Council adopts vision to become carbon neutral | Latest news

We declared a climate emergency in January 2020 and pledged to become carbon neutral by 2030 – 20 years ahead of the government’s target of 2050.

Like all councils, Arun has an important role in leading the unified fight to cut emissions and reduce the impact of global warming.

Following an audit of our own carbon emissions, we developed the ‘Carbon Neutral Strategy 2022-2030’ which will help make climate change a guiding principle in our decision-making process going forward.

Now formally adopted by the council, this important document lays down our targets, sets out our baselines and will sit alongside the more detailed Climate Change Action Plan being published in 2022.  

The results of the carbon audit confirmed that the largest single emitter for the council is our purchased goods and services, which is responsible for 87% of all our emissions.

In response, we are looking to encourage our suppliers to share our carbon-neutral goals. At least half of our suppliers are local, and we will be considering ways to increase that percentage and provide them with additional help in their journey to reduce their emissions.

We are also looking at how we can reduce emissions from our building, leisure centres and council houses.

Councillor Shaun Gunner, Leader of Arun District Council, said: “You can’t pretend climate change isn’t happening – it’s not something that’s going to go away without us all making changes to the way we live our lives. It’s becoming an ever-increasing threat with the repercussions being felt across the globe.

“As a council, we know that we need to make significant changes to the way we operate in order to lessen our impact on our environment. In creating this strategy, we are showing our commitment to tackling climate change and how serious we are about becoming carbon neutral by 2030.”

This is not the first climate action we have taken - Arun has a good track record of delivering environmental projects and energy efficiencies across all service areas. These range from installing solar panels on our buildings to protecting the range of biodiversity found within our district.

Our work ties in with the important COP26 Climate Change Conference, currently taking place in Glasgow, which brings together heads of state, climate experts and campaigners to agree coordinated action to tackle climate change.

This ‘make-or-break’ event is seen as humanity’s final attempt to reduce our impact on the environment, decrease our emissions and ensure that we stay within the targets outlined in the Paris Agreement – an international treaty on climate change adopted in 2015.

To read the Carbon Neutral Strategy 2022-2030, visit Climate change | Arun District Council