First launched in August 2020, Zero Carbon Shropshire (ZCS) is a not-for-profit organisation set up to represent the communities, enterprises, councils and NGOs of Shropshire and ensure that Shropshire reaches net zero carbon by 2030.

We’re formally recognised as a registered charity (number 1196174) and we operate a growing portfolio of projects.

Zero Carbon Shropshire covers the entire county of Shropshire, including the unitary authority areas of Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council.

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We stand for rapid decarbonisation, large-scale restoration of biodiversity and the natural environment, and the development of the sustainable, resilient, and inclusive communities and enterprises for a sustainable future.

You can find out more about how we plan to implement our goal of Shropshire becoming net zero carbon by 2030 in our plan, and we’ll continue to work alongside organisations, businesses, communities and local residents to engage, build consensus, and maintain support for the actions and milestones on the road to net zero.

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To achieve net zero by 2030, we need a 10% per annum reduction from our 2019 carbon footprint. The pace of change is huge and will be very challenging – but success will mark the transformation of Shropshire to become one of the leading sustainable counties in the UK with a strong enterprise base fit for the future.

Our Zero Carbon Plan explains exactly how this could be achieved. It’s helpful to recognise this is not an environmental project, but instead is about setting out what the future sustainable Shropshire looks like and the practical steps to get there in a decade. Decisions are informed by four principles:

Global Climate Justice

Any new policies, technologies, products tenders, and procurement should aspire to have a positive impact (or at least not negatively impact) the lives, livelihoods and resilience of communities in Shropshire, the wider UK, and globally.

Restoring Nature

The ecological crisis is inextricably linked to the climate crisis and so we need to help restore nature (or at the very least do no more harm). This will also serve to increase carbon sinks to stabilise existing stores of carbon and to increase absorption of additional carbon.

Adaption and Resilience

While the scope of the project is reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero, it’s vital that plans take account of the reality that the climate is changing, so all solutions must be resilient and sustainable.

Sustainable Shropshire

This will draw on local solutions from local enterprises and promote the growth and success of a Shropshire economy based on the products and services that a net zero world will need, promoting the opportunity for sustainable economic growth of our county.

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Available data suggests that last year Shropshire was responsible for net emissions of over 4 million tonnes of carbon-equivalent of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Around 40% of local emissions were from transport, 33% from industry and the remainder from domestic housing, and a very significant part of our footprint has been outsourced to overseas suppliers. UK residents are responsible for twice the global average carbon footprint and immediate action is imperative.

The Paris Agreement showed a global consensus that action is required to keep below 1.5 degrees centigrade increase of average temperatures from pre-industrial levels, and every year the United Nations reports that emissions are still rising and global net emissions have to decline sharply by at least 45% from 2010 levels by 2030.

This means that locally more radical steps are now required and by this time next year, Shropshire needs to turn the corner and demonstrate significant reductions. 

The good news is that about 80% of the reduction we need is within the power of Shropshire’s producers and consumers to achieve if we work together to a common plan.

The remainder will rely on national government. By developing and adopting a common plan for our county, Shropshire can respond to this emergency with the changing behaviours and community-wide commitments to disinvest from unsustainable products and services and adopt the solutions we need.

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r working groups are instrumental in driving this change. They were set up to focus on the practical steps we need, including community engagement, carbon reporting and tracking, and the development of plans for land use and biodiversity, buildings, energy, consumption and resources, and transport.

We also rely on community support, and encourage members of the public to support our mission. We can’t do it alone.

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