Climate change strategy

We have adopted a climate change strategy for Gloucester. This document identifies programmes, policies and projects that not only reduce our carbon footprint but begin a process of adaptation so that we in Gloucester are better prepared to live in a greenhouse world. The strategy can be downloaded by clicking on the link below:

Climate Change Strategy for Gloucester (revised and updated December 2009) (PDF, 186.6 KB)

Gloucester City Councils revised and updated green travel plan (PDF, 151.3 KB)

Combating climate change

Home Energy Conservation Act 2017 update

As a Home Energy Conservation Authority, Gloucester City Council is required under the Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA) to report to government on issues relating to improving energy efficiency in residential accommodation.

HECA Report 2017 (PDF, 12.3 MB)

Gloucester City Council work closely with the other district authorities within Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire council and other local partners. As a consortium of local authorities we have planned locally how we intend to work towards improving energy efficiency across housing within our updated Affordable Warmth Strategy.

The latest strategy is available to view or download below:

Affordable Warmth Strategy action plan progress report March 2015​ (PDF, 724.8 KB)

Affordable Warmth Strategy (PDF, 631 KB)

Affordable Warmth Action Plan (PDF, 644.9 KB)

The affordable warmth strategy spans the next five years with a rolling action plan, it is intended that the action plan will be updated on a yearly basis and progress will be published every two years in line with requirements under HECA. 

Improve your home and stay warm and well!

Households that would like to improve the energy efficiency of their home can contact the Warm and Well Scheme for the latest up to date advice on available grants or approved contractors for energy efficiency improvement installations.

The Warm and Well scheme is managed by the Severn Wye Energy Agency on behalf of the 8 Local Authorities in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire.

If householders are in receipt of certain benefits or living in ​certain areas, they may be eligible to get insulation (solid wall as well as loft and cavity wall insulation) and heating measures installed with a full or at least heavily subsidised grant under the ECO obligation, an obligation set upon the energy companies to provide funding to those who are most vulnerable and in need of help.

For more information view details online at Warm and well or call the Warm and Well advice line on 0800 500 3076 

The Council has produced a leaflet that identified 20 simple steps that we can all take in our own homes and to our lifestyles in order to reduce the effects of climate change.

Energy Efficient Living - 20 Easy Steps (PDF, 762.5 KB)

How you can combat climate change in your own home (PDF, 466 KB)

We have also produced a comprensive leaflet that is being distributed throughout the City. 

Lets work together to take the heat out of the situation (PDF, 2.7 MB)

What is climate change?

Most of us will have heard about Climate Change and the Greenhouse Effect... but what exactly is it? What does it really mean for our everyday lives? What can we at the city council do about it? Perhaps more importantly, what can we all do about it?

The science is now well understood. Energy from the sun falling as light warms up the earth. Some of this energy is radiated back in to space as heat, but some gets trapped in the earth's atmosphere. Some gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) are very efficient at trapping this heat.

Carbon dioxide levels have remained relatively steady for at least the last 100,000 years. However, since the industrial revolution, with the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas, levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has now almost doubled - and is currently increasing at an alarming rate. As the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases, more heat is trapped, and the warming of the earth leads to climate change.

What might Climate Change mean for Gloucester?

What are the implications of Climate Change for Gloucester? The most likely outcomes for Gloucester over the next century will be:

• Winters up to 30% wetter
• Flooding up to five times more frequent
• Droughts as often as once every three years
• Worsening summer air pollution
• More storms and gales and resulting damage to property
• Loss of wildlife habitats and species
• Social unrest through increased migration
• Higher average temperatures will create a greater need for cooling in offices and homes along with a higher probability of extreme temperatures
• Drier summers, putting a greater strain on water resources and wildlife, and also farmers to diversify crops
• Rising sea levels, leading to more coastal erosion and greater risk of flooding
• Increased heat stress to the elderly and infirm - the weather conditions causing such events will become more frequent

As your local authority Gloucester City Council propose to act in three areas:

• As a community leader
• As a regulator
• As a user of fossil fuels ourselves

One of the main ways that we are acting is through writing and implementing the Climate Change Strategy for Gloucester - see above.

Further links 

Gloucester energy management strategy (PDF, 440.1 KB)

Warm and Well

Energy Saving Trust

The Carbon Neutral Company

Carbon Trust

Sustainable development

Sustainable development is classically defined as 'Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs' (Brundtaland report 1987). Sustainability is an underlying value of the City Council and will therefore inform much of the work that we carry out.

The 1992 Rio Summit (Earth Summit) backed up by Government advice placed an onus upon Local Authorities to produce a Local Agenda 21 strategy for their areas. A Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) Strategy is essentially a Sustainable Development Strategy.

The Gloucester City Council LA21 (PDF, 297.9 KB) was formally adopted by Full Council in January 2001. Recognising that many strategies end up gathering dust, the LA21 for Gloucester was focused around a series of projects, a funding package and a time scale was assigned to each project. A Sustainability checklist is included as part of the strategy which has been superseded by the Local Development Framework's own Sustainability Appraisal| checklist.