Issue - meetings

This report presents the sixth annual update to Cabinet on progress towards commitments made in the BCP Council Climate and Ecological Emergency Declaration, made on the 16 of July 2019.

In the 2024-2025 year, progress against the main commitments is:

·       Make BCP Council and its operations carbon neutral by 2030 - scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reduced by 20.9% from the 2019 baseline

·       Work with the wider community to make the region carbon neutral before 2045 – according to data released in 2025, total area-wide emissions for 2024 had reduced by 17.7% from the 2019 baseline.

Overall, both the Council and the wider BCP area have made progress since 2019, supported by clearer roadmaps, better data, strengthened governance and growing collaboration across sectors.

Continued acceleration, investment and partnership working will be essential to stay on track for the 2030 and 2045 targets.

RESOLVED that Cabinet noted the Climate Progress Report 2024-25

Voting: Unanimous

Reason

This report informs on progress made to date and proposes a draft Roadmap of climate actions that the Council can consider in order to deliver on the ambitions of a carbon neutral Council by 2030. These are clear and achievable but require resources and timely decision-making if significant emissions reductions are to be made.

The Portfolio Holder for Climate Response, Environment and Energy presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'F' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Cabinet was advised that the report presented the sixth annual update to Cabinet on progress towards commitments made in the BCP Council Climate and Ecological Emergency Declaration, made on the 16 of July 2019.

In relation to this Cabinet was informed that in the 2024-2025 year, progress against the main commitments was:

·       Make BCP Council and its operations carbon neutral by 2030 - scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reduced by 20.9% from the 2019 baseline

·       Work with the wider community to make the region carbon neutral before 2045 – according to data released in 2025, total area-wide emissions for 2024 had reduced by 17.7% from the 2019 baseline.

Further to this Cabinet was advised that overall, both the Council and the wider BCP area had made progress since 2019, supported by clearer roadmaps, better data, strengthened governance and growing collaboration across sectors, and that continued acceleration, investment and partnership working was essential to stay on track for the 2030 and 2045 targets.

The Chair of the Environment and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Chris Rigby addressed the Cabinet urging the Cabinet to find ways in which we can meet these targets.

In addition, thanks were expressed to officers for all their hard work.

RESOLVED that Cabinet noted the Climate Progress Report 2024-25

Voting: Unanimous

Reason

This report informs on progress made to date and proposes a draft Roadmap of climate actions that the Council can consider in order to deliver on the ambitions of a carbon neutral Council by 2030. These are clear and achievable but require resources and timely decision-making if significant emissions reductions are to be made.

This report presents the sixth annual update to Cabinet on progress towards commitments made in the BCP Council Climate and Ecological Emergency Declaration, made on the 16 of July 2019.

In the 2024-2025 year, progress against the main commitments is:

·       Make BCP Council and its operations carbon neutral by 2030 - scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reduced by 20.9% from the 2019 baseline

·       Work with the wider community to make the region carbon neutral before 2045 – according to data released in 2025, total area-wide emissions for 2024 had reduced by 17.7% from the 2019 baseline.

Overall, both the Council and the wider BCP area have made progress since 2019, supported by clearer roadmaps, better data, strengthened governance and growing collaboration across sectors.

Continued acceleration, investment and partnership working will be essential to stay on track for the 2030 and 2045 targets.

The Cabinet Member for Climate Response, Environment and Energy presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

This report presents the sixth annual update to Cabinet on progress towards commitments made in the BCP Council Climate and Ecological Emergency Declaration, made on the 16 of July 2019.

In the 2024-2025 year, progress against the main commitments were:

·       Make BCP Council and its operations carbon neutral by 2030 - scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reduced by 20.9% from the 2019 baseline

·       Work with the wider community to make the region carbon neutral before 2045 – according to data released in 2025, total area-wide emissions for 2024 had reduced by 17.7% from the 2019 baseline.

It was reported that good progress had been made with a 21% reduction in the council’s footprint and 18% reduction in the area.

It was reported that the information was from the year before due to date being received.

Some of the challenges reported were:

·       Flooding at Iford and in the winter had been particularly difficult where a caravan site was evacuated and the frequency of the events were increasing.  The report included information from the Met Office from their assessment which highlighted the growing challenges in terms of wetter winters, heat waves and heath fires. That trend was increasing due to not the Council not acting quickly enough. The government are thinking seriously about how much the changing climate was going to impact life in the UK in ways that people might not have thought about.

·       It was highlighted that the BCP council housing stock in both Bournemouth and Poole were the biggest part of the footprint.  It was reported that on the council’s leased buildings there was a 16.2% decrease in the use of carbon which was particularly in the Bournemouth area which had seen a significant decrease. Poole had also dropped reasonably well.

·       Another area highlighted was the use the use of gas an electricity. It was reported that there had been a modest increase in natural gas which was up on last year which was something that still needed to be worked on.  There was a significant in fuel which was due to the price dropping and the council managed to purchase fuel at a lower price.  The electric vehicle fleet has also increased which had also made a difference. The Council have not moved away from gas as much as expected.

·       There had been quite a lot of work done with key partners area wide both private and public sector organisations which involved sharing and listening as well as telling them where we were upto. There were a number of successful events which aimed to happen quarterly with more organisations attending each time.

·       It was reported that the number of properties both household and commercial using battery storage devices has risen since 2023.

·       The number of electric and hybrid vehicles  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45