Climate change

We declared a climate emergency on 15 January 2020 and as a council, we pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030. This is for our scope 1,2, and 3 emissions.

Carbon neutral means reducing carbon emissions to a small amount that can be easily absorbed and stored by nature along with other carbon dioxide removal measures, leaving zero in the atmosphere (net-zero). A climate change and sustainability manager has been appointed to lead on this work and a climate change support officer has also been appointed to help drive sustainability forward and increase emission reduction.

Our carbon neutral strategy

We have produced a carbon neutral strategy. This strategy makes fighting climate change key in our decision making as an organisation. It details our carbon reduction targets, sets our emission baselines and also provides a direction of travel.

Read our carbon neutral strategy

Our climate action and sustainability work plan

This document shows all the climate-related projects we are either currently doing, planning to do, or could do in the future. These projects will help reduce our emissions and promote biodiversity. 

The work plan will be updated each year to show how emissions and projects have changed. This is an ever-evolving document that reflects how our understanding of sustainability changes.

Climate action and sustainability work plan 2025-2026 [pdf] 3MB
Climate action and sustainability work plan 2025-2026 [accessible HTML version]

Our work so far

We have a strong track record of delivering environmental projects and energy efficiencies across all our services.

Please see below some of the projects we've already undertaken and some that are in development:

Monitoring and oversight

  • Carrying out annual carbon audits on our scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions (updated emissions are showcased in our Climate Action and Sustainability Work Plan ), by undertaking this work, we are able to closely monitor how our projects are going and ensure we are on track to our 2030 carbon neutral target.
  • We are aiming to decarbonise all our council properties entirely by improving their energy efficiency and reducing carbon output, we have made use of several funding openings to support this work and will keep our eye on future opportunities. Work has involved having building audits and heat decarbonisation plans completed for a range of council properties including the Civic Centre and Bognor Regis Town Hall, our two main council offices.

Energy efficiency and renewable energy projects

  • Increasing the amount of solar PV that is installed on our buildings - currently the Civic Centre in Littlehampton generates energy from 49.9kWp of solar panels on its roof, reducing the reliance on grid electricity and helping save money on electricity bills. Additionally, in 2025 there has been 8kWp of PV installed as part of the Littlehampton Seafront Project, which will generate 8278 kWh of electricity per year. 
  • Transitioning the vehicles we lease with the aim to change to 100% electric vehicles and where this is not appropriate provide low emissions alternatives. So far 14 of our vehicles are electric, with 15 being diesel. Where possible we are looking to only lease electric vehicles going forward.

Leisure centres

  • We are working in partnership with our leisure provider, Freedom Leisure, to enhance the sustainability of leisure centres across Arun. Building audits have been completed for both Arun Leisure Centre and Littlehampton Wave, alongside the development of a heat decarbonisation plan for Arun Leisure Centre. As part of our ongoing improvements, destratification fans have been installed at Arun Leisure Centre, resulting in annual carbon savings of 32.52 tonnes CO e. Additionally, the installation of triple glazing has improved the site's energy efficiency.
  • The Littlehampton Wave leisure centre and Arun Leisure Centre have also had solar panels installed on their roofs. The Wave has had 40.26kWp of PV installed using Swimming Pool Support Fund funding in 2023, whilst Arun Leisure Centre has had 49kWp of PV installed in 2023. This supports the move away from grid dependency and supports our leisure provider with reducing electricity costs and associated emissions, helping us both meet our 2030 carbon neutral targets.

Biodiversity

  • Providing more grassland and wildflower meadows across the district helps support biodiversity and local wildlife by provide food for our insects and pollinators. There has been a push to enhance and expand species rich wildflower meadows by 10% each year, as well as to increase the amount of long grass areas by 5% per year. Increasing the areas of long grass is becoming more difficult, therefore in the future we will be looking at increasing the habitat at more sites, but at a lower scale at each one.
  • Completed work on a ten-year tree-planting strategy 2021-2031, to help improve our woodland habitats and tree coverage within the district

Procurement and supplier engagement

  • We are increasing our understanding of our procurement and its processes as this is the largest single emitter for us, being responsible for roughly 91% of our total emissions. Because of this we have started to engage with our suppliers to gain a better understanding of what they are doing regarding climate change and sustainability, and have been including requirements for some contracts to supply us with relevant information, such as their annual carbon emissions reports.
  • To further support our reduction in procurement we are developing draft policies and documentation, which we hope will make it easier for officers and suppliers to understand what climate change and sustainability requirements will be needed for each contract.
  • We are encouraging our suppliers to use electric hand tools and low emission and electric vehicles to help support the council in our target to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Community engagement and behavioural change

  • Collaborating with other organisations and local authorities to tackle climate change through the following:
    • Working with town and parish councils to take positive actions to tackle climate change through facilitating and delivering meetings on a range of climate change and sustainability related topics. So far meetings have included a climate action workshop, delivered by the Centre for Sustainable Energy, a online meeting outlining the importance of good communication techniques to increase engagement around climate change, and a workshop delivered by OnePlanet and the South Downs National Park Authority that provided an introduction to the OnePlanet platform, which is used to track climate actions and foster collaboration between councils and organisations. Future meetings will include an event by the Western Sussex Rivers Trust focusing on actions town and parish councils can take to support their water environments, as well as a meeting focusing on ways they can improve biodiversity and embed this within neighbourhood plans.
    • Regular contact with other district and boroughs within West Sussex and across the UK to share best practices and lessons learned
  • Implementing behavioural change and reducing emissions is a council-wide responsibility, so we have been providing training to all of our staff to ensure sustainability is embedded into everything we do, our training has included:
    • Carbon literacy training, with additional opportunities was carried on from 2021 to 2024, we have now been awarded the bronze certificate in carbon literacy.
    • Internal e-learning modules that cover both climate change and sustainability, providing a quick and easy introduction into climate change that is available to both officers and our elected members, this Information is updated annually. 

We will continue to update you as we take steps to achieve our goals. For more information please have a read of our climate action and biodiversity action work plan.

Climate change consultation and engagement hub

The climate change hub is an interactive space for residents and communities to share ideas, information and map local climate-related activity. It is run by West Sussex County Council.

You can visit the climate change consultation and engagement hub at westsussex.gov.uk

Information for homes, businesses, town and parish councils, and other organisations

The following information pages on heating options and building fabric and energy efficiency have been produced to provide an overview of the options that can be taken to help lower carbon emissions in these areas. They include a range of technologies and options, but it should be noted that not all technologies and energy saving techniques are included.

Heating systems options for homes, community groups and businesses

Building fabric and energy efficiency