Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency in December 2018 alongside an ambition for the city to be carbon neutral by 2030.
The council’s corporate plan, Our plan 2020 to 2023 – a fairer city, a sustainable future, sets out a series of priorities, including to take all action required to make our city carbon neutral by 2030 (CN2030).
This programme is our response to the climate and biodiversity emergency. It sets the direction for action on climate change by the council, partners and residents across the city for the next decade.
It focuses on social justice and future generations alongside rapid decarbonisation.
This programme sets out clear actions and interventions required on the path to net zero emissions, starting immediately.
In December 2019, Policy and Resources Committee approved the establishment of the cross-party 2030 Carbon Neutral Member Working Group to oversee the creation and delivery of a Carbon Neutral Programme to help the city to transition to carbon neutrality by 2030.
The creation of this carbon neutral programme is a monumental development, setting out the ways we will combat the climate crisis in our city.
This comes after we declared a climate and biodiversity emergency in 2018 and extensive consultation on how our city can adapt for the better, through the democratic debate at our Climate and Youth Assemblies.
Climate change is causing devastating damage across the globe, destroying habitats and driving many species to extinction.
The human population is suffering too, with more frequent extreme weather events and toxic air. We cannot sit back and let this happen.
So we’re not. We are grasping the opportunity with both hands, taking ambitious action with residents and partners across the city, to reach the target of a carbon neutral city by 2030.
This journey will not be an easy one, but it is one the city needs to take to protect the environment now and for future generations.
It is clear already that many in our city are passionate about tackling climate change through the creation of innovative projects across many different fields.
We want to build on Brighton & Hove’s achievements, like becoming the first city in the UK to win the Gold Sustainable Food City Award last year and set an example for the systematic change that needs to happen.
I believe that this programme of work is a very important step in this journey, and I’m excited to work with residents and organisations across the city on the projects outlined in our carbon neutral programme, for a sustainable future for Brighton & Hove.
We believe that the city can only achieve its carbon neutral ambitions with all city organisations, businesses, communities, residents and visitors working together to find solutions for the challenges we face.
Central to the city’s ambition is taking a joined-up approach to delivering projects and initiatives that:
The council’s response to the serious challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic highlights the need for a green recovery and demonstrates how we can work together across the city at all levels.
It's particularly important that climate action is fair and inclusive and ensures that all residents have an opportunity to participate.
Climate change impacts different sections of society differently and the impacts of climate change could make existing inequalities worse within the city.
The Coronavirus pandemic has highlighted inequalities, like poor housing and overcrowded conditions, making self-isolation impossible, and cold damp homes affecting people’s health and resilience.
The council is working hard to reduce its own corporate carbon emissions, but in total these contribute less than 2% of the city’s emissions.
The carbon neutral 2030 target is a city-wide one and needs participation from residents, schools, businesses and institutions across the city.
We have engaged with the city at many levels through the climate assembly, the Youth Climate Assembly, city-wide partnerships, behaviour change campaigns, formal consultations and support for community action.
Individual projects within the 2030 Carbon Neutral programme will do their own consultations and equalities impact assessments, if needed.
To be successful, this programme needs participation and collaboration with many stakeholders and partnerships across the city, as well as engaging Brighton & Hove’s residents.
Action is required at all levels: international, national and local.
As a leading city, Brighton & Hove develops solutions and shares good practice with regional partners and other cities.
For example, Brighton & Hove City Council is lead partner in The Living Coast UNESCO Biosphere, which is the UK’s only urban biosphere reserve that contributes to sustainable development projects that also protect and conserve the natural environment.
Shared learning locally, regionally, nationally and globally across the world network of biospheres is a key objective of this partnership.
Working with Greater Brighton, Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, Transport for the South East and the Greater South East Energy Hub is key to delivering programmes to reduce carbon in our infrastructure and economy at the rate and scale we need, including where we need to secure support from government.
We work with key partners including the local universities, electricity and gas companies, The Living Coast Biosphere, and the Sussex Local Nature Partnership to create projects that will accelerate progress on climate action and build green skills and jobs.
Find more information about the council’s climate actions and what you can do to cut your own carbon footprint.
We will report annually on the city’s progress on climate action and carbon emissions.
