Council seeks to 'turbo charge' push for net zero

Green hydrogen, produced near Wimborne, can replace fossil fuels, the council said

A council has said it is accelerating plans to become carbon neutral by 2035, five years earlier than previously announced.

The Liberal Democrat leader of Dorset Council, who is also the environment portfolio holder at the authority, said it was "for future generations".

Councillor Nick Ireland's comments come as the political consensus on climate polices has fragmented, with opponents now branding them too difficult and expensive.

Reform UK has said it will scrap net zero if it wins the next election, while the Conservatives have pledged to scrap the UK's landmark climate change legislation.

Dorset Council leader Nick Ireland said the push for net zero was to benefit "future generations"

Mr Ireland said the authority had made good progress towards its own carbon reduction target, but accepted there was more to do.

He said: "It's about using HVO [hydrotreated vegetable oil] in our bin lorries, for example, which is a huge net reduction in carbon cost.

"It's about delivering healthy homes for Dorset in terms of retrofitting.

"So not only are you making the houses warmer and cheaper to heat, but you're also improving the health of the residents inside. So it's a win-win for everybody."

Mr Ireland said carbon reduction involved change, but the economic benefits would outweigh the costs.

"The green technology sector is the biggest growing technology sector in the country, it will deliver jobs that we desperately need in south Dorset," he said.

Ed Rimmer is group leader of Reform UK at Wiltshire Council

There are no Reform UK councillors elected to Dorset Council, but at neighbouring Wiltshire Council, the group leader brought a motion earlier this year to try to force the authority to abandon its net zero strategy.

The motion was proposed by Ed Rimmer, who - following the vote's rejection - called the council's 2030 net zero target "completely unachievable".

"We were elected to be careful with people's money and to do what people want with their money and for people's money to be spent sensibly and we don't think that net zero spending is a sensible way to do that," he said.

"I'm not trying to say climate change doesn't exist, I'm saying at Wiltshire we can't solve it and we can help people to have a little bit more money in their pockets and I think that not spending money on net zero is a good way to do that."

Paul Sample, cabinet member for environment, climate and waste at Wiltshire Council, said he was "delighted" the motion had not succeeded.

"The climate emergency affects us all and that is why it is essential that we do all we can to continue to reduce carbon emissions", he said.

Dorset Council is set to receive an extra £6m to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Dorset Council said it had made progress on reducing emissions through a number of measures, including 188 council sponsored EV charging points across the county.

It has also switched 8,000 streetlights to energy efficient bulbs, and installed more than 13,000 solar panels across the council's buildings estate.

The authority has also just launched a Citizen's Panel to explore options for further climate reduction measures.

Mr Ireland said the 22-person panel will be meeting with climate experts and stakeholders like SSE and Wessex Water.

"They'll be meeting with the sort of people who are involved in making the difference and the output of that will inform our new climate policy in terms of what we're going to do going forward," he said.

'Ongoing cost'

The council was run by the Conservatives when, in 2019, it declared a "climate emergency".

The then-cabinet member for the environment, Ray Bryan, is wary of the rising costs of net zero.

"When we first did the strategy, which started in 2019, we felt there was a bill of about £130 million to deal with between 2019 and 2040," he said.

"We now have a shortened period of time because the ruling party have decided to bring it forward to 2035 and of course the costs of everything has increased dramatically.

"The last number I was given was we're now looking at about 170 million overall cost.

"I am still very concerned about the ongoing cost of the climate change agenda, and we do need to have a rethink as to where these costs are going to be covered."