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Thank you for subscribing to this newsletter. This is a place for us to update you on what we are doing at South Hams District Council and what things are going on around the district.
It will tell you what's going on nationally and things you, our residents and businesses can be doing to reduce your carbon footprint and manage your land to improve the environment and its biodiversity.
If you have anything you would like to include in this newsletter, contact our Climate Change Specialist by email here.
Council agrees how it will spend recent £1m funding to improve sustainability
Last month we reported that £1m was secured through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to accelerate our aims to become net zero. Since then, The Council's Executive Committee met on 26 January 2023 and agreed how the funding would be used.
The Committee has agreed to a number of programmes and projects within four key priority areas.
Active and inclusive travel for all. The Council has agreed to the commissioning of a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) to improve both walking and cycling routes across the District. The outcomes of the LCWIP will inform the Council's next steps in developing more inclusive and eco-friendly travel provisions and infrastructure.
The Council's roll out if its specialist advisors programme will see wider business support and consultancy across the South Hams business community. Advisors will work with organisations to set out pathways to decarbonise their activities and for local construction businesses, help ensure they are ahead of the curve in order to meet future planning and building regulations. Support will also be given to Community Energy Groups to enhance their important work in ensuring energy efficiency.
Feasibility studies and future planning of local marine activities and provisions will help to support the decarbonisation of the local marine economy. Projects will include work with the Lower Dart Ferry, Salcombe Water Taxis and Salcombe Harbour to develop new technologies and processes in order to reduce carbon emissions and promote positive climate change.
Partnerships will be developed across the local agriculture sector, knowledge organisations, businesses and tech companies to develop a community of research and development in order to ensure the culture of regenerative farming. Work will include the roll out of programmes with organisations such as the Devon Agri-Tech Alliance to move farming into new sustainable ways of working. A new distribution project will also help increase opportunities for locally produced food and drink to reach local marketplaces, reducing the carbon footprint.
These are only some of the range of projects currently planned with some activities set to begin in January, and others scheduled to run from April 2023 until the end of March 2025.
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Events and Webinars
Climate change and food shocks: what do we know and what we can expect? Wednesday 15 February,
10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The global food system is facing crisis and we have only just begun to see the impacts of climate change. Food security in the UK is under pressure from war in Ukraine, Brexit, soil degradation and a squeeze on the supply of fertiliser. In 2022 there were also unprecedented droughts across the northern hemisphere.
The poorest households are already under stress; rising both food and energy prices threaten a public health emergency.
Even if peace is restored in Ukraine, it is likely that other risks will only worsen. It is time for a new system capable of withstanding short-term shocks and ongoing depletion, both in the UK and overseas.
At this workshop, we will examine the drivers of the UK’s oncoming food security crisis, at home and worldwide. We will consider the range of policy measures that are required, and incumbent policies and practices that must be dismantled.
Those attending will have a chance to explore what part our own sector and role can play in the transition.
Click here to find out more and register.
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Sustainability Week - Imperial College London
Imperial College London’s Sustainability Week will take place will take place from 20-24 February 2023
multiple online events will take place to hear from researchers about their work on the transition to zero pollution.
- Climate justice: fairness for a greener future. Monday, February 20, 3 p.m
- Environmental Emergency: the scary story and effective solutions. Tuesday, February 21, 10 a.m
- Solutions to save a dying planet Wednesday, February 22, 12 p.m
- What are the co-benefits of solutions to air pollution? Thursday, February 23, 12 p.m
- Briefing paper launch: Tyre wear particles are toxic for us &the environment. Thursday, February 23, 5 p.m
Visit the Sustainable Imperial webpage to find out more information about all the events taking place throughout the week.
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Community Fridge Tour.
Monday 20 February 9.15 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.
Are you interested in fighting food waste by setting up a community fridge?
Then join SSH for our Community Fridge tour! Visit South Brent and Tavistock Community Fridges, two distinctly different projects that are both meeting the objective of rescuing food that would otherwise be wasted.
Hear about the journeys of these two projects have had setting up and running their fridges. Get information and advice about setting up your own fridge.
Join us at 9.15 a.m. in the Aune Room at South Brent Old School Community Centre. Refreshments and travel via Bob the Bus provided. Arrive back in South Brent by 1.30 p.m.
Please lift share where possible, as parking is limited in South Brent. The event is being hosted by Sustainable South Hams in collaboration with The Devon Food Rescue Project. Tickets at tiered pricing, Free, £7.50 and £15.
Click here to find out more and sign up.
March Community Group Leaders' Gathering: Focus on Energy
Wednesday 8 March, 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Beeson Suite, The Watermark, Ivybridge, PL21 0SZ.
Join other group leaders to share learning about the issues and opportunities around community-owned renewable energy, a complex topic in need of some joined up thinking.
ParkLife SW need volunteers to plant two new community orchards in Kingsbridge.
The orchards are to be planted with a variety of fruit trees.
The planting sessions will take place at:
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Rack Park, Wednesday 15 & Friday 17 February
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Wallingford Road, Saturday 11 March
All three sessions will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For information email Parklife SW.
Keith Rennells, Parklife SW
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Climate Action Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund is inviting applications for the Climate Action Fund, which aims to support people and communities to work together to address climate change.
