In 2019, Telford & Wrekin Council declared a climate emergency. It is now working, along with partners, to go carbon neutral by 2030 – and to reduce single-use plastic across the council by 2023!

This investment opportunity has now closed. Thank you to everyone who got involved, supporting our borough’s journey to Net Zero

 

Telford & Wrekin Climate Action Investment scheme

Thank you for visiting this page where you can find out more about our innovative investment opportunity and the green benefits it will bring.

Telford & Wrekin Council has launched the West Midlands’ first Community Municipal Investment (CMI), meaning local people can now invest directly in a greener, more sustainable future for all.

The first Telford & Wrekin Climate Action Investment lets you support Telford & Wrekin Council’s plans to create a carbon neutral borough. As a council, we are already taking action on our own environmental impact – we have cut our carbon footprint by 58% since 2018, putting us on track to hit our commitment to make our operations carbon neutral by 2030.

But our plans go far beyond that. We want to ensure we support everyone across the borough to take climate action, and this investment gives you the chance to back a number of important local climate projects.

Everyone has the opportunity to get involved by investing from as little as £5 into this Climate Action Investment, which aims to raise £500,000 to support a range of projects across Telford and Wrekin that will help tackle the climate emergency.

This is your opportunity to put your money to work to make a real difference, helping to delivering the council’s vision to make Telford and Wrekin a carbon neutral borough by 2030.

The Telford & Wrekin Climate Action Investment is being launched in partnership with Abundance Investment, the UK’s first and biggest regulated green investment platform. The minimum investment is just £5, and this investment lets investors earn 2.1% interest per year fixed, before tax, with interest and capital repayments every 6 months across the investment term. It will also be eligible to be held in an Innovative Finance ISA, which means that people will be able to get tax free investment returns.

Sign up here to Invest in a greener future for Telford and Wrekin 

What does the council want to achieve?

Telford & Wrekin Council wants to reduce carbon emissions across the borough to become carbon neutral by 2030.

The council are looking to raise an initial tranche of £500k. This will fund three projects that will:

  • enable the authority to further reduce its own emissions
  • help residents with energy efficiencies & cost of living increases and
  • support community organisations to improve their carbon footprint.

What will the investment support?

Going electric with outdoor education service minibuses

Minibuses are used by the council’s outdoor education service to take children into natural spaces, including to our outdoor education centre in Wales – Arthog – and to sites in and around Telford. Here they can explore, walk, canoe, climb… they get the chance to engage with their environment, developing a love of nature, as well as improving their mental health and happiness.

They are also used by our social services teams to provide positive experiences for young people, including children with disabilities, and respite for their families.

Electric Vehicle (EV) minibuses will enable the phasing out of the service’s current fossil fuel-powered vehicles.   

£130k of our £500k target will fund two EV minibuses and the associated charging infrastructure.

Affordable warmth

Telford & Wrekin Council supports residents including homeless households with council-owned temporary and supported accommodation.

To reduce reliance on fossil fuels and provide help with energy costs for those living in these properties, we will install renewable technologies not available through government grants, such as solar panels and ground source heat pumps, into temporary/supported accommodation properties whose energy performance is rated D and below.

£170k of our £500k target will fund these energy efficiency upgrades.

Supporting local organisations’ sustainability projects

Having declared a climate emergency in July 2019, Telford & Wrekin Council is actively working with the local community to make the borough carbon neutral by 2030.

Through our Climate Change Fund, launched in 2021, we provide grants to local organisations to help them reduce their carbon footprint. To date, 34 organisations across Telford and Wrekin have benefited, with projects including sustainable travel schemes, composting projects and solar panel installations.

With the scheme proving highly successful and hugely popular, we are now looking to reopen applications, enabling us to support even more local organisations and businesses to reduce their carbon footprint.

£200k of our £500k target will fund further community carbon reduction projects.

Telford & Wrekin Council’s climate action journey

Telford & Wrekin Council operates with a vision to protect, care and invest to create a better borough. To deliver on this vision, we have five priorities, including ‘our natural environment is protected, and we take a leading role in addressing the climate emergency’.

