Environment and climate strategy

The Council declared an Environment and Climate emergency in 2019 and adopted its first Environment and Climate Strategy in 2020.

Significant progress has been made against the actions set out in that strategy. The recently published Impact Report provides detail on what has been achieved.

Environment and Climate Strategy 2020-2025 Impact Report

The issues driving the decision to declare a climate emergency were, and remain, some of the most challenging ever faced by humanity, with our climate changing on a scale and pace that threatens our way of life and that of future generations.

We are now more aware than ever of the threat that climate change poses, and we are confident that if we take urgent and real action, we can turn back this tide.

Our vision is to be a borough where the community collectively works together to achieve a sustainable future, protecting and enhancing our natural environment and achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Environment and Climate Strategy 2026-2035

The Environment and Climate Strategy 2026-2035 builds on the Council's previous strategy, centring ambition and collaboration to meet its net zero goal focusing on five priority areas where the borough can make the greatest impact: energy, sustainable transport, the natural environment, reducing waste and governance.

The strategy has been shaped by feedback from residents, businesses, schools, community groups, councillors and young people through workshops, roadshows and public consultation activities carried out across the borough.

You can read the strategy at the link below:

Environment and Climate Action Plan

The Environment and Climate Action Plan works in tandem with the Environment and Climate Strategy 2026-2035. There will be two Environment and Climate Action Plans that span the duration of the Strategy. 

The first Environment and Climate Action Plan covers 2026-2030 and sets clear actions to ensure the borough commits to its 2035 goals. 

You can read the Environment and Climate Action Plan 2026-2030 at the link below:

The second Action Plan will span 2030 - 2035 and the actions will be aligned against the progress made in during 2026-2030.

Developing the Environment and Climate Strategy 2026-2035

The RBWM Climate Partnership with the support of the council undertook a best practice review of other local authority strategies to understand what excellence looks like.

We have used the Council Climate Scorecards as one way to identify high performing areas along with places that have delivered large carbon reductions or have had notable achievements in delivering environmental improvements.

The Climate Partnership led engagement with key stakeholders across our communities by running open sessions where residents, community groups and businesses shared what was important to them.

Alongside external engagement were internal sessions involving officers from across the Council to develop a broad and more detailed oversight of what opportunities and challenges look like and to develop methods to address them in our work.

The RBWM Youth Council have played a significant role in providing feedback. During the development of the strategy the Youth Council delivered a workshop, involving over 60 young people from the Borough, which ask what they would like to see in the new strategy. We  were impressed with the ideas and are deeply appreciative of the time the students took tonsure this strategy is well-rounded and is inclusive of all residents across the borough.

As a result of this engagement, we learnt about residents needs and priorities across the borough. Therefore, we have been able to develop the strategy into three documents which comprise of an overarching strategy, a deliverable action plan and a communications plan. 

Environment and Climate Strategy 2020 - 2025

The strategy formation was spearheaded by a cross-party councillor working group, supported by officers and with input from key stakeholders in the community and various environmental groups, and was approved by the council for public consultation in June 2020.

The Environment and Climate Strategy sets out the Council's vision and actions to achieve the Borough's net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050 and our five year approach to working in partnership with local communities to tackle this challenge. It will drive the decisions, resources and actions we make across all our activities.

The Environment and Climate Strategy focuses on four key themes:

• Circular Economy: More sustainable resource use, increasing recycling rates and supporting less resource-intensive lifestyles.
• Energy: Reducing consumptions and decarbonising our supply of energy.
• Natural Environment: Supporting biodiversity, health and wellbeing.
• Transport: Reduce the need for carbon intensive travel by encouraging walking and cycling, as well as investing in digital infrastructure.

The Environment and Climate Strategy was approved by Cabinet on Thursday 17 December 2020.

Environment and Climate Strategy 2020-2035 delivery update

Circular Economy

Household recycling rates have surpassed our initial target of 50%, which was achieved in 2020/21.

A new target recycling rate of 65% is hoped to be achieved by 2035. A survey is being conducted to gain a better understanding of the awareness of the Royal Borough recycling facilities and to gather data to populate an online interactive map that will improve the awareness of existing recycling facilities.

In order to encourage waste avoidance and material reuse through our services and operations, an internal audit is currently taking place. 

The aim of this is to see where improvements can be made to the council's environmental impact, and to reduce single use plastic usage.

Energy

To reduce energy demand in the borough, significant funding has been secured to deliver energy efficiency improvement in homes within the borough for delivery in 2022/2023. 

Additionally, upgrades across the built estate to reduce energy emissions are currently being undertaken, including upgrading lighting and identifying any possible leaks.

The Solar Together initiative has been launched within the borough to help residents to generate their own renewable energy, cut their carbon footprint and save money on their energy bills.

Energy conservation

A dimming regime is applied to street lighting that reduces light output by 45% during normal operation and by 69% during the night. This approach helps to reduce light pollution and energy consumption while maintaining appropriate illumination levels to support road user safety.

Natural Environment

To protect and advance our natural environment, areas of Ockwells/Thriftwood Park and Battlemead Common have been identified for rewilding. Additionally, 13,400 trees have been planted at Ockwells Nature Reserve across the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 planting seasons.

There has been an increase in awareness of biodiversity in the area, with 1500 children from local schools and community groups having participated in environmental education sessions at Braywick Nature during Spring/Summer 2022.

Transport

To transform transport and digital infrastructure to reduce the need for travel, the borough is working with other Local Authorities and LEP on a Pan-Berkshire Digital Infrastructure Group Board.