We are committed to delivering a cleaner, greener East Cambridgeshire.
Having declared a climate emergency in 2019 we have focused actions to address urgent environmental issues facing the district and the wider world.
Specifically we are looking to:
- adapt to climate change
- reduce our own emissions
- bring back nature
As well as taking direct action we also working hard to bring the council, residents, businesses and community groups together to create an even better East Cambridgeshire, which is cleaner, greener and healthier for all, forever.
Climate and Nature Strategy 2024 to 2028
Our poster-style Climate and Nature Strategy 2024 to 2028 sets out on a single page our long term priorities and our goals by 2028.
For young people, we also have a dedicated Youth Climate Action page with ideas and suggestions.
Our top 20 actions for 2025/26
To help us make meaningful progress towards our long-term vision, each June we establish a new set of Top 20 Actions for the coming 12 months.
In June 2025, the council agreed its latest set of top 20 actions set out under three themes.
Theme one: Bring back nature
- action 1: publish a habitat management plan for twenty of the council’s public open spaces (such as play areas and church yards) by December 2025
- action 2: make meaningful progress on delivering the new habitat management plans by May 2026
- action 3: trial the publication (digital and physical) of a family-friendly, biodiversity-rich walking route in one of our public open spaces, this includes a map for collecting 'stamps' along the route and a Geocache hunt
- action 4: following the success of the previous community orchard scheme, commit to planting a further 100 orchard trees in the winter 2025/26
- action 5: deliver high quality nature friendly development by helping planners and developers cut through the complicated nature legislation with a series of self-help guides
- action 6: establish a portfolio of environment staff volunteering day options (1 day per year per staff member)
- action 7: establish a Bring Back Nature social media campaign
- action 8: deliver a publicly accessible new woodland in Bottisham
- action 9: family friendly information at Riverside in Ely on what to feed local ducks and swans
- action 10: commence biodiversity enhancements as part of the bereavement centre development, including the creation of a wildflower meadow
Theme two: Reducing our carbon emissions
- action 11: implement new waste and recycling collection service for residents from June 2026, which will have a positive impact on our district’s carbon emissions
- action 12: seek to reduce our energy bills by a third for our public conveniences, targeting a saving of £5,000 per annum and at least 3 tonnes CO2e which is equivalent to about 10 return flights to Barcelona from London
- action 13: actively promote the benefits of rooftop solar panels, costs and savings likely to be achieved, issues to look out for and to help residents with grants that may be available
- action 14: prepare, by November 2025, a detailed step by step plan of how we will become a net zero council
- action 15: let’s get smart: promoting the benefits of smart meters, and how to get the most out of them
- action 16: further reduce our water use in the council’s main office (The Grange) by 10% this would save an estimated 100,000 litres or 500 large baths
- action 17: Palace Green Homes to install PV panels on all 27 new homes at Arbour Square, Ely development
Theme three: Adapting to a changing climate
- action 18: promote sustainable water management, both small scale (for example water butts) and larger scale (for example farmer reservoirs)
- action 19: manage the water efficiency of the Jubilee Garden fountain, whilst retaining it as a water feature, and seeking to save up to £1,000 in water usage costs
- action 20: commence a programme to reduce water use in our public conveniences, a 10% reduction would save over 400,000 litres which is the equivalent to 2,500 large baths, saving £2,000 annually
Completed actions in previous years
If you would like to review our previous Top 20 actions and other recent achievements, please see our completed actions page.
Previous Environment Plans
Copies of our previous Environment Plans, each of which contained a set of top 20 actions as well as reporting on the council's climate emissions, our targets to become a carbon net zero council and our long term vision to boost the natural environment, can be found on this page.
From 2024, we no longer produce a single 'Environment Plan' document and instead publish separately a four-year strategy, a set of Top 20 Actions and an annual monitoring report.
