18 February 2025

Net Zero – supporting the city to be sustainable

At the end of last year, Brighton & Hove City Council set a new course for net zero with a ground-breaking energy study.

The Decarbonisation Pathways Study – a first for the city – provides Brighton & Hove with a road map for low carbon energy in homes and buildings.

Councillor Tim Rowkins, Cabinet member for Net Zero & Environmental Services, said: “We are one of the first councils in the country to publish a report like this. Since then, we’ve been collaborating with the National Wealth Fund to develop investment models and have just delivered the largest rollout of rooftop solar on our non-domestic public buildings.

“I’m looking forward to continuing to work with the city to progress high-impact projects for clean, affordable energy, to reduce carbon emissions and improve the lives of residents.

“We are also streets ahead on EV charging and now have the best coverage outside London. But we’re not stopping there – we're installing more than 500 a year for the next 3 years.”

Actions for communities and the environment

Here are 10 more things we’ve done over the past three months to support Brighton & Hove to be more sustainable, healthy, save money and grow our net zero city.

Announced a major expansion of our recycling provision, with new materials being added to collections from spring 2025 and food waste coming later in the year.
Produced and agreed an ambitious Food Strategy Action Plan to tackle food poverty and food waste and promote climate-friendly food production.
Introduced a new sustainable event commitment for event organisers to deliver sustainable events by reducing waste and emissions.
Promoted energy-efficient initiatives such as Energy Savers Week and help with winter bills resulting in residents saving money and energy.
Promoted the sustainability toolkit for restaurants developed by Restaurants Brighton, helping them to cut their environmental impact and attract eco-conscious customers.
Led the way on climate education, with Brighton & Hove school leaders sharing their expertise with schools in the city and across the country.
Supported active and sustainable travel with new school streets schemes, cheaper weekday travel for bike hire and extending the £1 short hop bus fare.
Undertook a major public consultation on the City Plan to shape sustainable development, move away from fossil fuels and protect and enhance nature.
Made decarbonisation and net zero a central part of our economic plan 2024 to 2027.
Established a new approach to improve air quality using more comprehensive data to inform the public and tackle air pollution.