Action on climate change begins at home for Essex as scale of the challenge is outlined

Cabinet members meet to begin work on delivering net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Essex’s Climate Change Czar has set out the scale and urgency of the climate change challenge to Essex County Council’s Cabinet Members during the week of the critical COP26 summit in Glasgow.

Cllr Peter Schwier told cabinet members and senior officers that Essex’s current emissions of CO2 amounted to 7 million metric tonnes – 1.7% of the UK’s total CO2 emissions – but that the opportunities for reductions across the county were clear.

He said: “There are 800,000 cars in Essex – but a quarter (24%) of the journeys we make in them are under two miles.

“If every car owner in Essex did just one less one-mile journey by car that alone would save 13,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.

“The key area of challenge is transport – with our ports and airports and HGV traffic, this accounts for 27% of CO2 emissions. We are still too reliant on fossil fuels, which accounts for 21%. Essex is ahead of the national average in terms of carbon reduction, which is good news, but we don’t have the challenge of pollution from heavy industry to contend with.”

Cabinet members outlined how the Council’s own strategy for achieving net-zero would focus on the built environment, travel, waste and preserving and enhancing our natural environment.

Leader of the Council Cllr Kevin Bentley said: “On the day that COP26 leaders promised to reverse deforestation by 2030, we were reminded today that the Essex Forest Initiative, which last year planted 38,750 trees across the county on the way to 1 million, working with the city, district and borough councils, by 2025, has exceeded its initial targets by 13,750.

“COP26 is global in focus but action on climate change has to take place locally and we are determined to continue to make progress – small steps perhaps initially but all the time, changing the way we work to reduce carbon and stem climate change.

“The scale of change required is clear - we need to reduce our emissions by 50% over the next four years if we are to be carbon-neutral by 2030. We need every council service area to consider its impact on the environment, as well as the contribution it can make to helping everyone adopt pro-climate behaviours. That is why action on climate change is so central in Everyone’s Essex, our plan for levelling up the county.

“There will be important announcements in the coming weeks which will signal more progress towards our goals.”