Climate emergency action plan - pathway to net zero

Both public and private investment is crucial to the success of reaching our targets for 2030. Our purchasing decisions across the borough can have a significant benefit, both in reducing our own scope 3 supply chain emissions, alongside reducing borough wide emissions.

Delivery update and future areas of focus

Cheltenham’s Green Deal

• We published our Climate Change Investment Strategy, known as Cheltenham’s Green Deal, in the summer of 2022. The Green Deal enables the council to invest up to £10m in climate related projects providing they meet certain investment criteria. Officers have used the strategy to deliver £170k investment to drive emission reduction. The Green Deal ensures we are well placed to take forward the decarbonisation opportunities that are identified. It also provides a vital tool to support the wider objective for a clean and green borough
• Looking ahead: Plans are being developed for each of the council’s key buildings as an essential first step during the first quarter of 2024. These will likely use the Green Deal to deliver emission reduction.

Climate Community Fund

• The Climate Community Fund has made £100,000 available to support decarbonisation across the borough over 2 financial years
• Looking ahead: During 2024 we will continue to make funds available to support community decarbonisation projects

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) projects

• Funding has been provided for climate related projects through the CIL board. This has included new planting in Pittville, an air quality project in Benhall and a project to include some honey on the Honeybourne Line.

Procurement and scope 3 emissions

• Our finance and procurement teams have analysed our spending to address scope 3 emissions and inform a proposed procurement strategy for the future
• Looking ahead: During 2024 we will analyse our top 10 areas of expenditure and seek to work with our key suppliers of infrastructure, goods and services to identify opportunities to reduce the emissions associated with our expenditure to inform our approach to inform our strategy

Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and rain gardens

• Our climate supplementary planning document (SPD) requires developers to include these as part of their plans, to balance rainfall. Alongside flood risk management, these measures can provide pleasant spaces for the community and improve biodiversity
• Looking ahead: We will monitor planning applications to ensure that these sustainable flood management measures are being implemented

Working with Gloucestershire County Council Climate Co-ordinators

• Working closely with our fellow districts across Gloucestershire will be key to enabling us to reach shared carbon reduction targets. To enable a shared programme of work to be delivered, we will be making and ongoing financial contribution to support provision of the county-wide Climate Change Coordinators
• Looking ahead: we are supporting the workgroups and plans that have been developed alongside all of the councils across Gloucestershire. During 2024, we will build on these plans to deliver our own borough wide emission goals

Ongoing and completed actions

Priority in 2021-23

• Develop a Climate Investment Strategy known as ‘Cheltenham’s Green Deal’ that approves and enables money to be raised for investment in green projects, using various means such as grants, bonds, or Community Municipal Investments (CMIs) to speed up carbon emission reductions and increase resilience to climate change and to support the council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS)
• Introduce an annual ‘Climate Community Fund’ that helps to finance smaller scale, community climate initiatives and projects. These initiatives can be used as examples of best practice to encourage the take up of similar schemes
• Ensure all future investment decisions take into account our climate emergency objectives.  As the council recovers from the impact of the pandemic, we will look at the earliest opportunity to review our modest investment portfolio, as part of our commitment of divestment from funds which support the burning or extraction of fossil fuels

Priority in 2024-26

• Encourage suppliers to measure and report on their Scope 1 and 2 emissions. This will help improve the level of detail of our Scope 3 emissions reporting. We will focus first on the highest expenditure areas of repair and construction
• Review our procurement policy to ensure all purchases properly consider climate-related impacts and add greater weight to purchasing from sustainable local businesses and those which add social value
• Look to invest in low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure that reap multiple environmental benefits wherever possible. This may range from small sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and rain gardens, to solar farms and green roofs

Priority in 2027-28

• Work with Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership (GFirst LEP) and other authorities and organisations to rapidly grow the green economy, by investing in economic activities that promote reduced carbon emissions and pollution, enhanced energy efficiency and prevention of the loss of biodiversity
• Use legal and planning mechanisms, such as Section 106 agreements, the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and others to help fund climate actions and nature restoration projects
• While acknowledging that the County Council is the lead transport authority, explore opportunities to introduce economic nudge mechanisms to help disincentivise car use, particularly for shorter journeys. Further encourage the County Council to use such mechanisms to enable and encourage sustainable transport, particularly measures that allow people to use active and collective forms of transport to travel to work, such as segregated cycle ways and public transport