Oxford pledges to become net zero in 2020

Responding to the Oxford Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change, Oxford City Council has set out the next steps it will take - including budget allocation - to become a zero carbon council and city.

Formally welcoming and responding to the final report from Assembly, the city council will set a Climate Emergency Budget that commits over £1 million additional operational funding and £18 million of capital investment to address the climate emergency – on top of £84 million of ongoing investment to tackle the climate emergency in Oxford and countywide.

As part of the plans to become net zero as a council in 2020, the authority will also hold a Zero Carbon Oxford summit in the early new year – involving the major organisations responsible for the majority of emissions in the city to see how collaboration can help develop a shared vision, forum, and plans to set a course towards a Zero Carbon Oxford.

This will lead to the establishment of a Zero Carbon Oxford Partnership and the creation of new carbon budgets for the city to step down to zero.

Tom Hayes, cabinet member for Zero Carbon Oxford, said: “We’re proud to be the first UK city to hold an Assembly on the issue and thank all of our Assembly Members, drawn from all backgrounds, for coming together to raise differences of opinion, hear each other respectfully, and agree a consensus.

“We’ve listened to the Assembly and our brand new climate emergency budget acts on its findings by providing at least £18 million of new money to the City Council’s zero-carbon mission, plus a further £1 million of new money to ensure that we deliver on those investments. This new funding is significant in the council’s budget context to make an immediate impact - because we have to act like there’s a climate emergency if we say there is one. This £19 million fighting fund comes on top of £84 million of ongoing measures to build a Zero Carbon Oxfordshire, leveraged into the county because of the city council.

“The city council accounts for one per cent of the city’s carbon emissions. We’ve reduced our emissions by 40 per cent in the last four years, but we have to clean up 100 per cent of that one per cent footprint. The measures we are proposing are bold and significant in the context of the city council’s budget and reach. We are setting a new course, taking the city towards zero carbon, while ensuring this does not sacrifice residents’ living standards or disadvantage low income households.”