We will also provide quarterly updates on the delivery of the programme to committees, through the council’s performance reporting framework.
A Key Performance Indicator on reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will be monitored annually from 2020 to 2021 onwards, using data provided by ScatterCities.
Not all the actions in this programme will generate carbon savings that we can measure, but where data is available for the council’s direct emissions it will be included.
Where it’s not possible to measure carbon savings, we indicate if the impact is high, medium, or low.
The council is working towards reporting progress to the Global Covenant of Mayors, through the Carbon Disclosure Project CDP-ICLEI Unified Reporting System.
Find news stories on climate action.
Action on climate change is fast-moving. So, this is a living programme of high-level actions, which can be responsive to developments over its life.
Likely developments include:
Responding to these challenges is complex and depends on many factors.
The CN2030 programme runs until 2030. Most actions in the current programme focus on the period to 2023, and there are some longer-term actions that are less detailed.
Key issues for future development are:
This programme will be reviewed in 2023 in line with the council's corporate plan for 2020 to 2023, which aims to deliver a fairer city with a sustainable future.
The Carbon Neutral programme is a coordinated programme of projects that aims to continue and accelerate the city’s transition to carbon neutrality by 2030.
As the bulk of action will need to take place in the short term, this programme focuses on the period to 2023, with less detail on the remaining period to 2030. Some projects are indicated for further development over the next few years.
Project time frames are:
The plan is structured over the following key priority areas, with several cross-cutting themes to demonstrate the broader impact of actions targeted in each theme.
The key priority topics are:
The cross-cutting themes are:
1880 to 1947 - purchase of Downland Estate
2006 - adoption of Sustainable Community Strategy 'Creating the City of Opportunities'
2006 to 2007 - Neighbourhood Action on Climate Change – community behaviour change project
2010 - Climate Change Adaptation Scrutiny Panel
2009 to 2012 - Climate Connections - global awareness and city behaviour change project
2011 - Local Climate Impacts Profile for Brighton & Hove
2011 - Brighton & Hove Climate Change Strategy – an early commitment to climate change action
2014 - The Living Coast Biosphere formally designated by UNESCO
2015 - fourth Local Transport Plan includes a carbon reduction objective to reduce transport emissions
2016 - City Plan adopted – includes policies on sustainability of new homes and non-residential buildings
2011 to 2017 - Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) adopts the One Planet Living Framework for overseeing actions to improve sustainability
December 2018 - BHCC Members declare a climate and biodiversity emergency
September 2019 - BHCC creates fund to encourage climate action within the council (SCRIF)
July 2020 - Greater Brighton agrees Energy Plan and Water Plan
September to November 2020 - BHCC hosts climate assembly on travel and transport
October 2020 - Brighton & Hove Youth Climate Assembly
October 2020 - Greater Brighton signs 10 pledges on climate action
November 2020 - Brighton & Hove awarded Gold Food Sustainable City
November 2020 - consultation starts on the Downland Estate Plan
December 2020 - council leader Cllr Phelim Mac Cafferty signs Glasgow Declaration
December 2020 - BHCC Circular Economy Routemap and programme for the city receives committee approval
January 2021 - council agrees grants for community projects which tackle climate emergency and biodiversity
February 2021 - launch of Hydrogen Sussex
March 2021 - Carbon Neutral 2030 Programme
April 2021 - Brighton & Hove joins the blueprint to a circular economy project with partners in England and France
May 2021 - BHCC becomes a member of the UK 100 campaign of councils committing to reducing their emissions to net zero by 2030
The council has set an ambitious target for the whole city to be carbon neutral by 2030.
The starting point is the city’s current emissions of greenhouse gases, which were 1,242 kilotonnes (KT CO2e) in 2018 (the most recent year that full data is available for).
This includes air travel and shipping. Data is provided by ScatterCities.
Total carbon emissions in the city have fallen by just over a third since 2005.
The largest cut has come from electricity, as the National Grid gets more renewable electricity from wind farms and solar power.
The chart below shows the proportion of greenhouse gas emissions coming from different sectors in the city of Brighton & Hove in 2018.
The following graph shows how carbon emissions in Brighton & Hove have changed between 2005 and 2018.
Total carbon emissions from the city in 2018 were 900 kilotonnes, down from nearly 1,400 kilotonnes in 2005.
