Climate change is a serious issue and something that Central Bedfordshire Council is working hard to play its part in addressing.

Like all other Local Authorities, the Council recognises that we have a key role to play in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change – both as community leaders and through the services we provide.

The Council is also a considerable consumer of energy and a direct source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through our activities and buildings.  As the climate changes, Central Bedfordshire will not be immune to the impacts that a changing climate will have and will need to act now to adapt and manage risks to service delivery, the public, local communities, local infrastructure, businesses and the natural environment.

In May 2010 the Council adopted its first Climate Change Strategy.  This document details how Central Bedfordshire Council is going to address the issues raised by climate change, clarifies our ambition and the drivers for action.

The Strategy will be delivered through the implementation of three plans, a carbon reduction plan for our own services and estate (including schools), a plan to deliver a reduction in the Central Bedfordshire area’s carbon footprint, and a Climate Change adaptation plan.

The first of these plans, the Council's Carbon Management Plan, was approved by the Executive in November 2010.

Central Bedfordshire Council Climate Change Strategy (PDF 366KB)

Central Bedfordshire Council’s carbon footprint is 33,701 tonnes of CO₂. This relates to the year 2008/09 and will be used as the baseline from which we will measure our success in cutting our carbon footprint.

This volume of CO₂ would fill Priory House 634 times and is equivalent to the emissions caused by a plane flying around the Earth’s equator 1,854 times. 

If the Council's CO2 emissions were collected together they would fit in a cube 262 metres high by 262 metres wide.

In addition to this the Council’s own social housing stock has a carbon footprint of an additional 23,456 tonnes of CO₂ (enough to fill Priory House 440 times).

Central Bedfordshire Council was selected in May 2009, amidst strong competition, to take part in the Carbon Trust’s ambitious local authority carbon management programme.

We are currently working in partnership with the Carbon Trust on this programme in order to put together a Carbon Reduction plan that will form a key part of our approach to tackling climate change and help us to realise vast carbon and cost savings. 

The Council's Carbon Management Plan, was approved by the Executive in November 2010

Central Bedfordshire Council Carbon Management Plan (PDF 282KB)

Our progress in reducing the Central Bedfordshire area's carbon footprint is measured through NI 186: Per capita reduction in CO2 emissions in the local authority’s area. 

To reflect the importance placed on climate change and carbon reduction by our communities, the Council and our partners, NI 186 has been adopted as a priority target area in the Local Area Agreement (LAA).

The aim is to achieve a 10.7% reduction in per capita CO₂ emissions by the end of 2010/11. This is being delivered through a wide range of activities being lead by service areas across the whole of the Council and our partners operations and overseen by the Carbon Reduction Working Group - a sub group of the environment and economy thematic group of the LSP.

The latest CO₂ emissions data from the Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC) for Central Bedfordshire shows  that in 2007 our area was responsible for 1,582 kt of CO₂.  One tonne of CO₂ would fill cube approximately 8m X 8m X 8m. Below is a visualisation (provided by the Carbon Quilt - carbonquilt.org/) of what Central Bedfordshire's emissions, by source, would look like.