The Essex Climate Action Commission was set up to advise us about tackling climate change. It was launched in May 2020 for an initial term of two years and has since been extended for a further three years. The commission will run until 2025.
The commission has over 30 members. They include local councillors, academics, business people and 2 members of the Young Essex Assembly. Find out more about the commissioners from their biographies on the Essex Climate Action website
Net Zero: Making Essex Carbon Neutral report
The initial purpose of the Essex Climate Action Commission was to set out recommendations on tackling the climate crisis. This included devising a roadmap to get Essex to net zero by 2050.
These recommendations were set out in the commission’s report Net Zero: Making Essex Carbon Neutral report (PDF, 3.62MB), published in July 2021. The report put forwards a comprehensive plan to:
- reduce the county’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, in line with UK statutory commitments
- make Essex more resilient to climate impacts such as flooding, water shortages and overheating
The recommendations of the commission were accepted in full by Essex County Council. They form the basis of our Climate Action Plan, produced in November 2021.
Climate action advice packs for residents, schools, and businesses can be found on the commission’s website.
Role of the commission
The current role of the commission is to monitor and drive implementation of these recommendations across greater Essex by:
- advising on priorities for direction
- reviewing and evaluating progress towards net zero
- supporting the adoption of climate positive policies and practices at all levels of local authorities in the region
- facilitating collective action across the county
- encouraging public engagement with residents, businesses, schools, communities, third sector organisations and other institutions of Essex
Meetings
The commission met nine times in the first year and now meets five times a year.
Meetings take place on Zoom and are open to the public. All meetings are recorded, and you can view the schedule and meeting papers and the commission's terms of reference and workplan (PDF, 217.7 KB).
Further information
Read the technical annexes of the commission’s report for more information:
- Built environment technical annex (PDF 1.51MB)
- Land use and green infrastructure technical annex (PDF, 3.66MB)
- Transport technical annex (PDF, 2.18MB)
- Waste management technical annex (PDF, 526KB)
Read about the baseline of emissions in Essex and a future emissions pathway in our Essex Baseline of Emissions and Pathway to Net Zero Report (PDF, 2MB).
We ran a public consultation to understand residents' views on climate change and the commission's ideas. Read the results in our Climate Action Consultation Report (PDF, 758KB).