Climate change and biodiversity emergency

A Climate Emergency has been declared. To support action locally, West Devon Borough Council has made tackling climate change and the loss of biodiversity one of its top priorities. 

It’s a huge challenge – temperatures are rising around the world, 15% of species in Great Britain are threatened with extinction and it’s estimated we need to globally reduce our carbon equivalent emissions from 6.5 tonnes per person every year to less than 2 tonnes as soon as possible.

We can only do this if as many people as possible act now. 

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A photograph showing a stone  arch bridge spanning the river Dart, near to where it rises on Dartmoor.

Here in West Devon, we’ll be working with our partners and considering the impact we have on global warming and habitat loss in everything we do. We want to reduce our council scope 1 and 2* CO2 emissions to net zero by 2030, help reduce emissions across the Borough to net zero by 2050 and increase biodiversity on our own land by 10% by 2028.

This website provides hints and tips for residents, organisations and businesses across the Borough. It also highlights the work that we, as a council, are doing to reduce our own emissions, as well as showcasing the work being done by town and parish councils and community groups in our area.

You can follow our progress and keep up with the latest news via this website or sign up for email newsletters. Community groups, organisations and town/parish councils can also join our Facebook group.

* Scopes 1 and 2 refer to direct emission from our council fleet and buildings. Scope 3 emissions refer to indirect emissions from such things as purchasing, procurement and business travel.

Strategy & action plan

View our strategy and action plan which sets out our aims and the actions to achieve Council net-zero 2030 and Borough net-zero 2050.

View our strategy

Our climate work

Learn about our projects and the work we are doing to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss in our Borough.
 

More information

Get involved

Want to get involved? View the page below for helpful advice on what individuals, businesses and Town and Parish Councils can do to take part.

Find out how