Fareham Borough Council is set to take an important step towards its aim to become carbon neutral.
At a meeting of the Executive Committee on 12th October, councillors will consider a report which sets out the results of the carbon footprint calculation for the Council’s services.
The total carbon footprint for the period covering 1st April 2019 to 31st March 2020 was 3661.44 tCO2e. The Council will continue to calculate its carbon footprint annually to ensure ongoing measurement towards carbon neutrality.
In order to calculate its current carbon footprint, the Council has ensured that it gathered the ‘activity data’ from every one of its many services. The activity data is information such as the litres of fuel used by the Council’s vehicles and the amount of heating and electricity used in its buildings.
Now that the Council has calculated the carbon impact of its services, work on the Carbon Reduction Plan can begin. The Carbon Reduction Plan will outline the actions the Council will take in order to reduce its carbon footprint.
Executive Member for Streetscene at Fareham Borough Council, Cllr Simon Martin, said:
“This important work to calculate our carbon footprint was delayed by the pandemic, so it’s good to see it moving forward. We know that environmental issues are now a matter for global concern, so it’s crucial as an organisation that we play our part.
Once our carbon baseline figure has been rubber stamped, we can move forward with the steps we need to take towards becoming carbon neutral. Protecting our environment is one of the Council’s key priorities and we want to be as ‘green’ as we can.”
