What is the Council doing about Climate Change?

District Wide Carbon Strategy

Download the Strategies Key Take Aways (PDF, 180KB).

Download the District Wide Carbon Strategy 2026 (PDF, 702KB).

Download the overview of consultation responses (PDF, 311KB).

Download all public comments with council responses (PDF, 1.04MB).

The Council’s District Wide Carbon Strategy has taken a collaborative approach to tackle the urgent challenges posed by climate change and ecological decline, that aligns with national and international commitments such as the UK’s Net Zero 2050 target and the Paris Agreement. Building on the council’s 2019 climate emergency declaration, this strategy establishes a practical framework for reducing carbon emissions across the wider community, businesses and public sector partners through action in areas including energy use, transport, biodiversity, waste, water and sustainable land management. The strategy aims to improve resilience, cut pollution and support the transition to a greener, low-carbon economy with strong emphasis on collaboration, community engagement and continuous learning to ensure the district achieves a sustainable and climate-resilient future for all.
 
A consultation on Folkestone & Hythe's Draft District Wide Carbon Strategy ran from the 6th of November to the 1st of December 2023, using multiple methods including an online portal, targeted mail outs to 5,000 households, four drop-in events (in Folkestone, New Romney, Hythe and the North Downs), and a dedicated council email address. The council collaborated with LVB Creative to produce social media videos and reached stakeholders via email, including 834 businesses, Carbon Innovation Lab members, 41 statutory partners, schools, town/parish councils and local community groups. The consultation received comments from 455 respondents and almost 2,500 individual comments on the draft district wide carbon plan in total.

The Council's Carbon Action Plan

Folkestone & Hythe District Council declared a climate and ecological emergency on 24 July 2019, committing to:

  1. Reduce carbon emissions from its own estate and operations to net zero by 2030.
  2. To develop a strategy for Folkestone & Hythe District Council to play a leadership role in promoting community, public and business partnerships for this Carbon Neutral 2030 commitment throughout the district.

A Carbon Action Plan (PDF, 1.23MB) was developed and adopted by cabinet in February 2021. It includes a baseline of the council's current carbon emissions and sets out 33 actions to continue our journey to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2030. This will be reviewed regularly.

There are a range of actions, some of which are being progressed while others will take longer to implement. They focus on six key areas - energy, behaviour change, transport, water, contracts and biodiversity/green spaces.

An update of the Carbon Action Plan is currently being finalised.

Progress being made to tackle climate change

Since announcing our commitment to net zero we knew it was not going to be an easy instant fix. Some areas have proved challenging to work out the best way forward. There are 33 actions set out in the Carbon Action Plan divided over the short, medium and longer term for us to tackle as we journey towards achieving net zero by 2030.

Progress made so far

Find out more about what we are doing in our Climate Change and Ecological Emergency briefing notes.

Carbon footprint reporting

The total emissions from the council’s estate and operations in the baseline year 2018/19 were 1,536 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). The carbon footprint included scope 1 (direct), 2 (electricity indirect) and some scope 3 (other indirect) emissions. The calculation was done using a methodology based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

Our emissions data is collated from across service areas including the council’s owned and controlled combustion sources, combustion of fuels in stationary sources, generation of purchased energy as well as business travel and water. Our individual housing stock and waste services are excluded as we do not have direct control over these. The carbon footprint will be calculated and reported annually in due course.

Corporate Plan and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Corporate Plan sets the strategic direction for the district, emphasizing sustainability, community well-being, and alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The title of our plan is ‘Our District Our World: Enhancing prosperity and well-being for all’ to indicate the link between local and global action and drawing attention to health, inclusion and equality – all hallmarks of a healthy society. The plan will guide all major council initiatives from 2025 to 2030, including climate action, housing and economic development.