Emissions from electricity use have declined the most, while emissions from gas and transport have fallen a little over the period.
Brighton & Hove City Council’s (BHCC) carbon neutral target requires the city’s greenhouse gas emissions to fall by 12.7% every year from 2020 onwards.
This is a science-based target, prepared by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change, showing Brighton & Hove’s fair contribution to keeping climate change within limits.
Carbon emissions collect and stay in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, so it's important to act as soon as possible.
The graph below shows some scenarios for reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions from 2017 to 2050 in Brighton & Hove.
A dotted orange line shows what is likely to happen if the city takes no action and relies solely on national efforts. In this case greenhouse gases fall by about half by 2050.
A solid blue line shows Brighton & Hove City Council’s target, which is a cut of 12.7% every year, reaching almost zero emissions by 2050.
A dotted grey line about half way between the 2 other lines shows a scenario if the city takes ambitious action, outlined in this programme.
This top-down analysis shows a gap between the estimated modelled BHCC pathway and the carbon neutral target.
This is because modelling assumptions are based on present day evidence and actions. Work will continue towards the goal to close that gap.
This programme shows how a pathway to cutting carbon across Brighton & Hove could be followed, with the participation of:
Programme actions take into account the council’s influence and public expectations.
Early estimates are that the actions in the programme could help cut nearly a third of the city’s carbon emissions by 2030.
In addition, national actions (particularly decarbonisation of the electricity grid) could save another third.
The following graph shows the contribution that each sector could make to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in Brighton & Hove by 2030.
Transport has the greatest potential for cutting emissions, followed by energy and water.
The council’s greenhouse gas emissions were only a tiny fraction (1.7%) of the city’s emissions in 2018.
The council has been working to reduce carbon emissions within its own operations and estate.
The council’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) footprint in 2018 to 2019 was 21,793 tonnes CO2e, a reduction of 9.9% on the previous year.
The council’s carbon emissions have reduced by 47% over the 10 years to 2019, meeting BHCC’s existing targets.
Action has included:
With BHCC’s current capacity of installed Solar PV and planned investment, we expect the proportion of the council’s self-generated Solar PV electricity to increase from 1% in 2018 to 2019 to 14% by 2023 to 2024.
The chart below shows greenhouse gas emissions from Brighton & Hove City Council’s corporate property and activities during 2019 to 2020. This includes:
Carbon neutral means that carbon emissions will be reduced as far as possible.
Any remaining carbon emissions are offset through carbon sinks or carbon reduction projects.
Net zero carbon is another term that means the same thing.
The Tyndall Centre has calculated science-based carbon emissions targets for UK local councils, showing how each can make its fair contribution to the Paris Climate Change Agreement to stay well below 2C global warming.
Brighton & Hove’s target is to emit no more than a maximum 5.9 million tonnes CO2 between 2020 and 2100.
This pathway requires a yearly minimum reduction of 12.7% in CO2 emissions, starting immediately.
‘Carbon emissions’ means carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted when fossil fuels are burned in vehicles, buildings, industrial processes and so on.
CO2 is one of the Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) identified by the Kyoto Protocol, which warm the atmosphere.
There are 6 greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorocarbons, often referred to together as ‘carbon dioxide equivalent’ (CO2e).
Nitrous oxide from diesel and petrol combustion is a potent greenhouse gas and also dangerous to human health when inhaled.
‘Carbon emissions’ is often used as a catch-all term to include both carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
This Carbon Neutral 2030 programme target is for all greenhouse gases. Where data on greenhouse gases is not available, data on carbon dioxide is used instead.
The pie chart above shows that transport was responsible for 435 kilotonnes of greenhouse gases in 2018.
Over a third of Brighton & Hove’s carbon emissions come from transport. This includes estimates for shipping and plane flights by Brighton & Hove residents.
We need a shift to public transport and active forms of travel to bring down carbon and nitrous oxide emissions, which affect everyone in the city.
Switching from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric and hydrogen vehicles will save carbon emissions and improve air quality, as will a reduction in the length and number of vehicle trips.
Brighton & Hove City Council held a climate assembly from September 2020 to November 2020, on the topic of travel and transport.
The key question was, ‘How can we step up actions to reduce transport-related carbon emissions in the city?’
