County vows to use 100% green energy by 2050

THE County Council is set to commit to using 100 per cent clean energy by 2050 when it meets next week.

Councillors at County Hall are expected to agree to joining Leicester City Council as a member of the UK100 campaign, ensuring its energy will come from renewable sources such as wind, water and solar power and not from fossil fuels by 2050.

Council leader Nick Rushton said: “Climate change is an issue globally and we have a responsibility to ensure we do all we can to tackle the problem.

“Pledging our support to the campaign will mean we can work with communities and businesses in the county to change to a low carbon economy, which will help to secure an environmentally sustainable future.”

The county council already has a number of plans and strategies in place which have reduced its carbon footprint, including bringing down carbon dioxide emissions, decreasing gas use in council buildings and replacing street lights with energy-saving LEDs.

The authority is also supporting the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) to develop a Local Industrial Strategy (LIS). The LIS will set out how the area will promote clean growth – one of the four grand challenges set out in the Government’s Industrial Strategy.

More than 80 local authorities are members of UK100. They have pledged to devise plans to achieve 100 per cent clean energy by 2050, work to bring the private and public sector together, collaborate and learn from each other and join forces to influence national policy.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby signed up to the UK100 on behalf of Leicester in 2016.

He said: “Leicester’s target for a 50 per cent reduction by 2025 was an ambitious aspiration for the future when it was set back in 1990.

“I am very proud we are now very much on track for not just achieving that goal but exceeding it. By working with other cities we are determined to extend that ambition.

“As a city, we cannot do this alone and I am delighted the county council has joined us and others in signing up to the UK100 pledge.”

The cabinet will meet on Tuesday, May 22, when members will consider registering its support for the UK100 campaign.