EAST Ayrshire Council have praised the progress being made in the area to tackle climate change.

A year on from the launch of the  Clean Green East Ayrshire Climate Change Strategy, East Ayrshire Council’s cabinet have endorsed the collective progress being made by the council, communities, schools and businesses across East Ayrshire to change habits and use innovative thinking to help everyone reach Net Zero targets.

Efforts to reduce the council’s carbon footprint have been taking place since 2009 and the council started reporting on carbon emissions in 2012/13.

Since then, its overall carbon footprint has fallen by 24 per cent, despite the variances caused by the pandemic and changes to reporting criteria.

The Clean Green Climate Change Strategy applies to every service provided by the Council and focuses on four key areas for action and improvement including energy, transport, waste and the natural environment.

East Ayrshire’s rich and diverse natural environment also offers great opportunities to mitigate the impact of climate change and offset carbon emissions.

The council continues to make progress, becoming signatories to the Edinburgh Declaration on Biodiversity, with plans for nearly 120 hectares of woodland currently being processed.

Looking ahead, the council has commissioned an Ayrshire Energy Masterplan, which will inform future investment in energy infrastructure  and the statutory Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy LHEES, which must be completed by 2023, will help inform the development of future place-based solutions for carbon reduction.

Councillor Graham Barton, Cabinet Member for Climate Change welcomed the performance update at Cabinet.

He said: “It’s very clear that significant progress has been made in the past year since we launched the Clean Green East Ayrshire Climate Change Strategy.

"This report demonstrates that East Ayrshire Council is taking the climate change emergency seriously, and we’re continuing to make good progress towards our net zero target.

“I welcome the solutions we have now in place to reduce our carbon footprint - particularly around transport and general waste.

"But there is much more to be done and everyone can play a part in helping us achieve this.

“The statistics relating to food waste are a real eye opener.

"The average family could save up to £700 per year by shopping smartly and re-using leftovers - and every penny counts at the moment.

“Separating out our food waste doesn’t just cut carbon emissions, it actually helps contribute to production of green energy through anaerobic digester plants which compost the waste and turn it into renewable energy, so we really are helping the planet if we take a few minutes to sort out our waste.

“The Cost of Living crisis has also focused our minds on cutting energy consumption. Energy is one of the key themes of our Cost of Living campaign  which provides advice and information on energy efficiency to save on bills and help the planet.

“Our young people have always been the driving force behind Climate Change activity across East Ayrshire and they continue to influence the actions we take and the plans we make in relation to climate change

“Looking ahead, our future focus will be on the continued decarbonisation of the council’s estate and I’m pleased that we are already making good progress in this area.

“This report is testament to the dedication of teams across the council, in our schools, communities and businesses who are working hard to change habits, work practices and use new technology to bring about real change. 

"But the challenge is tough, and we all need to look at what we more can do in our personal and working lives to help drive down emissions and secure a clean, green future for us and our precious planet.”