We are committed to becoming a more sustainable organisation and want sustainability to be more central to the way we all work.
We believe this approach will help us:
- combat climate change
- work more efficiently
- drive down our costs
- increase our resilience to a changing climate
- continue to deliver high quality services to our community
- ensure that all our work benefits society, the economy and the environment in the long-term.
Some examples of our work and projects are set out below, with links to where you can find more information.
We have invested in renewable energy projects both directly on our own buildings and in large scale solar farms.
We have supported our local schools to install solar panels and reduce their running costs and have launched Your Energy Sussex, our not-for-profit energy supplier, to promote the importance of energy switching to save money and reduce environmental impact by switching to a green tariff and help residents who are struggling to pay their energy bills.
We have produced a joint Air quality plan in partnership with all district and borough councils across the county which highlights good practice and shows where we will deliver improvements.
We recognise the importance of pollinating insects such as butterflies, bumblebees and beetles and have set out steps in a Pollinator Action Plan to ensure the habitat for these vital species can be protected and enhanced across our estate.
We have been working to halve our carbon emissions for a number of years. During 2018/19 we achieved a 46% reduction against our 50% target. However, we understand we need to do more and in April 2019 pledged to attempt to make West Sussex County Council carbon-neutral by 2030.
We are also working to set out the actions we will be taking on the important issues of electric vehicles and single use plastic.
We want to continue to ensure we take action promoting change within the County Council, as well as providing leadership across the county as a whole.
Our annual Sustainability report explains how we have progressed in reducing costs and its direct impact on the five key indicators:
- carbon
- energy
- water
- waste
- travel.