Environment Capital

Peterborough has the potential to be a truly sustainable city. A city which has a thriving local economy, strong communities and a sustainable way of life. A city where our residents are healthy, happy and prosperous. A city regarded as the UK’s Environment Capital. This is why in 2008 the city adopted the target of ‘Creating the UK’s Environment Capital’.

To achieve this we will need to do things differently. If everyone on Earth lived as the average Peterborian, British or European citizen does, we would need three planets’ worth of resources to sustain us. This means, on average, each of us is using too much of the world’s resources to produce the food we eat, treat the waste we produce, and generate the energy we use.

To put it simply, we only have one planet so creating the UK’s Environment Capital means that we aim to change the way we do things by 2050 to ensure we can live within the resources of our planet.

Find out about what is happening in Peterborough and how you can get involved by visiting the Environment Capital website.

Creating the UK's Environment Capital

The Environment Action Plan: City-Wide and Environment Action Plan: Peterborough City Council were adopted by Full Council in April 2017.

They aim to provide a clear vision for how Environment Capital will be delivered. The ‘Environment Action Plan: City Wide’ has been developed with stakeholders from organisations across Peterborough.

The ‘Environment Action Plan: Peterborough City Council’ focuses on the policy position, achievements and targets specific to the City Council.

The plans are broken down into ten areas and comprise achievements to date, interim targets to 2020 and visions to 2050. 

What it means for Peterborough

The council is committed to improving the environment and we recognise that the policies and activities we undertake and promote have wide ranging environmental impacts. Practically, this means that we commit to continually monitoring and improving our environmental performance. We will comply with relevant legislation, policies and codes of practice and we will continually seek opportunities to achieve more in order to ensure that we lead by example.

The first annual progress report for the Environment Action Plans (2017-2020) can be found below.

Environmental policies

To support our environmental ambitions, we have several policies in place:

Council Carbon Management Action Plan

This plan details how we intend to deliver our commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 across our operations. The plan:

  • Details where our current emissions come from
  • Incorporates existing plans we have to reduce emissions
  • Sets out areas we will focus on to achieve our targets

View the Council Carbon Management Action Plan on the Democracy Peterborough website (opens PDF).

City Carbon Management Action Plan

We are preparing a city-wide carbon management action plan. It details the steps to achieve a net-zero carbon Peterborough. We will publish the plan in 2022 with details for how you can get involved.

Affordable Warmth Strategy 2021-2025

The Affordable Warmth Strategy 2021-2025 provides a five-year framework over which we will aim to reduce fuel poverty and help residents of Peterborough to live in a warm, healthy and energy efficient home.

View the Affordable Warmth Strategy.

Flood Risk Management Strategy

The Peterborough Flood Risk Management Strategy aims to:

  • Confirm and raise awareness of the risk and management of flooding in Peterborough
  • Set out a clear plan of actions to tackle local issues and opportunities that we update each year
  • Take a holistic and cross-partner approach to flood risk management, considering other elements of water and environmental management that are affected or we can improve
  • Coordinate partner actions to ensure projects and schemes are as efficient as possible and that joint funding opportunities are sought

View our Flood Risk Management Strategy page.

Biodiversity Strategy

Full Council approved our Biodiversity Strategy on 12 December 2018. We adopted it as part of our major policy framework. The strategy meets the biodiversity duty brought in by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act.

Trees and Woodland Strategy

The city's trees and woodland have the capacity to improve the quality of life for residents. They make a significant contribution towards our environmental targets and aspirations.

The strategy seeks to consolidate council-owned tree stocks and woodland and manage them in a sustainable way.

View the Tree and Woodland Strategy on the Democracy Peterborough website (opens PDF).

For further information contact the Environment, Transport and Future City Team via environmentcapital@peterborough.gov.uk.