Green Healthy City

Welcome to your one-stop resource for information about what’s good and green about Nottingham city and how you can get involved. There’s a lot of information out there and working towards a better, greener future can seem overwhelming. Our aim is to support you on your own green journey by raising awareness about climate change, sharing information and encouraging positive actions.

Why do we need to act?

Climate change has become a cause for concern across the world. The last 4-year period has been the warmest on record, extreme weather events are becoming more severe and common, with July 2019 recorded as the highest UK temperature at 38.7°C.

A big factor in the change of our climate is the impact of gases, mainly CO2, trapping heat in the atmosphere. To mitigate the effects this has on our lives we all need to rapidly reduce carbon emissions to zero. This has led to over 300 local authorities declaring climate emergencies and the realisation of the need to rapidly reduce carbon emissions.

Nottingham aims to be carbon neutral by 2028. That means the city needs to reduce its emissions as close to zero as possible, then offset any remaining emissions to become carbon neutral . With everyone’s help our city can become the first city in the UK to achieve this and only the second in Europe to do so.

Carbon neutral: Having a balance of how much carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere Vs the amount that is absorbed through carbon capture.

Current progress

The latest government figures published in 2021, show that, in 2019, Nottingham produced 1.105m tonnes of CO2. The city has reduced its overall CO2 emissions (since 2005) by 44.2% and reduced its per capita emissions by 52.3%, the highest reduction of any UK core city. On average, CO2 emissions have reduced at 3.95% per year between 2005 and 2019. Nottingham must go further to reduce emissions and lower its carbon footprint to play our part in preventing a dangerously warmer world.

The Carbon Neutral Action Plan builds on the Nottingham 2028 Carbon Neutral Charter by setting out high-level objectives in order to achieve a resilient and sustainable carbon-neutral Nottingham by 2028.

Nottingham's Carbon Neutral 2028 Action Plan

The action plan is broken down into four main themes:

1. Carbon Reduction
   • Transport
   • The Built Environment
   • Energy Generation
   • Waste and Water
   • Consumption
2. Carbon Removal
3. Resilience and Adaption
4. Ecology and Biodiversity

The plan sets out where we in Nottingham need to go, and focuses on the actions the Council, local business and communities can start to take now. This provides an approach and platform to build on. The action plan was published in June 2020, following consultation with the public and businesses.

To find out more about Nottingham’s approach to carbon neutrality and citywide emissions analysis, read Nottingham’s 2028 Carbon Neutral Charter.

Together we can make Nottingham the UK's first carbon-neutral city, bringing benefits to all across the city.