Month: September 2024

Zero Carbon Cumbria has been supporting community projects to ‘do their bit’ to reduce greenhouse gas emissions since 2020, as part of the programme of activities supported through the National Lottery’s Climate Action Fund

With one year left to go, this is the final allocation of Lottery money for community renewable energy projects, or any other community-based scheme looking to cut carbon emissions or raise awareness of the climate crisis. This is your chance to make a difference and support ZCC’s mission to achieve net zero by 2037.

Up to £15,000 is available to help develop and deliver community renewable energy schemes, and up to £10,000 for other community climate grants.

For more details and to apply, click here. Don’t delay, the closing date is Sunday 24th November!

It has been a long time coming, but the deadline for education settings to have their sustainability actions in place is looming.

The September deadline is a key initiative in the Government’s sustainability and climate change strategy – and it states: “By 2025, all education settings will have nominated a sustainability lead and put in place a climate action plan.

This includes early years settings, schools, multi-academy trusts, colleges, and universities.”

It is vital that this is put in place with a ‘whole setting’ approach – the buildings, curriculum, staff knowledge, pupil voice and decarbonisation all form part of the climate action plan and the culture of the setting, and by it’s nature will mean that all staff, students and stakeholders are represented.

And there are many ways in which education settings can develop their climate action plans – such as to:

• increase the confidence and expertise of your leadership team, staff, learners, and students in understanding climate change and how positive change can be achieved
• share effective practice with other education settings
• improve energy and water efficiency, cutting costs
• calculate your carbon emissions and identify ways to reduce them
• increase resilience and start adapting to the impacts of climate change
• enhance biodiversity
• help learners develop skills and knowledge which help them to contribute to sustainability and climate change in their lives and future jobs

And whilst this may seem daunting for some settings, there are many support networks and groups that offer help and advice.

Zero Carbon Cumbria has been supporting schools and young people for many years now, helping organise the Youth Climate Summit along with CDEC, and bringing together resources and case studies to inspire. Take a look at the site here. 

CAfS can help education settings prepare for this, and ensure that their sustainability lead feels supported and that the climate action plan is meaningful and has real impact. We know that school buildings can be leaky and expensive to heat, and young people tell us they worry when thinking of the future, and giving teachers confidence in their climate science knowledge will mean that the curriculum can be enhanced and fit for purpose.

In addition to current projects we are running a webinar to bring together concrete ideas, to start thinking of your climate action plan and find out what might work within your setting. There are numerous dates throughout autumn and spring term – join us here. 

You can read the full DfE document here.

This is the second half of our blog exploring the new government’s key ‘green’ policies – and what they could mean for Cumbria.  

Read part one here

Energy Efficiency 

• An extra £6.6bn in home energy efficiency improvements 

This could be good news for Cumbria, where we have a lot of draughty, damp housing stock in dire need of upgrading. Carbon emissions from energy use in residential and commercial buildings in Cumbria are estimated to be around 1.5 MtCO2 equivalent and need to be reduced by more than 95% by 2037. [See the report here] Supporting home energy efficiency and helping households save money on their energy bills through our Retrofit Made Easy and Cold to Cosy Homes projects are important areas of CAfS’ work. Not just because heating our homes is a significant cause of carbon emissions, but also because levels of fuel poverty in Cumbria are shockingly high. However, funding is desperately needed to incentivize the upgrading of home insulation and heating systems. The Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership ‘Buildings’ sector group has looked in detail at our buildings stock and set out the pathway to zero emissions, read the Emission Reduction Action Plan here.  

Green Skills 

• Will invest £1.5bn per year in ports, hydrogen and industrial clusters. Creating thousands of jobs focused on decarbonisation 

• £1.5bn to new gigafactories (a manufacturing facility associated with electrification and decarbonisation)

Our report on the potential for green jobs in Cumbria  – highlighted the opportunity to bring economic and social benefits to communities across the county. It highlighted that investment is needed and that significant resource savings in the longer term can be made by businesses decarbonizing. We know from our work with employers and schools through the C for LP’s Dream Placement programme, that school leavers are hungry for green careers and want access to training and job opportunities. To help them, we recently launched our new green skills web hub. The question remains as to how these manifesto proposals benefit Cumbria.  

Transport 

• A long-term strategy for transport, focus on aviation and sustainable aviation fuels 

Carbon emissions from transport accounts for almost a quarter of Cumbria’s total, exacerbated by private vehicle use being the only option for many to access crucial services and jobs. Investment in local ‘active transport’ infrastructure, better public transport links and more opportunities and incentives for visitors to Cumbria to make use of low-carbon alternatives have been highlighted by the Transport and Mobility sector group of the Zero Carbon Cumbria partnership.  Local sustainability groups are also taking action – with projects such as the Staveley EBike rental scheme and the community led Ullswater Hopper bus proving popular and being inspirational for other areas. We want to see the promised long term strategy put zero carbon at the heart of plans. 

North sea oil and gas 

• Maintain a strategic reserve of gas power stations to guarantee security of supply and ensure a phased and responsible transition in the north sea. 

Our patron, Professor Mike Berners-Lee set out very clearly the problem at the heart of the climate crisis in his book ‘The Burning Question’ – which is that we must “leave fuel worth trillions of dollars in the ground”. Whilst at CAfS we are doing all we can to help reduce Cumbria’s use of polluting fossil fuels, this is simply not enough. The extraction and supply of fossil fuels must be stopped.