Sandwell Council has published a Climate Change Plan for Sandwell which lays out a range of initiatives that will help Sandwell tackle climate change and enable the borough to become a cleaner, greener and safer place.

Climate change is the most important and complex challenge any society has faced, and has been described by the Lancet medical journal as potentially the greatest threat to human health of the 21st century. Businesses in Sandwell will play a vital role in helping our region meet its target of becoming carbon neutral by 2041.

The Climate Change Plan for Sandwell identifies actions we can all take across six key themes.

1. 1. Council estate and operations – this includes heating, lighting and ICT systems in council-owned offices, leisure centres and swimming pools.
   2. The built environment – Sandwell is a densely populated built environment with a complex mixture of homes, industrial buildings and public properties.
   3. Transport – this includes travel by road, railway and canal, both within the borough and to places outside Sandwell.
   4. Waste and recycling – we need to be moving towards a ‘circular economy’ where we use resources for as long as possible, get the maximum value from them, then reclaim and regenerate resources at the end of their life.
   5. Adaptation and resilience – The UK Climate Impacts Programme predicts that Sandwell will have hotter drier summers and warmer wetter winters, and we need to become better at dealing with this.
   6. Natural capital – in Sandwell, this includes nature reserves, parks, trees, streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, meadows, woodlands, allotments and playing fields.

Suggested actions aimed specifically at business include:

• Consider the carbon footprint of the supply chain
• Regularly review materials, products, packaging and processes to ensure they are as environmentally friendly as possible
• Encourage staff to use public transport through charging for parking and improving access by walking, cycling, public transport and electric vehicles
• Use low carbon delivery methods, such as electric vans and lorries
• Hire local people into local jobs
• Reduce consumption and waste and increase recycling
• Offset emissions by planting trees, investing in local green spaces and enhancing premises with trees and plants
• Work with Sandwell Council, staff and suppliers to ensure everyone is informed about climate change, why taking action is important and how this affects your business.

For more information about Sandwell Council’s work on climate change, or to download the Climate Change Plan for Sandwell, visit the website.

For more information about how to make your business more environmentally friendly, visit our Going Greener pages.