Climate and nature emergency in South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire Council declared a climate emergency on 17 July 2019.
We recognise that the global climate is in a state of breakdown and this is an emergency.
You can read our original Climate Emergency Declaration.
We also recognise that biodiversity and the natural systems on which all life depends are in crisis.
We are responding to these challenges by preparing for the local impacts of climate change, reducing our carbon emissions and protecting and restoring South Gloucestershire’s natural environments.
Page contents
Climate and nature
We are working with our partners and the wider community to respond to climate change and restore nature.
This includes reducing emissions and tackling the local impact of a changing climate, including increased heat, drought and risk of flooding.
We have worked on:
- street lighting
- schools
- transport infrastructure schemes
- flood prevention schemes
- tree planting
- rewilding schemes
You can read our:
- Climate Emergency Strategy
- Climate Emergency Action Plan – year 4 (2023 to 2024)
- Climate Emergency Action Plan – year 3 (2022 to 2023)
- Cabinet report for year 3 (13 December 2021)
- Climate Emergency Action Plan – year 2 (2021 to 2022)
- Cabinet report for year 2 (7 December 2020)
- Climate Emergency Action Plan – year 1 (2020 to 2021)
- Cabinet report for year 1 (27 April 2020)
- carbon emissions baseline report
Our pledge and progress
We have pledged to:
- provide the leadership to enable South Gloucestershire to become carbon neutral by 2030
- set out an area wide Climate Emergency Action Plan each year until 2030
As the causes and actions needed for the climate emergency and the nature emergency are linked, since 2022 we have brought together our plans and reporting into a single climate and nature annual review and action plan.
We have signed up to:
In January 2022, our Climate Emergency Action Plan was scored alongside 328 local authority climate action plans. South Gloucestershire was ranked in the top 10 plans in the country.
Progress towards our key targets by December 2022
You can read the progress data in PDF format.
Monitoring our greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy
The Local Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report monitors greenhouse gas emissions from council buildings, our estate and activities. It also includes the renewable energy that we generate directly.
You can read our:
You can find area wide information on renewables in our annual renewable energy report (2021).
You can also view our Net Zero Dashboard for 2023. The dashboard helps monitor our progress towards becoming a carbon neutral area.
Plan to 2030
Our Plan to 2030 research report looks at the likely remaining carbon emissions in our area by 2030 when both the maximum possible national and local interventions have been applied.
It makes recommendations about what we should focus on delivering for maximum impact between now and 2030.
This report was produced by the South Gloucestershire Climate Emergency University Advisory Group and has been used to inform the development of our Year 4 Climate Emergency Action Plan 2023/24.
Working with others
We are working with residents, businesses, and partners to:
• reduce carbon emissions
• build resilience to the local impact of a changing climate
• restore nature
The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) declared a climate emergency on 19 July 2019 and committed to a target of net zero emissions by 2030. We are working with WECA and the other unitary authorities to reach this target.
Climate and nature emergency community engagement group
Our climate and nature emergency community engagement group is run jointly with CVS South Gloucestershire (Community and Voluntary Services).
The group is open to everyone in South Gloucestershire and meets quarterly.
You can sign up to our climate and nature emergency mailing list to get group information.
You can also email climate.emergency@southglos.gov.uk
Find out about our network of community groups taking action on the climate and nature emergency.
The South Gloucestershire Partnership
We are members of the South Gloucestershire local strategic partnership which is made up of public, private, community and voluntary organisations working together to promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of the people in South Gloucestershire.
Other partnership members include:
- Business West
- University of the West of England
- Avon and Somerset Fire Service
- Airbus
- CVS South Gloucestershire
- Avon Wildlife Trust
- South Gloucestershire and Stroud College
The partnership steers the delivery of the annual South Gloucestershire Climate Emergency Action Plan and publishes a review of our performance against its commitments.
Read the most recent review of our performance so far.
Our green infrastructure and nature recovery action plan
We have produced a strategy and action plan to protect and restore nature.
This plan includes policies and actions to improve our green infrastructure to provide healthier, greener and more resilient places where people and nature thrive.
Green infrastructure helps our communities adapt and be resilient to the changing climate by providing shade, cooling, water storage and natural drainage as well as habitats for nature.
The Local Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report monitors greenhouse gas emissions from our buildings, estate, and activities. It also includes the renewable energy that we generate directly.
You can read our:
You can find area-wide information on renewables in our annual renewable energy report (2021).
Climate and nature decision wheel
Since April 2023 we have been using a new decision-making tool, the Climate and Nature Decision Wheel.
Its purpose is to help make sure better social and environmental outcomes are always considered when we make decisions about projects, especially those that need £100,000 or more of external funding.
Watch this short video to find out how this tool works.
To get in touch with us email climate.emergency@southglos.gov.uk