WHEN it comes to tackling the climate emergency, Reading is one of the top places in the world.
The borough council’s efforts to take action on reducing carbon emissions has seen it awarded gold standard status in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) A List. It is just one of 19 UK local authorities, and there are just 122 across the world.
This is the second year in a row it has received this accolade, which is given to towns and cities that show urgent and impactful climate action, from ambitious emissions reduction targets, to building resilience against climate change.
To join the A list, a local authority must disclose publicly and have a city-wide emissions inventory and have published a climate action plan. It must also complete a climate risk and vulnerability assessment and have a climate adaptation plan to demonstrate how it intends to tackle climate hazards.
Reading Borough Council says it has made significant cuts in its carbon footprint over the past year, bringing the total reduction to 71.3% in 13 years. And it says the borough is also responding well with a 55% cut in carbon emissions since 2005, the fourth highest reduction out of all 374 local authority areas in the UK.
A delighted Cllr Tony Page, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Member for Climate Strategy and Transport, said: “To retain and be recognised again as one of only 19 local authority areas in the UK and one of only 122 worldwide is a tremendous accolade in what is considered to be the gold standard in environmental reporting.”
He added: “It is now almost four years since the Council declared a Climate Emergency on behalf of the Reading community. We have seen some real progress locally in that time and the CDP ‘A’ List status is well deserved recognition for the huge efforts in Reading to strive towards a net zero carbon target by 2030.
“There remains much work to do. Climate action needs to go further and faster. Our challenge, and indeed the challenge for every local authority, is to mobilise individual residents, communities, private businesses and other organisations to act and take decisions which make a difference.
“It is quite obvious that net zero is not something any council can achieve on its own. It means always trying to find new and innovative ways of raising the profile of climate action, and keeping it at the forefront of people’s minds so that it shapes and influences the choices people make every single day.”
