Purpose

To approve the revise Climate Change Strategy 2025-30 and climat
change action plan.

Content

The Cabinet considered a report of the
Director of Corporate Services, which sought approval of the
Rochdale Climate Change Strategy 2025-30 and Climate Change Action
Plan.
 
The Cabinet Member for Climate Change
and Environment delivered a brief summary of the report’s key
points.
 
The Head of Corporate Policy,
Performance and Improvement was in attendance to present the
information and to address the questions and the comments of the
Cabinet Members.
 
Resolved:

1.   
That the Climate Change Strategy and Delivery Plan 2025-30, as set
out in Appendix 1 of the report and the Action Plan at Appendix 2
be approved;

2.   
That the comments and recommendations from the Climate Emergency
Scrutiny Study Group meeting held on 30 July 2025, as set out under
paragraph 5.9 of the report be noted.
 
Reason for decision:
Rochdale Borough Council had declared a
Climate Emergency in July 2019 and had set a target for both the
council and the borough to become carbon neutral in line with the
Greater Manchester target of 2038.
 
The timeline on the current strategy
and action plan was up to 2025 and therefore required to be
reviewed and refreshed. Internal audit completed a review of the
current action plan (2020-2025) and produced a report on 21 June
2024, which included several recommendations on ways the action
plan could be improved. The recommendations of Internal Audit had
been incorporated into the development of the action plan.
 
The strategy aligned the approach with
the new Greater Manchester Five-year Environment Plan 2025-30, the
17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the corporate
priorities for Rochdale Borough Council set out in the People,
Place and Planet Council Plan.
 
Alternatives considered and
rejected:
The resolution of council on 17 July
2019 to declare a climate emergency also included a commitment to
set in place a process of engagement and collaborative action that
had enabled an action plan to be considered by Cabinet and Council
in early 2020, based on achieving the 2038 carbon neutrality
target.
 
This had been further supported by the
decision of Cabinet on 28 January 2020 (Minute 68 refers) to
approve a draft Climate Emergency Strategy, for consultation and
that the Climate Emergency Working Group once established would be
tasked to agree the final Climate Change Strategy and produce a
detailed climate emergency action plan which could form the basis
of future discussions and decisions at Cabinet.
 
A Climate Change Strategy and action
plan 2021-25 had been formally adopted by Cabinet on 29 March 2022
(Minute 126 refers). The report and supporting appendices was
intended to update the climate change strategy and action plan for
the period from 2025 to 2030.