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Welcome to our Climate Bulletin, a round up of climate news from Dorset Council.
Here you can find out what we’re doing to become a climate and nature-friendly council, along with ways you can get involved.
** Helping create a greener, cleaner Dorset
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Back in 2019 we declared a climate and ecological emergency
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** More electric vehicle chargers on the way
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By 2030 we're expecting a third of cars on our roads will be electric, which is why we’re working with award winning chargepoint installers and operators to get more EV chargers installed in our county.
Our aim is to get 80 per cent of Dorset households within a 10-minute walk of a public chargepoint. So far, we’ve installed over 135 chargers across the county, but we’re always on the lookout for new locations.
If your community could benefit from a chargepoint, you can suggest possible locations
on our website.
Find out more about EV charging in Dorset
** Helping make nature bigger and better
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Dorset’s unique landscape is home to all sorts of amazing wildlife, but like lots of other parts of the UK it is in decline.
Which is why we’ve been tasked to work with residents, communities and organisations to create a plan to help grow, improve and connect nature in our county.
The plan will help join up all the wonderful work already taking place across our county and highlight where more work is needed. Helping us all play our part in making sure nature thrives in Dorset for years to come.
Find out more about nature recovery in Dorset
** Dorset takes the lead in recycling
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This month we were named number one unitary council in the country for recycling by Defra!
Here in Dorset, we recycle 59.1% of the waste we collect, against a 43.4% national average. This is all thanks to the keen recyclers of Dorset. Without the efforts of Dorset residents to put the right stuff in the right bin, we would never have achieved this. So a huge thank you all, and keep up the good work!
Find out what happens to waste in Dorset
** Lighting the way with low energy streetlights
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To drive down our energy use, we’re switching our streetlights to LEDs.
These new low energy lightbulbs will help reduce our carbon footprint and our energy bills. And, thanks to their long lifespan, they’ll need replacing much less frequently than the old ones saving us even more on maintenance costs.
We're expecting the project to take around 5 years, and by the end we will have replaced over 9,000 street lanterns.
Find out how else we're reducing emissions
** Taking a closer look at Dorset’s electricity network
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“Grid constraints are one of the biggest barriers we face in getting Dorset to net zero, and the challenges some local projects are already facing cannot be ignored”
Councillor Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment.
To help tackle climate change and reduce emissions, the UK government has set a goal to decarbonise power by 2035.
To achieve this, we’ll need to generate a lot more renewable electricity and shift away from using fossil fuels in heating and transportation.
But these changes are putting a strain on our energy network, causing capacity issues and delays for firms connecting renewable projects or low carbon tech like heat pumps or EV chargers.
Fortunately, there's a national effort underway to address these challenges and improve our energy system.
We recently launched an inquiry exploring what this means for our county and how we can play a more central role in planning the energy system of the future.
Read more about the inquiry and its findings here.
Read the findings of our Grid Inquiry
** Help us shape travel and transport
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We are inviting Dorset’s residents, businesses and visitors to share their views on what they consider to be the big transport opportunities and issues across the whole of Dorset. This feedback will help us develop a new transport plan with BCP Council.
The new plan is needed to ensure everyone can travel safely and easily around the county, whilst reducing carbon emissions and protecting the landscape that makes the whole area so special.
Survey
closes 3 March 2024.
Find out more and have your say
** Students gather to talk climate change
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Before Christmas, we joined students at The Gryphon School for their very own UN-style climate conference.
With 17 schools in attendance, it was a power-packed event where pupils got the chance to learn more about global climate issues.
Our Low Carbon Dorset and Youth Voice teams were on-hand at the event to talk with students about the exciting green career opportunities here in Dorset.
There are lots of ways schools can engage with students on the topic of climate change, you can find links to some of our favourite online resources on our website
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Climate change online resources for schools
** Touring climate exhibition
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This summer will see the ‘Our journey to net zero
’ photography exhibition tour Dorset.
Brought to you by our Low Carbon Dorset programme, this collection of inspiring photographs and stories show some of the people and projects leading the charge towards a more sustainable, carbon-neutral future.
You can find out more about our Low Carbon Dorset programme and how it's helping organisations reduce emissions on the Low Carbon Dorset website
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Find out where and when you can see the exhibition
** Why am I receiving this?
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If you have friends or family who would also like to receive this newsletter, please forward this email and ask them to click this link to sign up
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