Ambition 9 Protecting the environment and reducing our carbon footprint

We’ll make our properties more energy efficient and use less carbon. We’ll boost the amount of renewable energy we produce, so our land and buildings become more energy efficient.

We’ll reduce energy use at our offices through our Energy Strategy [PDF], and will achieve a 5-10% energy and water reduction each year. We’ll finish converting all street lighting to energy efficient LEDs by 2026.

We’ll ‘green’ all of our vehicles by 2030, and half of them by 2025, including those used for business travel and carrying out Council services.

We’ll keep improving how we manage waste in an environmentally and financially sustainable way through our Household Waste and Recycling centres. We’ll reach our target of recycling 52% of all domestic waste by 2025 and will keep the amount of waste we divert from landfill above 95%. We’ll reduce our use of paper and overall waste right across the Council, and we’ll stop using single-use plastic.

We’ll supply training and toolkits to ensure Council Members, employees and partners carry out good environmental practices at work, like hybrid working and making buildings more energy efficient.

We’ll help local transport providers cut emissions by converting to electric vehicles, and will encourage people to choose walking, cycling and public transport to get around Nottinghamshire. We’ll also provide green, safe and convenient travel options between rural locations.

We’ll deliver our Waste Local Plan, Minerals Plan [PDF] and Air Quality Strategy [PDF]. This will reduce the harm caused by air pollution, particularly in our disadvantaged communities.  We’ll also develop and roll out a carbon reduction plan for all Council activities.

We’ll carry out more Natural Flood Management schemes across the County, support watercourse owners with their responsibilities and work with partners to reduce the risk of flooding to homes and businesses. We’ll also ensure that our work in reducing our climate impact doesn’t unintentionally cause a loss of biodiversity.

We’ll enhance and protect 46 Local Wildlife Sites, and our County’s Sites of Special Scientific Interest, working to achieve ‘favourable condition’ status across five. We’ll also work to eradicate harmful non-native species of plants.

We’ll plant a quarter of a million trees on Council land and set up five new local nature reserves to restore our green spaces. We’ll also create a Greener Highways Plan to enhance trees, green corridors and road verges. Finally, we’ll work with partners to create a new ‘national forest’ in Sherwood, benefitting wildlife and our residents.

We’ll make sure we use our purchasing power for good, positively impacting the environment and ensuring our investments, services and goods are environmentally responsible.