Leicester, the city council intend to use the Carbon Literacy Project as a way of accrediting university students and school staff to become carbon literate trainers who will deliver training to school students within the city.

Against a challenging backdrop, financially and politically, Northumberland County Council has developed a robust response to their climate emergency declaration of 2019 and created a pipeline of projects to accelerate delivery in line with their targets.

In 2019, Nottingham set an ambitious target to become the first carbon neutral city in the UK by 2028. In keeping with Nottingham’s proud tradition of climate leadership, their Carbon Neutral Charter set out a vision for sustainable carbon neutrality on behalf of the council and the city’s Green Partnership.

Smart Energy Greater Lincolnshire is a £8.5 million European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Salix part funded project, providing ‘one stop shop’ free advice and grants for small/medium businesses (SMEs) and public buildings to boost renewable energy use and lower carbon emissions.

Digital twins are an excellent tool that can be used to create what-if scenarios and enable data-driven decision making, which will be explored by the Council and others.

Cheshire’s Natural Health Service uses the best of the county’s green space assets to help tackle recognised local health inequalities. This initiative builds on the growing body of evidence that activities in the natural environment can have a significant impact on keeping people healthy.