The climate assembly asked for:
They made 10 recommendations, which will be considered by the council in developing its fifth Local Transport Plan and the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan:
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short, medium and long term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be high. The key partners will be transport operators, businesses and educational establishments.
We will also:
The timeframe for this will be short and medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be high. The key partners will be Transport operators, businesses and technology companies.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be ongoing. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be ongoing. The impact on CO2 emissions will be high.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be ongoing. The impact on CO2 emissions will be high. The key partners will be transport operators and The Living Coast.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be high.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short and medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium. The key partners will be technology companies.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short and medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be high. The key partners will be transport operators and council contractors.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be ongoing. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low. The key partners will be buses, taxi and delivery companies.
These will include the:
The pie chart above shows that 399 kilotonnes of greenhouse gases came from energy and water, just under a third of all greenhouse gases from the city of Brighton & Hove in 2018.
Energy is essential for our city, it:
To maintain our quality of life, we need to set up an energy supply that is:
There are high levels of fuel poverty due to rising energy prices, energy inefficient housing and low incomes.
Living in a cold home with bad ventilation can cause health issues like respiratory problems and depression.
This section covers:
This means:
Energy-efficient homes reduce waste energy and the demand for non-renewable energy. They may also be cheaper and healthier to live in.
We can only transition to Carbon Neutral by 2030 if we can remove carbon from our energy and water infrastructure on a bigger scale. So, working at a city region and wider south east region scale will be needed for success.
The council will work closely with partners of the Greater Brighton Economic Board and Greater Brighton Infrastructure Panel to provide ambitious solutions for low carbon infrastructure across the city region.
These plans, agreed in 2020, brought together public sector, business and academic stakeholders across the city region.
They identified opportunities for energy and water infrastructure that will support our goals and actions to remove carbon and help economic growth in renewable energy, power, heat and transport.
Learning and sharing information between local councils was important in this rapidly evolving technology, financial and regulation.
Recently, there's an increased focus on the potential to build hydrogen production, distribution and end uses in the city region, particularly for heavy vehicles.
The water plan identified challenges in cutting the amount of clean drinking water we use. This would be to reduce the impacts of the predicted water shortages to the region in the next decade.
Water and wastewater treatment use energy, so cutting how much we use will also reduce carbon emissions.
Energy efficiency in housing and buildings is important in reducing carbon emissions. The council has a role to play in energy upgrades and retrofitting, through:
The council is developing an extensive plan for:
It's also working with residents to change behaviour, where required, and make sure they get maximum benefit from the retrofit programme.
There is significantly more private housing than council housing, so this is where we can make greater carbon savings. Although, this relies more on government action and funding.
To promote the retrofit of private homes, the council is working with partners, including:
The council has been improving its own stock of housing by identifying where energy use is not efficient. It's also been working with site managers to save energy and water and improve the efficiency of gas, electricity and oil use.
In the near future there will be a focus on low carbon heat technology. Surveys will be done in schools and housing centres that may be suitable for this technology. Control and monitoring systems will also be improved.
In 2021 to 2022, a programme to install 500 kW of solar PV in corporate, housing and leisure sites will save 150 tonnes CO2 a year.
The council will transfer its energy supply to renewable sources as existing contracts end.
Some of the biggest challenges we're facing are:
To do this, we will:
Building audits will measure opportunities, identify and prioritise planned self-financing energy saving projects on council assets. For example, replacing old lightbulbs with LEDs is expected to pay back the cost of the LED in 4 to 5 years in lower electricity bills.
Energy efficiency and renewable energy projects will be done using the savings reinvested.
The timeframe for this will be short, medium and long term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be high.
We will also:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be 1,291 tonnes per year. The timeframe will be medium term.
To do this:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be high. The timeframe will be medium and long term.
To do this we will:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be 2,360 tonnes in 2021. The timeframe will be short term.
To do this we will:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be medium. The timeframe will be long term.
We'll also:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be medium. The timeframe will be short term.
Finally, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short and medium term. It will have a low impact on CO2 emissions.
To do this we will:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be high. The timeframe will be short, medium and long term.
Working in partnership with Greater Brighton, we will:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be high. The timeframe will be medium and long term.
