Nottingham has been recognised as one of 119 cities around the world that is taking bold leadership on climate action by environmental non-profit organisation, CDP. The city is included on the CDP A List for the third consecutive year, demonstrating Nottingham’s commitment to become a carbon neutral city by 2028.
Designed to encourage and support cities to ramp up their climate action and ambition, CDP’s Cities A List is based on robust environmental data disclosed by cities.
Over 900 cities worldwide received a rating for their climate action from CDP in 2023, and just 13% of cities received an A. Nottingham has achieved the highest ranking, alongside 26 other local authority areas in the UK, including Belfast, Manchester, and Leeds.
Receiving ‘A List’ status from CDP recognises Nottingham’s progress in building momentum to tackle the climate crisis, both in reducing emissions and building resilience to the impacts of climate change in our communities.
A List cities are demonstrating their climate leadership through concerted and effective action, and they are taking four times as many measures to adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis as non-A List cities.
Nottingham’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2028 requires a collaborative, inclusive, city-wide effort which is led by the City Council’s Carbon Neutral Policy Team. This team supports the council and the wider city to tackle the climate crisis across nine key themes: the built environment, transport, energy generation, consumption, waste, water, carbon removal, resilience and adaptation, and nature.
Since launching the Carbon Neutral Action Plan in June 2020, the city has been making progress towards its targets. The most recent data shows that carbon emissions have reduced by 44% since 2005.
Recent successes in Nottingham’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions include:
- Retrofitting nearly 1,000 homes in Nottingham with energy efficiency measures through the Greener HousiNG initiative
- Introducing the Lime e-bike hire scheme
- Planting more than 36,500 trees in the last three years
- Supporting residents to live more sustainably with the Green Rewards app
- Incentivising businesses in the city to reduce emissions through schemes such as the Workplace Travel Grant and UK Shared Prosperity Fund
As the City Council is only responsible for approximately 2% of Nottingham’s emissions, the City Council is supported by Nottingham’s Green Partnership, a collective of over 40 businesses and organisations. Since its formation in 1992, the Nottingham Green Partnership has united sustainability work and coordinated efforts to build a greener future for the city.
Councillor David Mellen, Leader of the Council and Lead for Carbon Neutral Nottingham 2028 said:“I am delighted that Nottingham has been recognised by CDP as a global leader for our climate action for the third year in a row. We are proud to be leading the way on reducing greenhouse gas emissions as we work towards becoming a carbon neutral city. By reporting through CDP, we are being transparent about the action we’re taking and the progress that we’re making to become a more sustainable city.
“At the heart of our Carbon Neutral Nottingham 2028 Policy, is securing a better future for the people of our city. Taking climate action will bring lots of benefits to Nottingham, including improving energy security, air quality and health outcomes, while also reducing household bills.
“In 2023, we’ve seen some of the devastating impacts of the climate crisis – from the hottest month on record to wildfires around the world. We know that a warming world will bring far worse outcomes than we are currently seeing, so it is vital that we continue to act urgently.”
You can find out more about Nottingham’s ambition to be a carbon neutral city by 2028 by visiting the dedicated website.