An action plan for how and when Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) and the whole of Cambridgeshire will reach net zero will be discussed next week.

The new action plan and draft strategy for Cambridgeshire is about cutting carbon emissions before it’s too late to prevent severe climate impacts.

The strategy commits to the council focusing on its efforts in three key areas.

These are reducing carbon emissions, supporting the development of resilient communities and supporting nature and diversity to thrive.

The plan will be questioned by CCC’s environment and green investment committee on how the council will deliver its commitments and work with the CPCA climate commission and district council partners.

It’ll also be discussed how the council will respond to the inevitable future challenges by setting a new ambition for Cambridgeshire to reach net zero emissions by 2045.

Furthermore, there will be an organisational target for the county council to reach net zero by 2030.

Lastly, the council and others will need to engage, support and collaborate with communities, partners and businesses to make positive changes themselves.

Cllr Lorna Dupre, chair of the environment and green investment committee, said: “Since the council declared a climate emergency in 2019, awareness and understanding of the risk we face when it comes to the impact of climate change has grown.

“The evidence is clear – it is important that we transition quickly away from focusing on what the change is, to focusing on how we can tackle it, and how quickly we can make that change happen.

“This draft strategy sets out how the council will do that in Cambridgeshire.”

As part of the council’s plan to achieve net zero for direct emissions by 2030, the draft strategy sets out how the council will meet that deadline.

Examples are delivering low carbon transport solutions for fleet vehicles, net zero carbon buildings and improving management of open spaces.

Cllr Nick Gay, member of the environment and green investment committee, said: “This report sets out how we will support communities and our natural environment to adapt and thrive as climate changes.”

The meeting will take place on Thursday December 16 at 10am.