The Climate Action Fund is a ten-year programme with a total budget of £100m.
The funding is for community-led partnerships, led by voluntary or community organisations, charities, schools or not-for-profit companies. It is expected to support a mix of different places, communities, themes and initiatives across the UK.
The fund is now open for funding applications for projects that:
- show how creating a deeper connection with nature will lead to changing people’s behaviours and have greater care for the environment.
- show how by bringing nature back into the places we live and work, we can help communities to reduce or adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Projects can apply for up to £1.5million, for a period of two to five years. Most of the funding is expected to go to projects that request between £300,000 and £500,000.
If your project idea is still in development, you may request a grant from £50,000 up to £150,000 for a period of 12 to 18 months.
Focus of fund / the fund aims: Projects that use nature to encourage more community-led climate action and bring other important social and economic benefits.
Application deadline: Applications may be submitted at any time.
Find out how to apply and more: National Lottery Climate Action Fund
British Ecological Society: Outreach Grants - Deadline 15 March
Grants of up to £2,000 are available to individuals and organisations to organise ecological public engagement events. This includes, but is not limited to researchers, schools, museums, libraries and community groups.
Projects should:
- increase public understanding of, and engagement with, ecology
- stimulate discussion about ecology and its implications for society
- inspire and enthuse people of all ages about the science of ecology, especially those not previously interested
- develop skills in communicating the science of ecology
All activities must be aimed at a non-academic audience and all projects must provide a clear demonstration of direct interaction with the public.
Click here to find out more and apply.
Coastal Fountain Fund 2023 - Deadline 28 March
Community organisations in coastal locations can apply for a grant towards the cost of purchasing a drinking water fountain.
The grants are being made available by Sea Changers, in order to reduce the use of non-reusable plastic drinks bottles, which have a negative impact on UK coastal and marine environments and species.
The grants are for water fountain bottle filling stations at or near UK beaches/marinas/coastal locations. The funding will only cover the cost of purchasing the water fountain unit, up to £2,500, and does not cover installation or maintenance costs. The fund will only cover the purchase of one fountain per successful applicant.
The proposed fountain must be in an area that has significant public use/a lot of littering or is of particular environmental importance or status.
UK community organisations can apply, including town, parish and community councils.
Click here to find out more and apply
Sources of funding for tree planting in Devon
As of publishing this newsletter, there are over 20 different sources of funding for tree planting in Devon.
The Devon Local Nature Partnership manage a great list of funding sources.
Decarbonise Devon is available to support organisations undertake the entire process of developing and delivering a project that saves your organisation energy, reducing costs and carbon emissions.
Decarbonise Devon carries out the whole process for you: planning, project management, financing, finding trustworthy contractors, even verifying your impact.
If upfront costs are an issue, they will even help you access finance. The money you save from reducing your energy bills often covers the repayments entirely.
Click here to find out more and get in touch.
Currently, out of the 100 billion tonnes of virgin materials extracted from Earth annually, only 7.2% make it back into the economy in the form of recycled materials.
Over the past six years, the global economy has extracted and used almost as many materials as over the entire 20th century.
The Circularity Gap Report 2023 outlines these problems and can be read here.
(Image credit: Climate Visuals, Fairphone)
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According to the latest report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), nations worldwide are rapidly increasing their production of renewable energy in response to the global climate crisis and Russia's invasion of the Ukraine.
It is predicted that the world is set to add as much renewable power in the next five years as it did in the previous 20. Click here to read the full article.
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On 13 January, an independent review of the government’s approach to delivering its net zero target was published, to ensure that it is pro-business and pro-growth.
This followed a High Court ruling that found the 2021 Net Zero Strategy unlawful.
Within the review, there’s a much more significant acknowledgement of the role local authorities play in the race to net zero. The review points out that the relationship between central and local government is not working as well as it could, and that 30% of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed to deliver the Net Zero Strategy rely on local authority involvement. 82% of emissions are within local authorities’ scope of influence.
The review has recommended that tackling climate change should be an integral purpose of local authorities in the future. The review recommends a suite of actions for the Government.
The following actions for local government have been recommended:
- Government should introduce a statutory duty for local authorities to take account of the UK’s net zero targets, based on a clear framework of local roles and responsibilities.
- Central government should simplify the net zero funding landscape for all local authorities by the next Spending Review. This should include consolidating different funding pots, reducing competitive bidding processes, giving longer lead-in times where bidding remains and providing funding over the medium rather than the short-term.
- Government should establish local net zero missions in 2023 for a number of key policy areas, to encourage places to go further and faster.
- Government should fully back at least one Trailblazer Net Zero city, local authority and community, with the aim for these places to reach net zero by 2030.
- Central government should provide guidance, reporting mechanisms, and additional capacity and capability support to enable local authorities to better monitor and report their net zero progress.
- Central government should reform the local planning system and the NPPF now. Have a clearer vision on net zero with the intention to introduce a net zero test, give clarity on when local areas can exceed national standards, give guidance on LAEP, encourage greater use of spatial planning and the creation of Net Zero Neighbourhood plans, and set out a framework for community benefits.
- Government should undertake a rapid review of the bottlenecks for net zero and energy efficiency projects in the planning system, and ensure that local planning authorities are properly resourced to deliver faster turnaround times
Click here to read the review in full.
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