Council’s first climate strategy to be approved

Shropshire Council’s first ever climate change strategy is expected to be signed off this week after winning the backing of senior councillors.

Cabinet members have given their support to the strategy, which includes an action plan setting out how the authority will reach its goal of net zero emissions by 2030.

It will now go before all 74 councillors for final approval at a meeting on Thursday.

Councillor Dean Carroll, portfolio holder for climate change, told cabinet that carbon neutral was not the end goal, with the council aiming to become carbon negative.

He said: “I am ambitious for this council to become a standard bearer for the local government sector in the fight against climate change.

“We are on course to meet our target and these documents set out the processes and roadmaps to get there by 2030, and even beyond that initial vision.”

Post 2030, Councillor Carroll said Shropshire could become a carbon credits ‘bank’, allowing contractors and other partners across the country to offset their own carbon emissions by funding things like wetlands, tree planting programmes and renewable energy generation in the county.

The strategy sets out plans for the council to begin measuring greenhouse gas emissions against a ‘carbon budget’, monitored in line with the financial budget each year.

It outlines a three-pronged approach to reducing the council’s carbon footprint by ‘powering down’ on energy consumption, ‘powering up’ on renewable energy generation, and using carbon capture and offsetting to bridge the gap.

The action plan lists a string of projects which are either in development or could be considered in future years, including a large-scale solar farm in Oswestry and a potential hydrogen fuel manufacturing operation at the Battlefield Energy Recovery Facility in Shrewsbury.

Other measures include tree planting, boosting green jobs, and improving the energy efficiency of council buildings.

The reports estimate the council’s total gross carbon emissions for 2019 were 76,000 tonnes of C02E (carbon dioxide equivalent). Around 23,000 tonnes were saved through recycling, alongside 2,000 tonnes through carbon capture on council-owned sites, meaning its net carbon footprint was 51,000 tonnes of CO2E.

Only a small amount – around 5,000 tonnes – of the council’s carbon footprint is attributed to direct emissions, for example from its own buildings and travel. The council has already reduced these direct emissions by 26 per cent since 2012.

The rest – called ‘scope three emissions’ – are from services the council commissions, such as road maintenance and social care.

Councillor Carroll said: “We are in a far better position than almost any other authorities in the country, because we have actually measured our scope three emissions, which is something that most authorities do not and have not done.

“We are looking at all emissions in our name.”

The council says it is working with contractors to assess and reduce their carbon footprints, and companies’ environmental credentials will become increasingly important when future tenders are assessed.

Councillor Carroll said officers and staff across all departments were supportive of the council’s ambitions.

He added: “We took a decision early doors in this process that Shropshire Council would have a green thread that would underpin every part of its work, and I have seen evidence that that green thread is now running throughout this council.”

Cabinet unanimously supported the new strategy and agreed to recommend to full council that it be adopted.

A separate strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of the entire county – of which the council’s own emissions represent just one per cent – is also being developed by the community-led Shropshire Climate Action Partnership.

Speaking ahead of the cabinet meeting, Adrian Cooper, who heads up the council’s climate change task force, said the council hoped to lead by example and encourage county residents and businesses to follow. He also said practical help would be offered in the form of support for green jobs and skills growth.

Councillor Carroll added: “I want Shropshire Council and Shropshire as a county to be leading the way. We led the way in the last industrial revolution, and we can lead the way in the green industrial revolution.”