Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to report of the Managing Director.

The Managing Director presented the report which outlined the response to Welsh Government’s Net Zero reporting requirements, and sought comments on an initial response to the Blaenau Gwent Climate Assembly report.  The report also provided an update on the action plan development for the Decarbonisation Plan transitions.

The Managing Director spoke to the report and highlighted points contained therein as follows:

Welsh Government Net Zero Reporting

The Council had responded to Welsh Government’s Net Zero Reporting requirements at the end of October and this would form part of annual report to Welsh Government.

Section 2.5 of the report showed a fall in our carbon footprint of just over 3k tonnes of CO2e for 2020-21 which equated to a 6% reduction.  However, it was recognised that the Covid pandemic had contributed to this reduction, particularly in the way we are now working and delivering services and this would continue to be monitored in future years.  The Managing Director said this was a positive start but demonstrated that in order to reach the Net Zero target there was a lot of work to be done.

Section 6 of the report provided a breakdown of the reduction in our carbon across different sections of the Council.

Responding as a Council to the Blaenau Gwent Climate Assembly

Also included within the report was the Council’s proposed response to the recommendations of the Blaenau Gwent Climate Assembly.

The Blaenau Gwent Climate Assembly was held in March 2021 and was the first of its kind in Wales.  A number of residents took part in the Assembly and recommendations were made.

The Council continued to take an active role in responding with our partner organisations from the Public Services Board, and attached to the report was the proposed response.  The Managing Director referred to Section 2.14 and said this was a real opportunity to continue to engage with members of the Climate Assembly, as it was recognised that climate change needed a whole population response and working with the community was very important to bring about change.  The report also highlighted the commitment to continue to engage with Climate Assembly members into the future.

Further Progress on Decarbonisation Plan Transitions

The Managing Director said the final aspect of the report was the action plan arising from the Council’s latest transition works on electricity, heating and procurement (works), as part of the Decarbonisation Plan which set out how we could reduce our organisation emissions across nine transitions.  Section 2.20 detailed the high level actions around energy use and the future of construction.

A Member said this was an excellent report and commended the Managing Director and the Team involved.  He referred to page 56 which stated that it was intended to have all public buildings supplied with low carbon heating by 2030.  He said this was a very ambitious target and questioned the viability of Anvil Court moving forward, as it was a leased building.  He asked what energy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7