Decision details

Kent County Council (KCC) have finalised The Kent and Medway Energy and Low Emission Strategy which lays out the route to create a low emission county and reach net zero by 2050 for the whole of Kent. The strategy documents can be found on their website here, along with a short video.

The strategy has been approved by all the relevant committees and Kent Leaders in 2020:

July 2020: Approval at KCC’s Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee

29th September: Kent Chief Executives (endorsement and support for LA adoption)

8th October: Kent Leaders (endorsement and support for LA adoption)

27 November 2020: The Strategy was formally launched at the Kent and Medway Net-Zero Conference.

This is an opportunity to endorse their strategy and also provide support to reach net zero in the district within our powers and resources, bringing us in line with the government’s legally binding pledge to make the UK net zero by 2050.

We can assist with the reduction in emissions across Thanet through work that we are already carrying out. This includes the action on insulating homes carried out by our Home Energy Officer and the work on sustainable transport that the Air Quality and Planning departments are doing. Climate change information produced by the Climate Change Officer and TDC Comms team can also help residents reduce their carbon footprint.

Further details of these actions will be laid out in the TDC Net Zero Strategy which is currently being drafted.

That:

1.  Thanet District Council endorses the Kent and Medway Energy and Low Emission Strategy.

2.  In alignment with this endorsement, the following paragraph is added to the Council’s climate change pledge:

‘Do what is within our powers and resources to support KCC, the Government, business, industry and the community to make Thanet, as a whole, net zero by 2050.’

The council declared a Climate Change Emergency in 2019 and this endorsement and pledge brings us in line with the government’s legally binding pledge to make the UK net zero by 2050.

Do not approve the recommendations laid out in this report. This option was rejected as it would not be in line with the government’s legally binding pledge.