We will:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be low. The timeframe will be short term.
We will:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be high. The timeframe will be medium term.
We will:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be medium. The timeframe will be short, medium and long term.
We'll also:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be medium. The timeframe will be medium term.
Finally, we will:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be medium. The timeframe will be short, medium and long term.
To do this, we will:
The impact on CO2 emissions for this will be low. The timeframe will be short and medium term.
Some of the plans related to the energy and water section of the Carbon Neutral 2030 programme are:
The pie chart above shows that 22 kilotonnes of greenhouse gases came from waste, around 2% of all greenhouse gases from the city of Brighton & Hove in 2018.
Managing waste efficiently involves increasing the awareness of residents and businesses around how waste is produced and how we manage and reuse our waste.
The benefits of achieving this are more than reducing landfill or plastic in the oceans.
By thinking differently about how we use materials and what we throw away, we can generate benefits to the city, like:
Brighton & Hove already has one of the lowest rates of waste sent to landfill, at 2.7% in 2019 to 2020 and falling.
The city’s residual waste is sent to the energy recovery facility at Newhaven and generates electricity for 25,000 homes.
Recent work in Brighton & Hove includes:
Cityclean has partnered with Tech-Takeback to create an 'on demand, small electrical end of life collection service' to improve the offering to residents.
Between 12 Nov 2020 and 28 Jan 2021:
Developing a strategy which will:
One of the suggested ambitions is to increase levels of reducing, reusing and recycling.
Redesigned the recycling leaflet to be sent to all households with council tax bills.
Partnered with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) on an options appraisal for the introduction of a food waste collection service.
This includes how the service can best operate in Brighton & Hove in terms of:
Introduced a third garden waste round.
Communal bin system - reviewing the existing communal bin system and identifying areas for improvement with:
IT systems - modernising the service and supporting the wider programme of change through technology, including improved flow of real-time information
Managing waste responsibly - delivering an informative and educational campaign to assist residents, visitors, businesses and crews to dispose of waste responsibly
Wheelie bin audit and rollout - implementing a wheelie bin recycling service to all the streets identified as suitable for this service from the city-wide wheelie bin audit
Schools food waste collection
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low. The key partner will be BHFP.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low. The key partner will be The Living Coast Biosphere.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low. The key partner will be Tech-Take Back.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low. The key partners will be Planet Brighton and Veolia.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low. The key partner will be SAS Traders.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be ongoing. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low. The key partner will be Veolia.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low. The key partner will be Veolia.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low. The key partner will be Veolia.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium. The key partner will be Veolia.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium. The key partner will be Leave No Trace Brighton.
The pie chart above shows that 391 kilotonnes of greenhouse gases came from the built environment, just under a third of all greenhouse gases from the city of Brighton & Hove in 2018.
The built environment is responsible for:
In Brighton & Hove there is a lower level of owner occupation and more private rented housing, compared with the South East region. The housing stock is older and there are some areas which have poor energy efficiency.
The planning system is important for new build homes, offices, retail and industrial uses and the council has an extensive range of planning guidance on nature conservation and the urban environment.
The council also uses its influence as a client, landowner and development partner in regeneration schemes and building affordable housing.
The council is leading the way and increasing its expertise through:
This group is addressing carbon emissions through things like the adoption of Whole Life Carbon Assessments. This measures greenhouse gases throughout the construction and operation of new homes.
We will work with the development industry to:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
We will also:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
To do this we will:
To do this we will:
The timeframe for these will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
We will work with the development industry to:
The timeframe for these will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
We will:
We will:
Some of the plans related to the energy and water section of the Carbon Neutral 2030 programme are:
The pie chart above shows that 16 kilotonnes of greenhouse gases came from nature, agriculture and land use, around 1% of all greenhouse gases from the city of Brighton & Hove in 2018.
Nature’s contribution is critically important for our:
Halting and then reversing biodiversity loss and improving the resilience of our natural environment is vital.
The council has declared a climate and biodiversity emergency.
So we want to identify, enhance and improve access to the most important natural habitats including:
Parks, gardens, farms and the Downland Estate surrounding Brighton & Hove offer opportunities to capture and lock up carbon in soils, grassland, trees and even the marine environment.
