Our priorities

Environmental sustainability is a core priority in our Council Plan

Our current work includes the following priorities:

Make our buildings and operations more energy efficient and effective:

• Monitor energy consumption to manage it more effectively and reduce costs and emissions
• Develop behaviour change programmes with colleagues to reduce energy consumption
• Conduct an asset review programme to identify energy saving investments and renewable energy opportunities
• Monitor our water use and implement water-saving measures
• Ensure we use the most efficient and cost effective vehicle fleet
• Complete our LED street lighting programme
• Support employees to reduce business mileage and travel-to-work miles

Support our employees and elected members:

• Deliver a range of training courses and internal workshops for employees and councillors

Green our local economy to support local businesses:

• Use results from the Derbyshire Spatial Energy Study (attached to this page) to support an increase in clean energy generation across Derbyshire
• Work with the local quarrying and mineral products industry to support the sector to become more sustainable 
• Work closely with the county's industrial and agricultural sectors to help safeguard their long-term environmental and economic stability in the region
• Support schools across the county to save energy, leading to wider environmental benefits in schools and their communities
• Continue to develop our sustainable procurement policy and encourage our supply chain to deliver goods and services to reduce our environmental impact and improve sustainability
• Work with our partners (the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA), district and borough councils, and Midlands Net Zero Hub) to support the development of green sector training, skills development and new jobs across the county

Help improve the energy efficiency of local homes and communities:

• Support homeowners in improving the energy efficiency of their homes, for example through the HEAT Hub in collaboration with local agencies and experts
• Host the Local Authority Energy Partnership which brings together county, city, district, borough councils across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and whose work includes coordinating large-scale retrofit programmes to reduce fuel poverty
• Partner with Midlands Net Zero Hub to deliver projects including the upskilling of local suppliers
• Engage and work closely with the county's active and knowledgeable community energy groups to co-design and co-deliver projects and campaigns
• Use our expertise and resources to promote events and support community energy groups and town and parish councils and signpost them to funding streams to support their climate and environmental projects
• Participate in Local Area Energy Planning to inform a more cost effective and clean local energy system

Support green and active travel to improve accessibility, health, and wellbeing:

• Develop sustainable travel master plans in market towns across Derbyshire
• Use Active Travel England Capability Funding to develop a series of local active travel (walking, cycling and wheeling) plans
• Work with operators and partners to deliver the county-wide Bus Service Improvement Plan using funding secured from the Department for Transport
• Work with schools across the county to develop specific school travel plans and promote and develop active school travel

Reduce the environmental impact of resource use and waste, including food sustainability:

• Work to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and increase recycling and composting across the county
• Work with the operator of our household waste recycling centres to run a re-use shop for pre-loved items
• Provide healthy and sustainable meals for schools as part of the primary food explorers programme
• Support Derbyshire schools with their food waste reduction programmes

Improve Derbyshire's natural environment to benefit wildlife and local communities, increase resilience and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere:

• Work with other councils in Derbyshire to apply findings from the Natural Capital Strategy and Local Nature Recovery Strategy to enhance and protect Derbyshire's natural resources
• Develop and promote our Million Trees campaign, involving communities and businesses in their own tree planting while looking at other types of habitat protection and creation
• Develop the Derbyshire Heartwood Community Forest in partnership with organisations, individuals and communities across the county
• Manage our green spaces across the county effectively to protect and enhance local biodiversity
• Work with partner organisations to achieve biodiversity net gain and biodiversity off-setting in Derbyshire, linked to the requirements of the 2021 Environment Act
• Contribute as a delivery partner to the Peak District National Park management plan

Develop plans to adapt to extreme weather:

• Identify and develop actions we need to take to respond to extreme weather events such as floods, strong winds or long spells of hot weather
• Build awareness of adapting to climate change with our service areas and vulnerable communities

Supporting policies and strategies

In delivering these projects and work streams we are supported by the following policies and strategies:

• Environment Policy - the framework for what we do, which explains how we put sustainability into action
• Sustainable Procurement Policy (approved by Cabinet in June 2022 item 116/22) to influence and manage our process for buying goods and services to reduce environmental impact and improve sustainability
• Tree and Woodland Strategy for Derbyshire (approved by Cabinet in September 2023 item 137/23)
• Natural Capital Strategy and Local Nature Recovery Strategy, which will help to drive nature's recovery and provide wider environmental benefits

Working together with other local councils

Our climate action is delivered in partnership with the district and borough councils in Derbyshire and aligned with the East Midlands County Combined Authority.

We also work together to reduce air pollution in Derby and Derbyshire through a joint air quality strategy and through the Health and Wellbeing Board, which includes supporting communities to be resilient and independent.

You can also find out what we've done so far in our timeline.

Find out how you can get involved.