Our environmental policy

Protecting and enhancing the environment for future generations is a core aim of the South Gloucestershire Community Strategy and the Council Plan 2020-2024.

We declared a climate emergency in July 2019 and pledged to provide the leadership to help South Gloucestershire to become carbon neutral by 2030.

We also pledged to respond to the local impacts of a changing climate and to protect and restore nature.

This page sets out our environmental commitments, objectives and the arrangements for meeting our pledges. It replaces and updates previous policy statements.

Our commitment

We are committed to managing our environmental impacts and identifying and
delivering a coordinated programme of activities to meet our objectives and deliver
continual improvement.

Our objectives

We will:

• reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
• reduce energy use
• increase development and use of renewable energy
• reduce transport emissions
• reduce waste and increase reuse and recycling
• use water efficiently, and sustainably manage the water environment
• use materials efficiently and procure materials and services from sustainable sources
• prevent pollution of land, water and air
• protect and enhance biodiversity
• use land wisely and conserve and enhance local environmental quality

To achieve this we will:

• identify and address the aspects of our operations which result in the most significant environmental impacts
• agree environmental priorities and targets
• monitor and review the effectiveness of actions
• identify and comply with all environmental legislation and codes of practice relevant to our activities and services
• assess and take into account the environmental implications of all policies, practices and decisions
• take environmental impacts into account during procurement of goods and services
• buy timber and timber products from sustainable sources
• encourage our contractors to demonstrate their shared commitment to the delivery of our environmental objectives
• use our influence to inspire our staff and those who live and work in or visit South Gloucestershire to consider the environmental implications of their activities, and to take action to improve their local and wider environment
• publish and share information about our environmental impacts, how we are managing them and our achievements

Delivery arrangements

We have the following responsibilities:

• all members, managers and staff are responsible for carrying out decisions and delivering services and activities in line with the policy
• leadership and support for environmental management will be provided within the council through elected representatives and senior managers
• the clean air and climate change board has overall responsibility for the implementation of the policy
• the Director of Resources and Business Change is responsible for policy implementation, supported by the climate and nature team
• all managers are responsible for making sure the policy is integrated into the work of their department
• the policy is implemented through several more detailed strategies, plans and initiatives. These have development and implementation responsibilities of their own, such as the carbon management plan and departmental service plans.
• performance is monitored through our performance management framework

Contact

For further information you can contact us by:

Phone: 01454 862224 or 01454 863328
Email: environmentalpolicy@southglos.gov.uk