Aberdeen City Council is lending its support to Scotland’s Climate Week between 26 September and 2 October.
Our network of 60 Green Champions, made up of volunteers from Council staff, who play a vital role in supporting sustainability and climate activities, are leading on a series of initiatives that included a litter pick at Hazlehead Park on Wednesday afternoon, and will culminate on Friday with a re-use collection drive for clothes for Ukraine at Marischal College and Rosemount Community Centre which members of the public are invited to participate in.
We have also recently launched a new round of participatory budgeting, which allows citizens to get involved in how public money is spent, with a £50K project fund for Garthdee, to support communities to work together in improving their environment and helping people feel less isolated and more included.
The Council is founding partner of “Net Zero Aberdeen”, a citywide, cross-sector collaboration, which has set out a vision, routemap and strategies towards Aberdeen becoming a net zero city by 2045 and adapting to our already changing climate.
The council has established its own climate change plan, consisting of over 100 projects, to help reach net zero and improve climate resilience for our assets and operations. The plan won the Best Practice Award at the national Net-Zero Energy Transition Awards in Aberdeen last month.
Aberdeen City Council Co-leader Councillor Ian Yuill said: “Scotland’s Climate Week highlights the continued importance of collaborative working to engage with the threat that climate change has to every aspect of our lives.
“We are delighted with the recognition we have seen for our services for work connected to our climate change plans in recent times and this will be reflected further with the World Energy Council Global Forum taking place at P&J Live next month.”
Council projects focus on raising awareness and providing training for staff and decision-makers about climate change. Senior Managers and Elected Members undertake certified Carbon Literacy Training and all staff now have access to a new e-learning module about climate duties, climate impacts affecting Aberdeen and what the Council is doing to address climate change.
Other projects include environmental initiatives, such as award-winning nature-based solutions to manage flooding and work to expand the tree cover across Aberdeen, which has been shortlisted for the Nature of Scotland Awards.