Weston Town Council and North Somerset Council have declared a climate emergency and an intention to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Many Weston businesses are already participating in local initiatives (see below for more info).
Some of the main actions from Weston Town Council and North Somerset Council include:
- To become carbon neutral by 2030 or sooner
- encourage greener choices in local infrastructure, building and planning
- increase green and wild spaces, to encourage local wildlife and absorb carbon emissions, including a plan to undertake ‘rewilding’ where appropriate to support biodiversity
- To commission a professional Carbon Audit of all Weston Town Council’s services and activities
- To review and update Weston Town Council’s 2005 Environment Policy
- Weston Town Council to organise a public meeting led by Chris Sperring, naturalist and broadcaster
As North Somerset’s largest town, policy changes by the councils and behavioural changes by Weston residents and businesses can lead to a significant reduction in carbon emissions, through:
- Encouraging and supporting local working, so that people no longer need to commute to Bristol and beyond every day of the week
- A more circular economy of business activity with the use of local produce and services within the region
- Design and delivery of projects that make Weston even more walkable
- A strategy for increased planting through the town centre aims to improve provision for biodiversity, making corridors for wildlife to pass from Weston Woods to the dunes.
- the infrastructure for safe cycling including a new cycle hub, safe storage, hire and dedicated lanes to connect the town centre with the wider Weston area
- Rolling out more charging points for Electric Vehicles in public car parks
- Exploring the introduction of local renewable energy generation, including photovoltaic panels on buildings and carparks
- Pushing for the repurposing of existing buildings to accommodate new homes and workspace
- Encouraging mixed use development for the highest levels of energy efficiency that can viably be delivered in new buildings
- Storing more local carbon in rewilded areas and additional trees
- Supporting a shift from private car use to public transport including buses and trains.
Weston College has long been a champion of sustainability and social action and is also leading the charge towards an inclusive ‘Net Zero’ in the town. All new campuses will be designed to BREEAM standard, and renewable technologies built into its teaching infrastructure at its South West Skills Campus (Construction Centre of Excellence) for students to see sustainable construction in action – first hand.
Weston College is also helping businesses navigate towards ‘Net Zero’ as the lead for the West of England Institute of Technology (WEIoT), through the WEIoT’s new Advanced Engineering campus, built within GKN’s new cutting edge Global Technology Centre. Students can learn about the decarbonisation of flight, and see the latest engineering technologies being used for greener aviation.
In September 2023, Weston College announced they had signed up to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Accord in order to focus their sustainability efforts and create a broad range of environmental, economic, and social efforts. Discover how Weston College is implementing the SDGs into their own initiatives.
Current initiatives underway in Weston-super-Mare:
It is clear the world is changing around us, with increasing temperatures, extreme weather and risks to property, health, wildlife habitats and food production – but there is still time for us to act and play our part in tackling climate change. It’s important to remember we all have the power to do something about it and play our part in making North Somerset, and Weston-super-Mare a healthier, happier, and greener place to live and work. Here are some of the ways Weston-super-Mare is tackling these issues:
- The ‘Fridge of Free Stuff’ in The Sovereign, shares surplus food within the community to reduce food waste going to landfills.
- Weston Tree Group brings together as many organisations, groups and individuals who are involved with, or who would like to be involved in planting projects throughout the town. The idea is to collaborate in improving canopy cover, connectivity between sites and biodiversity gain across Weston and beyond.
- Hub Zero is being used as a space to hold climate and sustainability-themed events. As part of Weston Town Council’s climate emergency commitments, bi-weekly educational talks and workshops will be programmed on a Saturday morning at 10am. The space is open for community meetings and workshops based around climate change, low-carbon diets and sustainability, in an effort to empower the community to develop local solutions to making the transition to net zero and a climate-resilient way of living.
- The Love the Outdoors volunteer team supports Weston Town Council’s grounds team by helping to plant flowers and trees, take part in rewilding projects and help to look after existing natural environments. This work not only supports Weston Town Council’s climate change commitment, but also helps safeguard community wildlife and open spaces for future generations.
- Electric bikes have been match-funded by an Active Travel grant from North Somerset Council’s Sustainable Travel and Road Safety Team and Weston Town Council’s climate change budget. These Ebikes will be used to replace WTC car travel where possible, when moving around their assists. Business E-Bike Grants aim to provide financial support to help organisations invest in electric pool bikes, which will encourage their staff and/or visitors to cycle for more of their work related journeys and replace car journeys.
- Weston is committed to being an eco-friendly, ethical and sustainable town and was accredited by the Fairtrade Foundation in 2022. Becoming a Fairtrade Town sends a powerful message about how Weston wants retail to work and some of the world’s poorest farmers and workers will directly benefit through increasing awareness and sales of Fairtrade goods.
- In October 2017, Weston-super-Mare’s Chamber of Commerce, together with the Weston Mercury, launched a Surfers Against Sewage campaign for Weston to become an approved plastic-free community. As a dedicated group, they have been working hard to reduce the single-use plastic within our community. The Cleaner Coastlines campaign campaign meant working with local government, businesses, schools, colleges and youth, church and community groups to help reduce the amount of single-use plastic in the town and Weston received the accreditation from Surfers Against Sewage in August 2018, with over 50+ amazing local business heroes signing up. Being a Plastic-free community doesn’t mean that you won’t see any plastic in Weston-super-Mare, but it demonstrates the town’s commitment and dedication to the community, environment and reducing the amount of plastic pollution here in Weston.
- Great Big Green Week is a a national series of events run every year by the Climate Coalition. A range of events were held across North Somerset, including green markets, themed activities for children at libraries, workshops and exhibitions at venues across the area.
- In collaboration with social enterprise Giki Zero, North Somerset Council has created a Climate Action North Somerset account to encourage people to measure their own carbon footprint using an online carbon footprint calculator and personalise their journey to net zero.
- the hive are sponsoring a beehive at the North Somerset Beekeepers‘ apiary at Langford and will be posting updates on Hive 27 as they get them from the beekeepers themselves.
North Somerset Council declared a ‘Climate Emergency’ in 2019 and produced a climate emergency strategy and action plan. This commits them to addressing the causes and consequences of climate change, with the aim to be a net zero council and area by 2030. Since then, they have been working to drive greener change and slow global heating, to make North Somerset a beautiful place to live for generations to come.
Greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide and methane need to be drastically reduced. Here in North Somerset, greenhouse gas emissions are:
Find out how you can help create a healthier, happier, greener North Somerset at www.n-somerset.gov.uk/climateaction.
Helpful links
For further positive actions you can take, visit the North Somerset Climate Action area of their website.
Click here to find out the climate funding sources available to local businesses, and community groups.
For more information about becoming an accredited Carbon Literate Organisation, or if you need further support to help your organisation make sustainable choices, please email climate.emergency@n-somerset.gov.uk.
Join Weston Tree and Planting Group’s mailing list https://wsmtrees.co.uk/#join-