Climate strategy and delivery plans

Wiltshire Council acknowledged a climate emergency in February 2019 and committed to becoming carbon neutral as an organisation by 2030. We are investing money to achieve this and are fully committed. We will also support Wiltshire to work towards becoming carbon neutral by 2030. We need to work with residents, communities and businesses to achieve this.

Also, we want Wiltshire to be resilient to the impacts of 2^oC change.

In January 2021 we prepared a Climate Strategy Discussion Document January 2021 (PDF, 1 MB)(opens new window) which outlines some of the challenges and opportunities in relation to climate change in Wiltshire. A short Climate Strategy Discussion Document Summary May 2021 (PDF, 1 MB)(opens new window) of the Discussion Document is also available.

In May 2021 we began early engagement with stakeholder organisations to help shape the climate strategy. Between 1 September and 17 October 2021 we gave residents, businesses and local groups in the county the opportunity to have their say on our draft Climate Strategy.

At the same time, we also consulted on 'Our Natural Environment Plan' - A Green and blue infrastructure (GBI) strategy for Wiltshire', which looks at the future for Wiltshire's natural environmental assets and how the council can help protect and enhance them for the benefit of people and biodiversity.

Over 1000 people and organisations commented on the draft strategies. Responses were analysed, and the feedback used to inform the final climate and GBI strategies which have now been adopted.

Questions submitted during our consultation have been answered and can be found in the Climate strategy questions and answers area.

The latest territorial greenhouse gas emissions for Local Authority areas (opens new window) from the government's Department for Energy Security and New Zero (DESNZ) shows that in 2022 the county's total carbon footprint was 3000 kilotonnes. This is about 10% of the south west's carbon emissions and less than 1% of the UK total emissions. Transport takes up the largest percentage of Wiltshire's emissions at 38%. Industry and homes make up the remainder. Like many local authorities, we have chosen to use this dataset for our baseline because it is available for free, updated annually, and directly comparable with statistics for other areas, including regional and national data.

Wiltshire's emissions are measured against a 2005 baseline, as this was the first reporting year by DESNZ. Significant reductions have been achieved since 2005, in line with the national trend. Key factors driving these reductions have been improvements in energy efficiency and steady decarbonisation of the electricity grid, as renewables account for an ever-increasing proportion of all generation.

You can find out more information in our Wiltshire Council Climate Strategy (PDF, 7 MB)(opens new window).

Our independent consultants, Anthesis, showed in their report that that without any policy or funding constraints the county's carbon emissions could be reduced by 55% by 2030, but a number of things would need to happen within the next five years, such as 72% of Wiltshire vehicles have ultra-low emissions (which was 3% in 2020), one in four Wiltshire homes retrofitted to make them more energy efficient, 39% of domestic heating systems electrified (9% in 2020), household recycling rates would need to increase to 59% (47% in 2019) and tree cover increased by 21% on current levels.

Anthesis Report Wiltshire County, March 2022 (PDF, 7 MB)(opens new window)

Wiltshire Council has been working to reduce its carbon emissions for over a decade. Since 2010 the council has been monitoring, reporting and publishing its Wiltshire Council’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions report 2023/24 (OpenDocument text format, 120 KB)(opens new window), in line with UK government requirements.

The report is prepared using guidance published by the government Department for Energy, Food and Rural Affairs (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) (opens new window)) and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (opens new window). Through monitoring our emissions, we can better understand the impact our operations have on the environment and take action to lessen this impact.

Wiltshire Council's emissions in 2023/24 amounted to 2.8 ktCO₂e. Scope 2 emissions were 3.7 kt CO₂e and are counted as zero emissions due to the council buying electricity from renewable sources.

On its ambitions for the organisation itself to be carbon neutral by 2030, our independent consultants, Anthesis, found that Wiltshire Council is in a very strong position to meet its carbon neutral commitment by 2030. The main focus of the report was on the council's direct emissions and it showed that the council has reduced its carbon footprint by 88% since 2014/15, and the projects currently in the pipeline should help get that to a 90% reduction by 2030 With further investment in offsetting, the council should reach its carbon neutral target by 2030.

Anthesis Report Wiltshire Council (PDF, 4 MB)(opens new window)