Climate Action

Welcome to the Beech Parish Council Climate Action page.

Our climate is changing around us faster than predicted. From more frequent and extreme storms to unprecedented heatwaves, we’re feeling the impacts of human-caused global warming Our climate is changing due to our emissions of greenhouse gases. We all have a responsibility to collaborate and take actions now to prevent further deterioration. These web pages share the Beech Parish Council plan. Quick links to our Resolution and plan Quick links to our initiatives on: Self Assessment Click this link to complete your Annual Home Energy CO2 Self Assessment Click this link to see the results of our 2021 Home Energy CO2 Self Assessment Our overall plan to address Home Energy CO2 emissions The actions you take to reduce CO2: Home Energy Action

Our initiatives and links to more details:

	Self Assessment Managing to zero	How do we measure, track and report our progress over time? How do we engage our community? How do we capture and share best practise? What contingency plans do we need to make?
	Home Energy	How do we measure and monitor our CO2 output from home heating? How do we help our community transition to Carbon neutral home heating? How do we target and help drive increased insulation?
	Transport (under construction)	How do we accelerate the transition to Carbon neutral travel? Are there opportunities for ‘shared’ transport infrastructure? How do we encourage ‘non CO2’ travel eg cycling, walking, electric?
	Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (under construction)	How do we reduce the CO2 emissions from our consumption of goods and services? How can we improve the quantity and quality of recycling? Are there opportunities for re-use within and without our community?
	Carbon offsetting (Under construction)	How do individuals purchase ‘carbon offset credits? How do we ensure they are ‘genuine’? What is a realistic price?

 

Beech Parish Council Climate Action resolution

To make an assessment of the current state of C02 emissions we have used the IMPACT Community Carbon calculator to assess the current CO2 output per Beech household per annum. The assessment is 27 tonnes of CO2 per annum vs the English average of 13 tonnes.

We tend to have larger, older houses and need to travel more than the average English household. On average we ‘consume’ more C02.

So, we have a problem but what are we, the Parish Council doing and what do we recommend you, the Beech resident do?

Council recognises that we are in a state of climate emergency that requires urgent action by all levels of government, including this Parish council.  With a view to developing and implementing, as its highest priority, a climate emergency response by Council and the Beech Parish community, Council resolves to:

Develop a comprehensive climate emergency action plan with a focus on community-wide engagement leading to:

1. Emissions (CO2) reduction with Beech Parish being
   1. Less than the UK average of 13 t CO2e  per household by 2030 (-54%)
   2. Carbon neutral by 2050.
2. Eliminate non recycleable waste (especially plastic) by 2030
3.  Increased biodiversity
4. Make climate a key focus when making all decisions
5. Encourage other councils and higher levels of government to also take climate emergency action
6. Appoint a Climate Action Working Group.

Beech Parish Council has created a Climate Action working group to support the residents of Beech to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 and to be carbon neutral by 2050. By sharing ideas and pooling resources we can work collaboratively to achieve these targets (and save money too!).

Our approach:

1. Make an assessment of the current state, please see the ‘Self-Assessment’ page
2. Build a plan to get to zero
   1. Consider the big items and the easier actions… focus on the big & easiest things first.
   2. There will be a big gap between what we can do and getting to zero – we don’t have all the answers yet… but that should not stop us from working on the big & easiest items
   3. We are initially focusing on Home Heating and undertook a Thermal Survey of approximately 60 homes in February 2022.
3. Regularly review the plan
   1. We plan an annual review of each households home energy CO2 emissions, starting this January 2022

How do you make an assessment of your CO2 output / consumption:

We recommend you use one of the many tools available to perform a ‘self-assessment’ of your CO2 output  (please see the ‘Self-Assessment’ page. There are many tools available and the team have looked at several. The main point is to help you build a prioritised plan of what you can and will do and then to remember to go back regularly (at least annually) to review your plan.