Cabinet has approved the Net Zero Delivery Plan – the latest initiative in the council’s commitment to reduce its carbon emissions to Net Zero by 2040.
In January 2020, a Climate Emergency was declared by the Council with a Carbon Net Zero 2040 target agreed. A Climate Emergency Action Plan was established that identifies the key areas for action and 10 key themes. Read more about the latest progress on these themes.
To enable the Council to focus its resources and maximise its impact on this agenda in the short-term, a Net Zero Delivery Plan has been developed with a focus on priority actions to be delivered from 2022 to 2025.
The new plan prioritises four key areas:
- The Decarbonisation of the Council’s Estate and Assets – to include decarbonisation works at Nutgrove Villa, Huyton, and Kirkby Leisure Centre, as well as funding bids to develop the programme more widely across council and school buildings
- The Decarbonisation of Fleet Vehicles and Staff Travel – to include replacing fleet vehicles with low carbon alternatives
- Behaviour Change – Embedding a less wasteful ‘circular economy’ agenda across the Council
- Climate Adaption and Mitigation – to include increasing the number of trees and woodlands across the borough
Reducing borough-wide emissions
During 2020, Knowsley generated around 764 thousand tonnes of CO2 from the transport (44.5%), domestic emissions (25.5%), the industry sector (20%), the commercial sector (4%), waste management (3%), the public sector (2%), and agriculture (1%).
Knowsley Council is working collaboratively with partners to enable and support people to take climate action. The Knowsley Better Together Partnership Board nominated representatives to sit on the Knowsley Better Together Net Zero Group to work in partnership to achieve net zero emissions. The remit of the group is:
- To provide direction and oversight in respect of the decarbonisation of the borough;
- To develop and promote the implementation of various net zero projects and initiatives
- To communicate, promote, and collaborate on any funding opportunities which may be available to support this agenda.