Since June 2020, we have annually targeted achieving a set of Top 20 Actions for the coming year. We set out a flavour below of what we have achieved so far.
In 2019/20 we:
- declared a climate emergency, and began our journey to reduce carbon emissions and reverse the decline in nature
- we started to collect detailed data on what the council's emissions are, so we could target our actions effectively
In 2020/21 we:
- moved our electricity contract to 100% renewable energy supply
- replaced our entire street and car parking lights to low energy LED lighting
- adopted two new planning policy documents, covering climate change and the natural environment, so that new developments in East Cambridgeshire could be more environmentally friendly than ever before
- undertook energy audits of our buildings, so we could commission energy efficiency improvements
- started a programme of staff training to embed environmental thinking into all the services we undertake
In 2021/22 we:
- helped 10 local schools commence their journey to Eco-Charter status
- implemented new grass cutting and wildflower management on our parks and open spaces, with fabulous results arising
- installed energy efficiency measures in our own buildings, helping to reduce our energy use
- started a multi-million pound programme of retrofit improvements to people's homes
In 2022/23 we:
- achieved bronze level Investors in the Environment accreditation, the first council in Cambridgeshire to do so
- installed PV Solar Panels across our E-Space North office building at Littleport, targeting at least a 50% reduction in grid electricity usage and aiming to halve its electricity bill
- reduced our paper use by 35%
- committed to shift our fleet vehicles, such as our refuse collection lorries, away from diesel fuel to much more environmentally friendly vegetable oil
- installed 24 electric vehicle charging points, across three separate public car parks
- helped create, through a free tree give-away programme, 28 new community orchards right across East Cambridgeshire
In 2023/24 we:
- awarded over £60,000 towards 18 community nature projects, under our Pride of Place grant scheme
- committed to long term hedgehog recovery, following a public vote
- gave away 75 oak trees to communities to mark the King's Coronation
- trialled using hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel in our refuse collection vehicles
- reduced our paper use by a further third compared with the previous year
- commenced carbon literacy training for all staff
- saved £14,000 in electricity bills and 7 tonnes of carbon emissions in the first year of using our newly installed solar panels at E-Space North
- achieved silver level Investors in the Environment accreditation
In 2024/25 we:
- installed solar panels on the roof of The Hive (our leisure centre, Ely) which are forecast to save at least c£18,500 in electricity running costs and generate 91MWh of electricity per annum, resulting in a c19tonnes CO2e annual saving
- moved our refuse collection vehicles away from diesel to HVO fuel
- helped over 100 private houses install substantial energy efficiency retro-fit measures
- ran a very successful Net Zero Villages grant scheme, supporting 10 community buildings with 100% grants for solar panels, batteries and insulation measures
- over two-thirds of council employees undertook an accredited carbon literacy course
- helped set up two 'habitat banks' in the district, one in Pymoor and the other in Dullingham
- grant funded over a dozen more Pride of Place nature projects, building on the success of 2023/24
Detailed Monitoring Reports
From 2024 we have produced a detailed annual monitoring report setting out how well we did at meeting our Top 20 targets from the previous year. Each report also provides a detailed breakdown of the council's carbon emissions, the district's carbon emissions, and Cambridgeshire's emissions as a whole.
To speed up publication of our emissions data, we now intend to publish such data each autumn (rather than wait for the following June). Our latest emissions data is therefore for 2024/25, and published in November 2025, available in the following report:
Actions underway
If you want to know what actions and activities are underway or planned for the current year, please visit our environment plans and actions page