After declaring a climate emergency and with an aim to achieve net zero carbon by 2030, plans are being made to help the Isle of Wight combat climate change.
Following a climate motion in 2019 to bring the Isle of Wight Council’s attention to the ever-pressing matter of climate change and global warming, the council started drafting a climate and environment strategy. The draft strategy sets out key activities the council can take to fulfil its duties and reduce the Island’s carbon footprint.
Actions undertaken by the council to minimise its own carbon footprint included reducing office space, purchasing electric vehicles and switching to LED street lights. The council’s own baseline carbon footprint has reduced approximately 65% from 11,568 tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2009/10, to 4,077 tCO2e, in 2018/19.
A study performed last year for the council, by Regen, energy experts, based on the 2017 emission statistics found the Isle of Wight’s total carbon footprint to be 506,900 tCO2e.
The 3 biggest contributors to the Island’s carbon footprint then formed 75% of total emissions — commercial and industrial accounting for 26%, transport 25% and domestic heating 24%.
To meet the target of net zero emissions by 2030, the environment strategy says the Isle of Wight will need to reduce and offset carbon emissions by an average of 12.8% per year.
If the council were to offset (plant trees or create new woodland, for example) the entire 2017 carbon footprint, approximately 2.5 million trees would have to be planted. If the council were to eliminate 85% of emissions by 2030, and offset the further 15% approximately, 760 hectares (or 760 rugby pitches) worth of tree coverage would need to be planted.
Pathways are being discussed to achieve the net zero target, primarily focusing on reducing emissions with a small amount of offsetting taking place, but the council has said while it can decrease its own carbon footprint, it only accounts for less than 1% of the Island’s overall emissions.
The strategy says widespread behaviour change will be necessary across the Island if the target is to be met in the next 9 years, with major changes to energy use and production, housing, and transport and its supporting infrastructure required.
As part of the Isle of Wight Council’s actions to reduce its emissions, the strategy plans to divest from the use of fossil fuels, make sure council buildings are entry efficient and use renewable energy as well as potentially introducing new planning conditions to protect the natural environment.
For the Island as a whole, the strategy lays out steps to encourage active travel to reduce vehicle use, increase learning about climate change and reduce fuel poverty on the Island.
Target dates for the net zero goal are to be submitted to the full council for review early this year, with the draft plan being considered at a meeting of the policy and scrutiny committee for the neighbourhoods and regeneration on Thursday (7th January).
To read the draft strategy in full, visit www.iow.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s1870/Climate%20and%20Environment%20Strategy.pdf.
How many trees to offset the hot air generated in IW Council Chamber?
I don’t know if it’s possible but I think Luxembourg had one of the best ideas, by making public transport free to stop people using their cars as much which would help cut down on use of fuel etc. Maybe this is something the government would consider as it is only a small geographical space but could be very effective.
Ha Ha Ha !! If they planted half that number, where would they build the new houses… ??
Spot on.
As I sit shivering the woke Council talk of global warming…
You clearly don’t know what global warming is. The clue is in the name, it’s the mean temperature of the ‘globe’ going up. And this puts more energy into the system. A large amount of energy. This causes more extreme weather events.
Tom is right. Global warming is _global_ warming. It means the whole climate of the whole Earth is disturbed, not that everywhere around the world is warmer everywhere all the time. There are local effects which meay include cooling. But in fact overall Britain’s climate has got warmer in recent years. Winters used to be much colder, and on average they are now less cold. Check out the Met Office website for very good and trustworthy information on this.
Have a look at this frightening news, for example. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/press-office/news/weather-and-climate/2021/2021-carbon-dioxide-forecast
HOW MANY TREES HAVE THEY ALREADTY DESTROYED with their innapropriate planning applications being passed especially INFILLING in already beautiful green areas well established with trees plants and wildlife. Letting them be destroyed even during the nesting season they do not give a ….
Over 45 young trees cut down for St Marys Junction, there is a tree for every site if chosen correctly, will they be replaced? The word planting should be replaced with established, the trees should be looked after and cared for not stuck in hole and left. we need to leave a legacy for our grandchildren.
Brilliant you know what that means another council tax rise to pay for the trees
Only if the Council does it and doesn’t get any grant funding for it (and they couldn’t afford to do much when their funding has been cut in half in the last decade). But it’s not just up to the Council, who own only a tiny fraction of the Island’s land – this is up to all of us. And in any case planting is not the only way to get trees, so it doesn’t need to cost as much as people are assuming.
Never going to happen hence why the 20mph speed limit idea prior to zero private cars on the island
The rate the cliffs are falling and being under mind by ‘the rising sea levels’ due to GW, there won’t be 760 rugby pitches to plant them in. Need to defend our shores against that.
The best way to defend our shores is to reduce the greenhouse emissions that are making the weather rougher and causing more coastal erosion.
