Aberdeenshire Council will become one of the first councils in the UK to produce a carbon budget to sit alongside its Revenue, Capital and Housing Revenue budgets for 2017/18.
In a unanimous statement of support, all councillors attending Aberdeenshire Council’s meeting of full council agreed to the development and setting of a Carbon Budget and a Climate Change Policy and Action Plan 2016 – 2020.
In 2013, Aberdeenshire Council approved targets to reduce carbon emissions by 44% by 2020, with a goal to be carbon neutral by 2030. Councillors were told that the council remained committed to working towards this target, but needed to take a more proactive approach to tackling climate change.
By considering all the council’s budgets at the same meeting, councillors will have greater clarity on how the decisions being made in relation to sustainability impact on the council’s traditional capital and revenue budgets. The areas with the highest emissions across the council are energy/property, street lights, transport and waste and significant actions are needed to reduce these over the next few years.
The council’s Sustainability Sub Committee will lead on the work to develop guidance on the nature and scope of the Carbon Budget. Councillors also agreed for action plans and performance measures to be shared with policy committees, to ensure the commitment from all areas of the council.
Cllr David Aitchison, chair of Infrastructure Services Committee welcomed the report. He said: “In 2013, this council agreed challenging targets to reduce our carbon emissions but since then, implementation has been slow. This new commitment will ensure all areas of the council are expected to support initiatives to deliver carbon reductions. By considering the carbon budget alongside a new climate change action plan will help us to meet our targets.”
Seconding the motion, Cllr Martin Ford said: "Aberdeenshire Council agrees its overall financial plans for the year ahead on budget day in February each year – the revenue budget, capital plan and housing revenue account budget. This fourth budget will focus on the Council's plans for reducing its carbon emissions resulting from its various activities. The carbon budget is interlinked with the money budgets because some measures to reduce carbon emissions will incur capital costs, but also deliver revenue savings. Today’s decision puts us at the forefront of local government for placing the same emphasis on our carbon budget as we do our financial ones."
Chair of the Sustainability Sub Committee Cllr Isobel Davidson gave her backing to the carbon budget. She said: “It is so important to take these issues seriously and the Sustainability Sub Committee welcomes this opportunity to develop a new Climate Change Policy and Action Plan, alongside the Carbon Budget. We recognise the scale of the work ahead, but the unanimous and cross-party support received will help us to focus on delivering initiatives which will really make a difference and help us to work towards our targets.”