Wiltshire draft climate strategy 2022-2027. August 2021

This strategy identifies areas of focus for climate action for the period 2022-2027. Immediate opportunities are highlighted !, while we also include the wider challenge and objectives for the longer-term.

International and national bodies, such as the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and the International Energy Agency have given clear messages that governments are not yet doing enough but that there is a viable way to achieve net zero and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. We are currently on course for 3-4^oC of warming but with a concerted international effort and investment, limiting warming to 1.5-2^oC is possible, as per the UN Paris Agreement.

"The 2020s must be the decisive decade of progress and action." (Climate Change Committee sixth carbon budget)

Britain's emissions have fallen for the last eight years in a row and are now 48.8% below 1990 levels. UK emissions dropped by 9% in 2020, mainly due to the large reductions in road transport during nationwide lockdowns and the reductions in business activity.

The current level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as of May 2021 is 420ppm