Issue - meetings

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability submitted a report inviting Overview and Scrutiny Committee to discuss the council’s actions in reducing its carbon footprint in line with its commitments in the Climate Emergency declaration passed by Council on 26th July 2023.

Members were advised that the report provided the opportunity for Overview and Scrutiny to review the issues involved and share views and ideas about tackling climate change with the Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability.

The Executive Member said that the council had unanimously approved the making of a climate emergency declaration on 26 July 2023, and this built on a climate change declaration made by Council on 24 July 2019. He said that the council had maintained its commitment to becoming a net zero carbon council by 2030.

The Executive Member emphasised that the council had also committed to reducing its emissions to a minimum by 2027 and had also identified a pathway for offsetting any residual emissions. He said that the analysis was based on the carbon emissions report which was referenced in the document and was also available on the council’s website.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability invited Members to consider the recommendation and pass any comments to him for his consideration when determining priorities and actions.

Councillor Buckmaster asked what the council would consider to be a minimum in terms of emissions so that the council knew what progress was being made. The Executive Member said that 75% of the 2019 emissions were committed due to the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) boilers installed at the leisure centres. These units were one of the largest emissions within the council’s footprint and the second one was the diesel vehicles used for waste collection.

The Executive Member said that the council needed to evaluate whether it was cheaper to reduce emissions or to offset the emissions. He said that this piece of work was being carried out in collaboration with the University of Hertfordshire.

Councillor Clements commented on the disparity between the 40% carbon reduction identified in the 2021 sustainability plan and the current prediction of 25%. He referred to the current figure of 17% and the detailed roadmap for how the figure could reach 37%. He commented on the current listed actions and asked about the confidence level that the 25% level could be reached.

Councillor Clements said that the big-ticket items that might make a difference for reducing carbon would be delivered in 2026/27, and this did not leave much leeway if these measures did not work out.

The Executive Member acknowledged that there was some uncertainty in this phase and whether it was worth replacing a gas boiler with an air source heat pump or better to invest in some offsetting measures locally. He said that a piece of work had been commissioned with the University of Hertfordshire in conjunction with the Hertfordshire Climate Change Group. The Executive Member summarised the 5 topics to be covered by the research.

The Executive Member confirmed that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 134