Wokingham Borough Council's Climate Emergency Action Plan has received approval as it progresses towards a carbon neutral future.

The plan, detailing strategies to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change, was endorsed at a recent council meeting, highlighting significant strides made over the past year.

Key achievements include the Local Plan Update, which sets minimum energy standards for future developments, and the confirmation of a grid connection for Barkham solar farm in 2026.

The solar farm is set to cut nearly 6,000 tonnes of carbon annually.

The council's Waste Strategy has also been implemented, with initial data indicating improved recycling rates, anticipated to save 2,415 tonnes of carbon each year.

The Solar Together scheme, aiding residents in purchasing solar panels, saw the highest number of installations across Berkshire.

Nearly 300 Wokingham Borough residents installed solar panels through the scheme.

A draft electric vehicle strategy has been devised and is under consultation, to support the shift to cleaner, more sustainable transport.

The council acknowledges the importance of community involvement in achieving a carbon neutral borough.

It has collaborated with various partners over the past year, including the prosperity board and the University of Reading, delivering joint workshops to schools across the borough to help them develop their climate action plans.

Climate workshops and presentations have also been conducted by the climate emergency team for charity and voluntary organisations, residents, and parish and town councils.

The Climate Emergency Action Plan (CEAP) is a dynamic document, regularly updated to incorporate global and national progress, policy changes, and the latest technological developments.

The current CEAP, summarising the borough’s carbon profile and the council’s performance for the last accounting year, is available on the Climate Emergency Hub on the council’s website.

Cllr Stephen Conway, leader of the council and executive member for housing, partnerships, and the local plan, emphasised the scale of work being undertaken to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

He said: "Our Climate Emergency Action Plan reflects the large amount of work that is being undertaken across the council to become carbon neutral by 2030.

"However, achieving this by 2030 is going to be challenging, especially as the UK is not on track to meet its 2050 target of net zero (Climate Change Committee, 2024).

"Funding from national government and stronger policies will be needed in key areas such as transport and retrofitting buildings, amongst other areas to support our targets within the Climate Emergency Action Plan.

"We have ambitions for a carbon neutral Wokingham Borough.

"We know that we cannot achieve these goals on our own and we must all do what we can."