Green spaces can be managed for biodiversity and soil health, landscape, recreation and agriculture as well as carbon sequestration.
Where and how we produce food has a significant impact on carbon emissions as well public health and quality of life. With a longer dry season, valuable habitats will need to be resilient to fire.
There are great hopes for locking up carbon in the natural environment, but more evidence is needed.
All of this will be increasingly important to help reach the city’s Carbon Neutral 2030 target.
A landscape of trees has many benefits for physical and mental health, and tree planting projects often have enthusiastic community support.
However, not all tree planting results in positive carbon sequestration.
Planting the wrong trees in the wrong place can actually release more carbon stored in the soil than is sequestered by the trees as they grow.
It can also destroy existing habitats such as species rich grasslands which would compromise work towards tackling the biodiversity emergency.
Tree planting often produces a plantation, not a woodland with diverse age structures and rich ecotones.
To address the biodiversity emergency as well as the climate emergency, it is preferable to allow natural regeneration with some planting to diversify the species mix.
So that in the long term a woodland with mixed age and species is achieved.
The South Downs National Park was designated for its natural beauty based on its open sweeping views, so the impact on the wider landscape needs to be considered in any tree planting scheme.
The aim of wilding is to manage habitats through natural processes as far as is possible.
In ancient times, the countryside would have contained large herbivores and predators which would have been the main drivers of natural landscape processes.
Getting the delicate balance of herbivores right should allow species rich grasslands to develop in some places and naturally regenerating woodland in others.
While natural regeneration of woodland under light grazing takes longer than tree planting it produces a more diverse, resilient woodland in the long run.
It is also desirable to replace missing plant species, by planting a limited number of trees that will then provide seeds for the trees of the future.
As soils develop, wilding will provide long term carbon sequestration as well as biodiversity benefits.
The council’s rural estate of over 10,000 acres is located within the South Downs National Park. The council acquired the estate in the late 19th and early 20th Century with the aim of protecting water supply and controlling development.
The council has long recognised the importance of the Downland Estate, which contributes a great deal to the Downland landscape which surrounds the city.
The City Downland Estate plan is being reviewed during 2021 to 2022, with a vision to reconnect the people of Brighton & Hove to a more biodiverse Downland with better education, improved access and a sense of connection to the land.
There will be a focus on:
The city’s 2,000 acres of parks, trees and gardens enhance health and wellbeing for residents and are the venue for a dynamic range of activities. These spaces can be managed with a focus on biodiversity, increasing tree cover, and encouraging active travel.
The Living Coast UNESCO World Biosphere Region covers 390km square, with the city of Brighton & Hove at its heart.
Its mission is to connect people and nature to inspire a positive future, today, through delivering projects under its 3 objectives:
In 2020 the city received a Gold Sustainable Food City award. The bid was led by the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership. The city will build on this success.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short, medium and long term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
The key partners will be:
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
We will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium. The key partner will be Brighton Food Partnership.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
The key partners will be:
We will also commit to wilding projects, including:
The timeframe for this will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
The key partners will be:
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
The key partners will be:
Only with the participation of individuals and communities will Brighton & Hove be able to act on cutting greenhouse gases and achieving the carbon neutral goal.
We need involvement from people and businesses to reduce or adapt demand for energy intensive services. New technologies, like electric cars or heat pumps, need at least some degree of change from consumers in what they buy and their daily lives.
Individual choices are key to shifting quickly towards:
The council has a role in many aspects of community engagement.
During 2020, Brighton & Hove City Council held a climate assembly and set up an online platform to engage on climate change with residents and businesses.
Local young people designed and delivered a Youth Assembly. The keen interest in the assemblies showed the willingness of Brighton & Hove residents to take part in climate action.
The council participates in many city-wide and regional partnerships, including The Living Coast Biosphere management board and Greater Brighton. Communicating our strategic vision is key to this engagement.
Communicating options and opportunities for residents and organisations to cut their own carbon footprints is something the council already engages in, for example:
The Public Health team are the specialists with campaigns on healthy eating and active lifestyles.
With the rapid pace of technological change there will be increasing need to communicate behaviour change messages with residents.
Businesses and organisations can be supported in accessing resources that help them reduce their carbon outputs.
The stories of local people and businesses that are already working towards a zero carbon city can be recognised and celebrated.
