Devon climate emergency

At a full Council Meeting on 21 February 2019, Devon County Council (DCC) agreed to declare a ‘Climate Emergency’ and to initiate a county-wide partnership to ensure Devon becomes Carbon Neutral by 2050. This means that the total carbon emitted by the county as a whole will need to be balanced out through an equivalent amount of carbon savings.

This action was prompted by the 15^th Special Report from the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warning that a 2°C rise in global temperatures would: 

• put up to 30% of all species at risk of extinction;
• 90% of tropical coral reefs would be lost;
• crop yields would reduce, and;
• droughts will become more common.

Published in October 2018, the report also identifies that by limiting warming to 1.5°C and reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs):

• 50% fewer species will be at risk of significant habitation loss;
• 10 million fewer people will be displaced due to rises in sea levels;
• 420 million fewer people will be exposed to extreme heatwaves, and;
• the chance of sea-ice-free Arctic summers will reduce to 1 in 100, instead of 1 in 10 at 2°C.

In recognition of the impact of climate change, at an Extraordinary Full Council meeting on 26 June 2019, our elected Members voted unanimously to support the ambitious cut in carbon emissions by signing the Devon Climate Declaration. The declaration acknowledges our need to understand the near-term and future risks for Mid Devon and beyond and sets out the joint ambition with our partners to plan for how our infrastructure, public services and communities will have to adapt to a 1.5°C rise in global average temperature. 

The IPCC has recommended that by 2030, global GHG emissions should be reduced by 45% of 2010 levels, and 100% by 2050.

We put all Council facilities onto a certified 100% renewable electricity supply in 2023. 

We invested £2.8 million from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) at the Crediton and Tiverton leisure centres to make them Net-Zero ready. 

• Exe Valley Leisure Centre is heated and cooled by ground-source and air-source heat pumps, with power boosted by solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays on the roof and new solar car ports. 

• Lords Meadow Leisure Centre has a biomass boiler fuelled by locally sourced wood, and boasts a new ground-source and air-source heat pumps plus extra solar PV on the roof. 

Our office base Phoenix House hosts a solar PV array and range of energy saving measures.  

Our Street Scene depot has solar PV panels.  

We invested £300k to boost efficiency with smart LED lighting to save 520 tonnes of CO2 in their lifetime.  

New LED lighting at Tiverton’s Pannier Market will save the equivalent of around 2 tonnes per year. 

We have solar PV on 1,000 council homes and will fit solar on all new social housing. 

Our new modular-build homes are Net-Zero by design with triple glazed windows and doors, solar PV panels, heat pumps, and mechanical ventilation that recaptures over 80% of outgoing heat. 

Council home energy upgrades 2020-24 e.g. insulation and roofing, cut over 600 tonnes CO2e per year. 

We cut commuter traffic with hybrid working which benefits the wellbeing of our teams and communities. 

The Council has 10 Electric Vehicles that will save 25 tonnes CO2e annually. We prioritise the greenest options each time we replace a vehicle

Find out more about the Council’s plans and action to address climate change and sustainability here. 

Community and Local Economy  

• We launched the Local Plan review with Climate Change as the top priority and created an interim Climate Emergency planning policy statement. 

• Bin It 1-2-3 collections enable all Mid Devon's communities to cut greenhouse gas emissions by hitting even higher recycling rates. All waste collected by Mid Devon is either recycled or used as feedstock for a heat recovery process, with no waste collected by Mid Devon sent to landfill.

• We work with ECOE Advice to help energy-saving advice services benefit every Mid Devon household.  

• During 2024-2025 rapid car chargers hosted at Council sites served more than 5,000 recharging visits with green power!  

• We have provided Green Enterprise Grants to enable small and medium sized businesses to invest in cost-cutting renewables and efficiency.  

Homes 

• We have launched super-efficient Zed Pod homes at Cullompton and Tiverton with Net Zero energy performance designs.  

• We have made energy efficiency improvements to thousands of council-owned homes, set budgets to keep on "investing to save" and have bid for funding to do more. A retrofit pilot project at 2 Lapford homes uses filtered air circulation and heat recapture to maximise comfort and minimise heating bills.  

• Council home energy upgrades 2020-2024 e.g. insulation and roofing, cut over 600 tonnes CO2e per year. 

Nature-based solutions for climate adaptation and flood management 

• The Council is a partner in the Connecting the Culm project that works with farmers and communities on citizen science and nature-based solutions for climate adaptation and flood risks.  

• We have worked in partnership to help plant more than 4,000 trees across Mid Devon since 2021.  All these trees will capture carbon and boost biodiversity for many years to come. Thank you to all involved! 

Find out more about the Council’s plans and action to address climate change and sustainability here.  

All organisations are encouraged to sign the Declaration to show the growing support for taking action. If you'd like your organisation to sign, visit the Devon Climate Declaration webpage to print and sign, then send an email to environmentalpolicy@devon.gov.uk with accompanying evidence, such as a hyperlink to the minute of a meeting.

See also other organisations which have already signed.

The Council has published a Climate Change Strategy and Climate Action Plan on its Sustainable Mid Devon website, where you can find articles, news and free resources. 

Our strategic efforts rely on partnership work with others to succeed. We champion Mid Devon’s communities, businesses and local groups, who are leading brilliant activities, projects, investment and innovations.   

Mid Devon District Council is a signatory to the Devon Climate Declaration and works within the Devon Climate Emergency partnership to help deliver the goals and benefits of the Devon Carbon Plan.  We work to build resilience to the consequences of climate change, working with and learning from communities and expertise in partnerships such as the DCIS LRF - Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Local Resilience Forum, the regional Adaptation Strategy, Connecting the Culm and other cooperative networks and projects.