Nine Staffordshire councils come together to tackle climate change

Councils from across Staffordshire have joined forces to help tackle climate change in the county.

Joe Porter and Simon Tagg

Representatives from district and borough councils across Staffordshire came together last week to discuss what was needed to tackle climate change and to achieve the target of becoming net carbon zero by 2050.

Working together, influencing change and encouraging residents, organisations and businesses that we all have a role to play, was the focus of discussions at the first meeting of the Staffordshire Sustainability Board.

The partnership was created in January 2022 and will meet quarterly. Staffordshire County Councillor Simon Tagg was appointed Chairman and Staffordshire Moorlands District Councillor, Joe Porter was appointed Vice Chairman at the first meeting on 19 January.

Simon Tagg, Cabinet Member for Environment, infrastructure and climate change at Staffordshire County Council said: “The creation of this partnership is an important step forward in our goal to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“We all have a role to play in tackling climate change and improving the environment. By working together, we can begin to look at changes in transportation, residential properties, industry, agriculture and commercial activities. This way, I believe we can achieve much more than working in isolation.

“The partnership will enable us to have important conversations with those that will be able to help facilitate change. By working more closely with our local authority colleagues and collaboratively with our residents, communities and businesses, we can all help to make a difference.”

Staffordshire County Council has already reduced its carbon emissions by 25% since declaring a climate change emergency in 2019. This has been achieved mainly by transferring all corporate council buildings, maintained schools, streetlights and traffic lights, to run on renewable energy.

The authority has also introduced the Climate Change Action Fund for communities and projects that help tackle climate change. Funding is still available for non-for-profit groups, who can find out more and apply forhere.

The nine authorities involved in the partnership board are: Staffordshire County Council; Cannock Chase District Council; East Staffordshire Borough Council; Lichfield District Council; Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council; South Staffordshire Council; Stafford Borough Council; Staffordshire Moorlands District Council; and Tamworth Borough Council.