Overview
The climate and biodiversity emergencies are the biggest challenges faced by the planet. Our partners are committed to positive action to tackle these challenges.
Through partnership working we are supporting Oxfordshire's transition to net zero and restoring the county's natural environment so wildlife and people can thrive. In our Strategic Vision for Sustainable Development in Oxfordshire we have committed to ambitious goals for tackling climate change and restoring nature. If we are succesful, by 2050 Oxfordshire will:
- be the first generation to leave the natural environment in a better state than that in which we found it. The natural environment will be more biodiverse, support social, economic and ecological resilience and have the capacity to adapt to change;
- have achieved carbon neutral status, and be accelerating towards a carbon negative future, removing more carbon than it emits each year.
Oxfordshire has beautiful countryside and high-quality natural landscapes, and has made some bold steps towards tackling the climate crisis. The partners of the FOP want to build on these strengths so that we can ensure Oxfordshire's natural environment thrives now and in the future.
The benefits of taking action together for the environment are diverse. A healthy natural environment can improve our health and well-being; support innovation and create green jobs; and protect the natural assets like water and clean air that we rely upon. To realise these benefits, and play our part in the wider global effort, we need to work together across Oxfordshire - businesses, households, community groups and schools. This way, we can achieve more than our individual efforts alone.
What we're doing
To support the objective in the Strategic Vision and the corporate plans of Oxfordshire’s councils to achieve a net zero Oxfordshire, the Future Oxfordshire Partnership commissioned the development of a Net Zero Route Map & Action Plan for the county. Building on existing work, such as Pathways to a Net Zero Carbon Oxfordshire (PaZCO) and the Zero Carbon Oxford Partnership (ZCOP), the Route Map and Action Plan identifies joint actions that the Oxfordshire local authorities can take together to provide a catalyst for positive action to achieve net zero across the region. The FOP has prioritised five workstreams from this report:
- Develop an on-going Local Area Energy Planning (LAEP) function
- Accelerate the roll out of publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charge points
- Decarbonising Oxfordshire's buildings
- Explore opportunities to enhance carbon sequestration through changes in the way land is managed and used, including through targeted habitat restoration and creation
- Explore new funding mechanisms to support delivery of net zero activity
As well as these projects, the Future Oxfordshire Partnership works closely with other groups and organisations that are working to tackle these challenges, including Zero Carbon Oxfordshire Partnership (ZCOP) and the Oxfordshire Local Nature Partnership.
Working group
This work is overseen by the Environment Advisory Group, which is made up of councillors from each of Oxfordshire's local authorities, and supported by an officer group of local authority officers working in the relevant area at each local authority. The Environment Advisory Group updates the Future Oxfordshire Partnership on the progress of these workstreams.
