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Recent releases
The Adoption of the Climate Emergency Declaration and the supporting 12-point plan by Dumfries and Galloway Council in June 2019 created a starting point to focus the management and reduction of our Council’s carbon footprint. The Council’s Climate Emergency refers to the ambitious aspiration to become a carbon neutral region by 2025.
Building on the range of activities to support the Climate Emergency Declaration the creation of a Strategic Plan was needed to coordinate the range of activities that the council has direct responsibility for and those areas where the council seeks to influence and support others.
Members of Economy and Resources Committee (26 Jan) will hear of progress so far and be asked to adopt the Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan captures the regions CO2e baseline, provides prioritisation of actions and areas, and creates the reductions that can be made effectively, over the next 5 years and beyond.
Work has been carried out to consider actions that would reduce both direct emissions which relate directly to council activities, such as waste, transport and buildings, and those indirect emissions which the council would seek to influence and work with to reduce the regions carbon emissions. A good example of this has been the engagement locally with the National Farmers Union Scotland, where best practice and industry standards have been looked at as part of the sectors desire to be CO2e neutral by 2050.
Dougie Campbell, the Council’s Environment Champion said: “The Climate Emergency Declaration has proved pivotal in identifying the scope and the extent of the challenge ahead and shows that the council can support significant changes, but further work and collaboration across all sectors is required.
The increased focus through the Declaration has also provided us with the opportunity for early discussions with key sectors, such as agriculture, forestry and the economic leadership group, to showcase and demonstrate the activities that the council is undertaking to reduce its own CO2e footprint and how it can collaboratively and constructively work with others to support and facilitate their journey towards net zero.
If the Council can implement the assumptions and activities recommended, we can reduce our own CO2e emissions by nearly 80% from the 2018/19 baseline to just under 5,000 tonnes of CO2e, which will be a tremendous achievement.”
