Council climate actions

Climate Change Action Plan

Our Climate Change Action Plan shows our actions to become net zero by 2035. This means that by 2035, we will have reduced our greenhouse gas emissions and have steps in place to remove any remaining emissions from the atmosphere.

Our current Climate Change Action Plan was approved in June 2022 and we are reporting every three months (quarterly) on our progress.

Some of the key actions:

• making our buildings more energy efficient
• replacing diesel and petrol vehicles with electric or low-emission alternatives
• making sure our colleagues consider the climate in their day-to-day roles and decisions.

Read the full Climate Change Action Plan which gives details of the specific actions we’re taking.

Carbon footprint

What is a carbon footprint?

A carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated by a person or organisation’s activities. So, each time you drive your vehicle, eat a banana or take a shower, that adds to your carbon footprint.

It is usually measured as tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) to account for other greenhouse gasses such as methane.

The total emissions directly generated in Derby are approximately 1.3 million tonnes of CO2e.

This figure is our best estimate using the SCATTER tool but doesn’t include emissions actions like residents travelling abroad for holidays or eating food that was imported from overseas.

In Derby, the Council’s activity makes up less than 2% of the city’s carbon footprint. Homes account for 27% of Derby’s carbon footprint.

Our Climate Change Action Plan aims to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint to zero.

You can find out more about your own carbon footprint on the WWF website.

Carbon budget 

Climate science defines a carbon budget as the amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted for a given level of global warming. So to keep global temperature rises below 2°C (as agreed in the Paris Agreement), we need to emit fewer greenhouse gasses than our budget.

In Derby, our carbon budget from 2020 to 2100 is 7.1 million tonnes (MtCO2). This sounds like a huge amount but at current emission rates, Derby will have used this up entirely by 2027.

To prevent ‘overspending’ on our carbon budget, the Council, residents and businesses all need to reduce their carbon footprint.