As COP28, the climate conference, ends in the UAE, we’ve looked back at our top five achievements over the last year.
1. £175,000 for community climate projects
At the end of last year, we set aside £250,000 over three years for the Community Climate Action Fund (CCAF).
The fund provides grants of up to £10,000 for community and voluntary groups as well as town and parish councils to support climate action in their community.
13 grants were issued in the first round of CCAF, with a total value of £126,000.
The second round closed in October with £52,000 allocated to eight new projects.
A new round of applications will open in spring 2024. Visit our website to find out more.
2. An energy efficient new home
We’re putting our money where our mouth is in terms of our new office building (Monterey House), investing in 331 solar panels, battery storage, vehicle charging points and other energy saving measures to ensure that our new home is the most efficient it can be.
We expect this to reduce our office-based carbon emissions by as much as 75% compared to our current home at Penns Place.
3. Spreading the word
We’ve been helping our residents to find out about opportunities to reduce their environmental impact.
By promoting the most recent round of Solar Together funding, a scheme run by Hampshire County Council, we helped encourage 921 East Hampshire residents to join.
We’ve also been sharing other schemes that support energy efficiency, tree planting and waste reduction.
Find out if you qualify for assistance to make your home more energy efficient on our website.
4. Supporting local action
Finally, and this is one of the things we’re most proud of, we’ve been working to support activity in the community.
We’ve supported local community groups like ACAN and PeCAN in holding events including the Eco-Fair in Alton and the recent Petersfield Tree Festival.
We’ve also launched our monthly Green Steps bulletins, which contain three ideas each month for steps people can take to help reduce their impact on the environment.
5. A more ambitious carbon neutrality target
In September, with the mounting evidence that we are seeing the climate changing at a faster rate than originally predicted, our council agreed with cross party support to move our previous target to reach net zero for our operational emissions by 2050 forward to 2035.
Since then, two very interesting reports have been produced:
- ACAN and PeCAN have put together a district-wide greenhouse gas report to identify the primary sources of emissions produced in the district and what could be done to tackle them. The top three sources were transport, domestic energy consumption and agriculture.
- Our own carbon audit was conducted to assess our carbon footprint across the Council’s operations. The biggest contributors are our waste contract, leisure contract and the operation of our buildings.
Our new climate and environment strategy, which will set our direction for the next five years will be agreed early next year and will use the information that these reports have provided.
Councillor Robert Mocatta, East Hampshire District Council portfolio holder for Regeneration and Prosperity (which includes climate change), said:
“In the last year, we’ve really been able to ramp up our action on climate change and as the examples show, we’re doing things that will make a real impact on our emissions as a council.
“We also have a better idea of what we’re going to be able to change ourselves and where we’re going to need to be a voice for change where things are outside our control.”