Climate Change

We are committed to lowering the impact of our own operations and have set a target to achieve net zero by 2040 with a 45% reduction in carbon emissions by 2027.

To guide how we will do this a Carbon Reduction Plan has been produced which sets out a number of strategic actions to help inform how we will achieve our net zero targets. The Carbon Reduction Plan was adopted by Cabinet in January 2022 and is a key step in Boston Borough Council's response to the climate crisis.

The Carbon Reduction Plan recommends a number of projects that, alongside the decarbonisation of the UK electricity grid, will contribute to the Council reducing their carbon emissions. Projects considered cover fabric, lighting, heating, and HVAC upgrades, as well as electrification of fleet vehicles and the installation of solar PV.  

Following the establishment of the Carbon Reduction Plan, a Net Zero Action Plan has also been developed. It sets out a clear delivery pathway with timescales for proposed actions which will be required to achieve the Councils net zero Carbon emissions target via a pipeline of projects and actions.

An updated Carbon Footprint for Boston Borough Council has been produced to establish a revised carbon baseline, including measurement of selected Scope 3 emissions. Footprints for the financial years 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 have been analysed to give the Council a better understanding of its impacts and to identify emissions hot spots and recommendations for reducing emissions in line with our targets.

These documents will both help us benchmark the impact of our operations and drive action to take the Council towards its strategic objective of achieving net zero CO2 emissions.

In the financial year 2020/21 leased buildings accounted for 40% of the overall carbon footprint and our vehicle fleet accounted for 23% of the overall carbon footprint.