This includes council staff in the ongoing conversation about biodiversity loss and the climate emergency. Providing free civic space, like libraries to facilitate this.
Online consultation is helping to reduce the carbon footprint of consultation and engagement events. It can also make it easier for communities to engage with council initiatives, like the Downland Estate review.
In 2020 the council ran a successful grants programme for community projects on climate and biodiversity action.
The grants programme supports residents in a wide range of projects, including:
In future, community groups could be supported to identify the climate and carbon impacts of their projects.
Participatory budgeting will enhance community engagement in housing estate improvements.
Wide participation will also help to meet the city’s priority of being fair and inclusive and ensuring that everyone can benefit from and participate in climate actions.
The council recognises that we need to engage with under-represented and marginalised groups who are often those most affected by the impact of climate change.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
Working with Living Coast Biosphere, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions is not possible to measure, but this will help to enable action that will have an impact.
Working with Living Coast Biosphere, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
Working with Living Coast Biosphere, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short, medium and long term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
Working with Living Coast Biosphere, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions is not possible to measure, but this will help to enable action that will have an impact.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
Young people have been a vital force in driving action on climate change in the city, participating in climate strikes and a Youth Assembly on transport.
Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) has run a schools and youth climate engagement programme which support:
A new City Employment and Skills Plan is being developed that is focused on post-Covid recovery.
Steps to recovery need stakeholder participation and collaboration between:
One of the plan’s objectives is to facilitate employment and skills interventions which support low-carbon employment and are key to any mass retrofitting project, like installing solar panels and heat pumps.
This will help to strengthen the local supply chain for green infrastructure.
In January 2020 the council unanimously passed a Notice of Motion supporting a ‘Green New Deal,’ seeking to address climate change in ways that also:
The Green New Deal approach can help to grow ‘green’ skills and local jobs, linking public sector decarbonisation initiatives and council retrofit programmes to opportunities for skills and training.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be enabling action. The key partner will be Living Coast Biosphere.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be enabling action.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short and medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be enabling action.
We will also:
The timeframe for this will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be enabling action.
The key partners will be:
In 2018 the Brighton & Hove Economic Strategy (2018 to 2023) was launched and included a commitment to creating a Circular Economy Routemap to 2035.
Circular economy principles move away from a linear ‘take, make, consume and throw-away society’, towards one that:
The Routemap will aim to capture and share good circular projects and practices across the city.
The Routemap will grow and evolve over time, shaped around new opportunities, learning and collaboration as the city begins to unlock its potential and transition towards:
Brighton & Hove City Council plays an important role in leading our city. We can use this position to help move to circular principles through our own practice as well as introducing policies that affect the whole city.
Many council services are inherently sustainable. For example libraries’ core service is to ‘recycle’ books (and potentially other high-cost / low-use items) for many people to use.
Another example is the council’s Communities, Equalities and Third Sector team supporting refugee resettlement with second-hand white goods, furniture and clothing.
Using the city’s spending power to procure goods and services and working with partners and contractors is key to the development of a local, sustainable, circular economy.
Find out about our approach to sustainable procurement.
The council’s Procurement Team has actively engaged in developing the Circular Economy Routemap.
The planning process can support the incorporation of circular economy principles in the design and construction of new development through appropriate planning policies in development plans.
City Plan Part One Policy CP8 ‘Sustainable Buildings’ and Policy WMP3d of the East Sussex, South Downs and Brighton & Hove Waste & Minerals Plan provide some existing support.
Future reviews of both these plans provide opportunities for more explicit policy support that better reflects the Circular Economy Framework.
The council is exploring whole life carbon assessments on new build housing schemes. These will assess the ‘embodied carbon’ locked up in construction materials and manufacturing processes.
The council is developing construction specifications to include circular economy principles to reduce waste, reduce operational energy use, and protect and enhance biodiversity, and has identified pilot projects to trial these specifications.
Other priority sectors include the visitor economy and single-use plastics. In future there’s the potential to focus on fashion, food and other consumables that are produced outside the city.