Telford & Wrekin Council declared a climate emergency in July 2019.

We have committed to make our operations carbon neutral by 2030, with an aspiration that the whole borough meets the same target.

We have already taken significant action to reduce our own operational carbon emissions and to support the community to do the same.

Carbon emissions from the council’s operations have fallen by 58% since 2018/19, putting us ahead of schedule to meet our 2030 carbon neutral commitment.

The council has delivered a range of initiatives to reduce carbon emissions across Telford and Wrekin.

  • In 2014, Telford & Wrekin Council became the second only local authority in the UK to build a publicly owned solar farm
  • Electricity from the council’s corporate estate and street lighting continues to reduce thanks to an enhanced green energy tariff, saving more than 1,000 tonnes of carbon emissions
  • Street lighting conversion from traditional street lights to LED lighting is now at 99.31%
  • All council-owned car park lights have now been converted to LED
  • Retrofit works to council buildings, including the installation of solar panels, air source heat pumps and EV charging points
  • Council fleet replacement, with 21 Electric Vehicles (EVs) and 2 e-bikes already in place and a further All Terrain EV and 2 EV minibuses being added this year
  • Due to news ways of working, staff travel at Telford & Wrekin Council has reduced by more than half, and the council has commissioned a staff travel plan to sustain this reduction.
  • The launch of £500 ‘eco grants’ to help high street businesses operate more sustainably
  • The launch and delivery of a Climate Change Fund, supporting 34 local organisations to fund projects to reduce their carbon footprint, with community grants totalling more than £130k in the first year
  • Provision of more than 14,000 free trees delivered to local individuals and organisations to plant
  • The council is building new homes fitted with solar panels and EV charging points
  • Our Travel Telford agenda promotes sustainable forms of travel, supported by investment into enhancing walking and cycling routes
  • We encourage all residents to reduce, reuse and recycle, with campaigns and investment in place to support each aspect
  • The council has joined forces with 30 local organisations to establish a Borough Climate Change Partnership and an associated action plan
  • The council has also committed to replace single-use plastics in its operations with sustainable alternatives by 2023, established a Plastic Free Taskforce and launched a Plastic Free Pledge campaign, supporting the community to reduce its plastic footprint.

The council has a published strategy (‘Telford & Wrekin Council Becoming Carbon Neutral Action Plan’) to ensure it delivers on its 2030 carbon neutral commitment. Key areas of focus are:

  • buildings
  • transport
  • housing
  • street lighting
  • finance/grants
  • communications and engagement
  • planning policy
  • training, resources/waste
  • land use, biodiversity and carbon sequestration.

This Action Plan does not set out how the borough as a whole will reach carbon neutrality, although it does identify ways that the council can use its powers to support the borough’s transition to a low carbon future.

To support its aspiration for borough-wide carbon neutrality by 2030, the council established the Telford and Wrekin Borough Climate Change Partnership to work collaboratively with Town and Parish Councils, the private sector, educational establishments and others, to draw upon the borough partners’ knowledge and expertise. The Partnership’s collective vision for the borough is to become ‘carbon neutral’ by 2030 which means locally: less pollution, cleaner industrial and agricultural processes, better insulated homes, shops & offices.

In order to achieve this, the Partnership has developed an action plan that was consulted upon from 21June – 30 July 2021, with actions now being delivered.

Earlier this year, Telford & Wrekin was ranked in the top 3% of UK councils tackling climate change. A report in January 2022 by campaign group Climate Emergency UK ranked the climate change action plans of the UK’s 409 local authorities, with Telford & Wrekin Council coming in 13th place. The report also showed that Telford & Wrekin Council ranked fourth out of all the UK’s unitary authorities and was the number one unitary authority in the West Midlands.

Want to join our journey? To invest in a greener future for Telford and Wrekin sign up here

As with all investments, your capital is at risk. Investments are long term and may not be readily realisable. This content has been approved by Abundance Investment, who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (525432).

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