Our climate action

Our Environment and Climate Strategy sets out actions the authority is already taking and maps out further improvements we will make over the next three years.

We have identified key objectives to help with our ambition to transition Lancashire’s economy away from carbon, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, managing flood risk, and ensuring our infrastructure is resilient to the impacts of climate change.

The action we’re taking:

  • Installing energy saving measures in county council buildings, reducing carbon emissions by 23% since 2017.
  • Green improvements to our libraries, including replacing ageing heating systems with air to water heat pumps, installing solar panels, and replacing single-glazed windows with double-glazing.
  • Our recent improvements to Garstang Library are a great example of this and will save 8 tonnes of CO2 per year.
  • Purchase 100% Renewable Energy Guarantees Origin (REGO) green electricity for all buildings in our portfolio.
  • Support the Cosy Homes in Lancashire scheme which provides help and assistance on energy efficiency and domestic heating measures. Between 2021 - 2023 Cosy Homes in Lancashire helped 2,400 households and saved over 279,000 tonnes of carbon.
  • Hosting the £1million North West Rural Community Energy Fund. This pays for studies and development of community run energy projects in local areas. In Lancashire the Fund is supporting the Chipping Community low carbon heat project and a 2MW Solar Meadow in Hyndburn.
  • Hosting the £2million Community Energy Fund. This fund helps community groups and eligible voluntary groups in urban and rural communities to develop low-carbon energy projects in their areas. In Lancashire the fund is supporting Rossendale Valley Energy, Community Energy Preston, and Silverdale Parish Council.
  • Delivering a low carbon heat grant to organisations across Lancashire.
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  • We have an active travel strategy and investment plan in place for Lancashire. This plan aims to make walking the natural choice for short journey and increase the amount of cycling.
  • Working in partnership with Blackpool Council we have developed Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans, for our future cycling and walking networks for each area of the county.
  • Getting more people riding bikes though Love to Ride Lancashire. Register for free to get tips and tricks to help you swap cars for handlebars, take part in fun campaigns, track your rides and CO2 saved and be part on a supportive online community.
  • Investing in zero emission and low emission bus fleets as part of the Bus Service Improvement Plan
  • We are electrifying our fleet and currently have 19 electric vehicles.
  • We have an electric vehicle infrastructure strategy and £10.6 million from national government to increase the amount of appropriate, accessible, and equitable EV charging infrastructure across Lancashire.
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  • We have converted152,000 streetlights to LEDs, cutting carbon emissions by 86,400 tonnes and saving around £40m in energy costs since 2009.
  • We have a Highways Decarbonisation Strategy which sets out how we will achieve carbon reductions from our highways maintenance and highway-related activities.
  • We have reduced our carbon footprint from our day-to-day highway work, including changing the way we maintain our roads which has saved 115 tonnes of carbon over the last three recycling schemes. Some of these changes include using ex-situ recycling, incorporating recycled rubber tyres, and trialling new biogenic asphalt.
  • We have produced the Flood Risk Management Strategy, which sets out how we will work with partners, businesses and communities to manage the risk of flooding and move to a more climate resilient Lancashire.
  • We also provide information on what to do to reduce the impact of flooding and prepare in advance, what to do during a flood and guidance for what to do after.
  • We are a partner of Unpave the Way, an innovative and collaborative project between the North West Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, the Environment Agency, United Utilities, and Lancashire County Council to address and raise awareness of the impacts of an increasing national trend of householders choosing to create impermeable front gardens to accommodate motor vehicles and other needs.
  • We encourage high quality blue-green sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) to be installed on major developments. These control surface water close to where it falls and mimic natural drainage as closely as possible, providing an allowance for climate change to achieve a climate resilient drainage design.
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  • Over the last decade we have planted 149,000 trees, capturing 37,000 tonnes of carbon.
  • We created the Treescapes Team in 2023 to accelerate woodland planting and community engagement across the county of Lancashire.  We aim to plant over 30,000 Urban trees and cover 170 hectares of rural land by 2025, with the help of our partners Blackpool, Blackburn and Darwen councils, and Groundwork.
  • In the 2023/24 planting season we planted 6,230 trees across 30 projects from grants schemes like the Urban Trees Fund, Local Authority Treescapes Fund and the Coronation Living Heritage Fund.
  • We have secured over £1million funding from the Forestry Commission and the Urban Tree Challenge Fund for the 2024/25 planting season to plant over 32,000 trees across projects like the Miyawaki Micro-wood network. See how a Miyawaki Micro-wood is planted.
  • We are delivering the Coronation Community Orchard Grant Scheme for community groups in Lancashire. 
  • We are restoring peatlands to improve carbon capture, boost biodiversity, improve water quality and help tackle flooding by slowing water flow. Projects in the Forest of Bowland AONB have restored 1,161 hectares of peatland since 2011, with an anticipated carbon saving of around 268,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2050.