YAAAWWWWNNN. Meanwhile China is building over 400 coal power plants over the next 20 years. I wonder how much these pointless “climate change” measures will make when put against that then?
So you think we should just do nothing? That everybody around the world should just do nothing with the excuse that unless everybody does something we’ll all sulk and refuse to do anything? That is not a mature and responsible answer. In any case a lot of the emissions from China will be caused by manufacturing things that are bought by people elsewhere – including things bought by use here in Britain.
stop building houses and i would gladly help plat trees free of charge
But the Council don’t build houses. Private developers do. And the national government requires local councils to allow private developers to build houses, while preventing the councils from building council houses and renting them out at rents that local people could actually afford. We need to vote for political parties who would stop the pointless destructive building of yet more houses for people who’ve already got houses and instead help people find genuinely affordable housing.
Total load of old tosh .council can shove it .
Stop building and development. You cant have your cake and eat it. Oh, but it’s the council.
Remember people I said the next big agenda push? This climate theme will be pushed upon you, this again will be relentless, and you will have no choice! Taxes and restrictions!! Here we go.
If the taxes go up any more a lot of people wont bother working it just won’t be worth getting up to go to work
I agree with you,but that wont stop them. You have to look at the big picture and their agenda behind what’s happening now and what they have lined up for us! Agenda 2030 (uk gov.uk website) The great reset ( endorsed by prince Charles) so to the people that like to call my a conspiracy nut? Unlucky! These are real,and I’m sorry to say,you ,I,and everyone else will soon know about this!
Perhaps if you learned to write in English we might at least understand your rabid rants.
If that’s all you can say? ok I put a Y instead of an E! But you probably wouldn’t understand what I’m talking about anyway. Don’t forget to book up for your jab. 🙂
All I’ve seen for years now is trees being cut down and front gardens being destroyed to make way for concrete or gravel, even if not being used as a car port. Island Roads have been pollarding the street lime trees so severely year after year, so the poor trees can never grow as much as they used to be able to when I was a kid. This year they’ve been done in autumn when their leaves were still on, a terrible shock to the trees. so they are just bare sticks left standing in the street, some won’t survive as many don’t after the severe pollarding they usually get in the spring.
The Island is but a shadow of what it was when I was growing up. It was bad enough then with wildlife friendly gardens and spaces being constantly destroyed and built on but now it is even worse.
Trees being cut down everywhere added to the ever increasing use of wood burning stoves, I come home stinking of smoke from just walking along the road from the smoking chimneys near me, also makes my chest condition worse, and added to the worry about this damn virus makes the stress and anxiety I suffer even worse.
Then the far greater number of vehicles on the roads, their numbers increasing year on year.
Hardly any insects and birds that I used to see regularly, all there is now is noise noise noise, smells, traffic, concrete, concrete and more concrete. It should now be known here as the concrete isle, not the garden isle as it has long ceased to be that.
The greatest contribution to reducing global warming is to have one child fewer in each family, that is, for example, two children instead of three.
2.5 million trees isn’t necessarily as huge a number as it seems, though it woud be better to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in the first place. A hectare is 100 metres by a hundred metres. Trees at roughly an eventual 10-metre spacing means 100 trees per hectare. A square kilometre is 1000 metres by a thousand metres, 100 hectares, so that’s about 10,000 trees. So 100,000 trees is about 10 square kilometres, a million trees is about 100 km2, and 2.5 million trees is about 250 km2. If the isle of Wight is a bit under 400 km2 and some of our land is already wooded or ‘orcharded’ then that is a lot of trees. But it would be good to do both: massively reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in the first place, and also encourage more trees. That doesn’t necessarily mean planting them all – woods can grow themselves if we don’t mow or cultivate or allow animals to graze the land, especially since we’re ucky enough not to have deer on the Island. But we could choose trees to plant where we want specific things, such as fruit and nut trees, or trees for timber, or trees for woodfuel, or trees for extra forage or shelter for farm animals.
And why say the Council would have to plant 2.5 million trees? Firstly trees can plant themselves, if we let them grow afterwards. Secondly this isn’t just the Council’s responsibility. It’s all our responsibity to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and to encourage more trees and woods. If we’re lucky enough to have gardens we can plant trees. If we grow fruit and nut trees that can help to feed us then that will reduce our greenhouse has emissions even more.
We don’t necessarily have to plant trees. If we want woodland rather than orchards or garden trees or park trees then we can let the trees plant themselves, with some help from squirrels and jays. What we do need though is the financial support for farmers and landowners who might want to have more trees on their land but who also need to make a living, and who may not be experienced or knowledgable about getting an income from woodland or orchards or agroforestry rather than from arable or pasture.
You have seen how the food supply could be affected, the council should plant fruit and nut trees any and everywhere. One day they may be useful when another emergency arises. Fruit and nut trees produce valuable food so instead of planting trees that get no management like one can see around the island, trees falling and rotting, fruit and nut trees and hedges re productive in more ways than one.