Denbighshire County Council has been awarded a Carbon Literate Organisation Bronze Award as part of its drive towards becoming carbon neutral.
The council becomes one of just 56 Carbon Literate Organisations in the UK and Ireland and is the third local authority in Wales to do so.
The Carbon Literacy Project is a training scheme to support organisations and individual employees in understanding the carbon impacts of their everyday actions and help them make informed choices to address climate change and reduce carbon emissions.
The authority declared a climate change and ecological emergency in July 2019 and has since committed to becoming a net carbon zero and ecologically positive council by 2030, in addition to reducing carbon emissions from the goods and services bought.
Denbighshire County Council changed its constitution in October 2020 and all decisions made by the authority must now 'have regard to tackling climate and ecological change'.
Over 200 staff and councillors were taken on an intensive one-day course to improve carbon literacy across the organisation.
All staff are now able to access a new online e-learning package, which introduces them to climate change issues and how they can play their part to make a difference in their daily role and at home.
Commenting, Denbighshire County Council’s Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, Councillor Brian Jones said:
“We are really proud to receive this accreditation following our continued drive to becoming carbon neutral.
“Protecting the environment is a priority for the council and we are fully committed to continuing to reduce our carbon footprint to meet our target and also increasing biodiversity across the county.
“This accreditation will support us to ensure all of our services have an understanding of their carbon footprint and what is needed to do to reduce it.”
Watch PSE’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Virtual Event on demand here.