To do this, we will:
To deliver this plan, we'll work with:
We will also:
The timeframe for these will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
We will work with visionary small businesses to:
The timeframe for these will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
We will:
The timeframe for these will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
Working with the BLUEPRINT to a circular economy project, we will:
The timeframe for these will be short and medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
Dependent upon the outcomes from government planning reforms, we will:
To embed these circular economy principles, we'll work with:
The timeframe for these will be medium and long term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
Brighton & Hove is already experiencing the impact of the changing climate, even in our temperate latitudes.
The city will need to find ways to adapt to these impacts to protect lives and livelihoods and the natural environment.
Challenges include:
Higher sea levels and large storm waves are putting a strain on coastal defences.
In December 2019 part of the Albion groyne collapsed into the sea because of strong wind and rain, and at Seaford, the chalk cliff face has suffered several dramatic rock falls.
Climate change is expected to cause:
Brighton & Hove can suffer from:
By 2050, dry summers could result in 80% less water in the UK’s rivers and reservoirs, especially in the south east which already suffers from water stress.
Drought could affect the quality and amount of groundwater supplies available to the city.
All Brighton & Hove residents’ drinking water comes from the Brighton Chalk Block aquifers, so it is vital we protect and improve the groundwater in this valuable natural resource.
A range of health conditions related to heat, extreme weather and air pollution are predicted to rise.
Vulnerable people, including the elderly and children, will be at risk of increased heat exposure during heatwaves, especially in the south east of England.
A recent study in Brighton & Hove identified air pollution from transport as a contributory cause of more than 170 deaths a year in the city.
Read the article about toxic traffic pollution.
Air pollution is associated with adverse health effects particularly affecting the most vulnerable in society – children and older people and those with heart and lung conditions.
To do this, we will create a:
We will also invest in works to:
The timeframe for this will be short and medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short and medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low. The key partner will be The Aquifer Partnership.
We will also:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
To do this, we will create a:
The timeframe for this will be short and medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
The key partners will be:
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
We will also:
The timeframe for this will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
Brighton & Hove City Council has set a target to become a carbon neutral city by 2030.
This means reducing greenhouse gases from all consumption and activity across the city as far as possible. However, some emissions are very hard to remove, and it is expected that not all carbon emissions will be eliminated by 2030.
So, as a last resort, any carbon emissions that cannot be avoided at source must be offset (or ‘neutralised’) by schemes that remove or reduce remaining greenhouse gases.
Despite energy efficiency improvements and technological advances, a gap between carbon emissions and our target may still remain.
It is likely that Brighton & Hove will need to offset carbon emissions in addition to all other efforts to cut emissions over the years to 2030.
Many carbon offsetting projects are nature-based, as our natural environment offers some of the best opportunities for capturing and storing carbon, as well as the benefits for wildlife and natural habitats.
Projects which could offset carbon emissions include:
The council is exploring the potential for investing in local carbon reduction projects and identifying the carbon reduction that can then contribute towards our carbon neutral target.
The aim is to help more carbon reduction projects to happen faster, and to keep investment local. These projects often have other benefits which can be captured locally, like:
BHCC is already engaged in many nature-based projects which help to cut carbon, including:
Carbon offsetting projects must be additional, verifiable and permanent, which requires a robust framework to give confidence in the delivery of carbon savings.
A framework would also help to make carbon saving projects visible and accessible, and help engage public, communities and investors in climate action.
The council is also looking to make sure that contracts are procured with carbon neutral goals in mind and that contractors may be able to partner in local carbon offsetting schemes or may have their own environmental or carbon emissions goals.
To do this, we will:
We'll work with:
The timeframe for this will be medium and long term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be medium.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
We will also:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be low.
Sustainability is an integral part of the procurement process.
The Sustainable Procurement Policy sets out how sustainability is embedded into every procurement process.
It was expanded in 2019 to incorporate circular economy principles to encourage reuse and recycling of materials.
The Procurement Team has actively engaged in the Circular Economy workshops, discussions and work undertaken so far and is committed to delivering the procurement related actions in the Circular Economy Routemap.
All activity aligns with the council’s priority in achieving its goal to become a carbon neutral city by 2030.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short term. The impact on CO2 emissions will be enabling awareness.
To do this, we will:
The timeframe for this will be short and medium term. The impact on CO2 emissions will low.
We will also aim that a percentage of:
The timeframe for this will be medium and strong term. The impact on CO2 emissions will medium.