Climate to be at heart of all Shropshire Council decisions
The climate will be at the heart of all major decisions made by Shropshire Council moving forward.
Climate change appraisals have been made a compulsory element of papers going before cabinet, meaning members will be forced to consider the issue in all major decisions.
It comes after the authority declared climate emergency in May 2019 and means it will have to be considered as part of the decision-making process.
Dean Carroll, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for adult social care, public health and climate change, said: "Shropshire Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and approved a climate change strategy framework.
"Including climate change as a mandatory element of cabinet reports shows that the council is taking measures to embed climate change within operations and normalise it as a key consideration for all projects.
"It will support the council in reducing its own carbon footprint and help drive us to be carbon net zero by 2030.
"Embedding the issue in the council’s corporate governance is an important step forward, and one that has not yet been widely adopted by others."
Electricity in all council-owned buildings is already 100 per cent powered by green energy.
In addition, the council has recently committed to investing £6.5 million to replace street lights with more energy efficient LED lighting.
Since 2013, Shropshire Council has reduced its carbon footprint by 25 per cent.
