North Lanarkshire Council’s newly published climate plan sets out a target to reduce carbon emissions by 52.2 per cent by 2025/26.
The plan was approved by the environment and transportation committee (ETC) following a public consultation last year, which details actions to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
It addresses how the council will improve energy efficiency in buildings and local housing and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from waste and transport.
As well as reducing the council’s own carbon footprint, the plan also looks at how to address climate change issues across North Lanarkshire.
The overall target within the plan is to achieve annual carbon emissions reductions of 61,141 tonnes (52.2 per cent) from its baseline in 2015/16 by 2025/26.
The council’s climate plan states that in 2020/21 it had reduced emissions from the baseline in 2015/16 by 48.44 per cent.
But as this was at the height of the pandemic, lockdown restrictions such as staff working from home and temporary building closures such as schools it resulted in a much lower footprint than expected.
Post-pandemic measures introduced during the course of 2021/22, such as increased ventilation requirements, are expected to increase energy consumption and so will increase building related emissions.
“We are all aware of the importance of tackling climate change, and our climate plan will guide the council’s actions in reducing emissions in all aspects of our operations,” said Councillor Michael McPake, convener of NLC’s ETC.
“Feedback we received from the public and businesses has helped us focus our plans and targets, and I would like to thank everyone who took part in the consultation.
“Some of the ways we will reduce our carbon footprint are: increasing the use of electric vehicles across our fleet; improving energy efficiency in our buildings and homes; improving biodiversity and planting more trees; reducing emissions from waste processing; and improving active travel routes to reduce the use of cars.
“We will also continue to work with local businesses and other public agencies to identify how improvements can be made to tackle climate change across North Lanarkshire.”
*Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
And did you know Lanarkshire Live is on Facebook? Head on over and give us a like a nd share!
