Climate change and biodiversity emergency

A Climate Emergency has been declared. To support action locally, South Hams District 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. 

Here in the South Hams, 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 District to net zero by 2050 and increase biodiversity by 20% by 2028.

This website provides hints and tips for residents, organisations and businesses across the District. 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.

* 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 District 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 District.
 

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