Responding to Climate change
We understand that our climate, our natural environment and our borough’s prosperity are linked. Through this plan, our aim is to support a fair transition towards a sustainable future, building resilience in our places and maximising opportunities for our residents, developing our green economy and creating jobs and new skills across the borough as we mitigate and adapt to climate change induced issues.
The differences you will see:
A focus on decarbonising our corporate estate and fleet
We are focussing on decarbonising our buildings by adopting new technologies, cutting down on activities that waste energy and resources, and transitioning towards environmentally-friendly vehicles for our fleet. We aim to secure greater energy security, by investing in renewable technology to reduce our energy bills and the use of National Grid supply, creating our own energy through renewable resources.
Further developing our approach to greener council vehicles, will also have a positive impact on the environment. This will include extending the purchase and use of electric vehicles and look to increase the use of Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO) in our fleet. Working with our suppliers we will continue to test new technologies as they come to the market, ensuring the vehicles that support a wide range of service delivery are sustainable and continue to support a reduction in carbon emissions.
Continuing to monitor and report on carbon emissions will provide the evidence base to support intelligence-led policy, strategy and operational decisions. This will include Climate Impact Assessments to ensure carbon emissions and climate change impacts are considered when making decisions.
Work with our Rotherham Together partners to co-create an inclusive net zero strategy for the borough
Alongside reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions, we will use our influence to encourage our partners, other anchor institutions, local businesses, and our residents to be mindful of their environmental impact and take action to be more sustainable. A co-created strategy will be produced by working closely with our Rotherham Together partners and community groups to better understand our borough and ensure that a just transition is at the heart of our next steps towards a net zero borough.
We will build stronger partnerships with businesses and our Rotherham Together partners, fostering greater engagement with our communities to provide information, set direction and develop knowledge in areas of carbon, climate and energy. Working with schools, colleges and universities will enable us to develop green and renewable skills for the future that will support the infrastructure that is being developed and delivered within the borough, creating jobs and opportunities for our residents and businesses.
Increase the number of publicly available electric vehicle charge points through delivery of the public EV Charging Infrastructure Strategy
By delivering a more developed public electric vehicle charging infrastructure we will make this service more accessible to all communities across the borough. We aim to achieve this through working in partnership with all South Yorkshire Authorities and the private sector to provide a network across our region that is accessible and meets future demand.
