The Partnership has strategic action plans which detail actions to be delivered with stakeholders and partners before 2030.
The Partnership meets regularly throughout the year to monitor progress against these actions. The action plans are regularly reviewed to reflect relevance and priority in relation to the national and regional context.
The Partnership’s work focusses on:
The Strategic Action Plan for Behaviour Change has been approved (Autumn 2022) and The Strategic Action Plan for Adaptation is currently in development. The remaining Strategic Action Plans have been comprehensively reviewed (Summer 2023) and are published below in draft form. These Plans were open for feedback across autumn 2023, and particularly at the Annual Event on 7 November 2023.
Watch a retrospective of the event
Water sustainability
Hertfordshire is in one of the driest regions of the country and our residents are among the highest water users nationally. The impacts of climate change on our water supply make it an even scarcer resource in the dryer months, whilst flooding can be a serious issue during the wetter months.
As well as water supply, there is the issue of wastewater and the need for suitable infrastructure to support growth across the county. One particularly unique feature that needs to be protected in Hertfordshire are chalk streams, which are an attractive feature of the Chilterns and a rare habitat globally.
The HCCSP Water Reduction Strategic Action Plan is available to view.
Biodiversity
Many of the impacts of climate change will be felt first by nature, bringing impacts on food supply chain, air quality and water preservation. In order to meet the national target of a net-zero county by 2050, it is likely that some carbon off-setting through greening will be required, along with requirements via the Environment Bill to deliver biodiversity net-gains for all new developments.
The 25 Year Environment Plan and reports from Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust outline the decline of nature across the UK and in Hertfordshire. For example, protected species have declined by 60% over the last 50 years. There are significant opportunities to preserve and enhance the existing natural environment of the county, as well as to deliver new natural habitats.
HCCSP is uniquely-placed to coordinate and collaborate on a county-wide scale with officers and Members across Planning, Parks and Green Spaces, Highways, Sustainability, Licensing and more.
The HCCSP Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan is available to view.
Carbon reduction
Carbon reduction is central to approaches for tackling climate change, and by identifying a collective carbon footprint HCCSP can work collaboratively to reduce emissions and provide off-sets for those that it is not possible to avoid. The Partnership is working to achieve a consistent framework for partners to calculate carbon emissions and to monitor carbon savings needed by 2050.
HCCSP is developing initiatives to address carbon reduction and to agree targets for reducing emissions. The potential for joint initiatives working with businesses and the private sector will enable green growth and ensure successful delivery of our carbon reduction agenda.
The HCCSP Carbon Reduction Strategic Action Plan 2024 is available to view, with the previous version 1.2 available for technical context.
Transport
The biggest contributor to carbon emissions across the county arise from transport, which also has a significant impact on air quality. There are 33 air quality management areas (AQMAs) due to road transport emissions in Hertfordshire.
There is a national push to decarbonise the transport system, coupled with a wish to promote active travel which would help reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality and benefit community health and wellbeing. Issues such as the roll out of electric vehicle infrastructure, transport policy and encouraging active travel are among those being addressed.
Behaviour Change
Behaviour change is the act of changing how people behave; and for the Partnership, it is specifically about real world change to core beliefs, actions and decisions for social and environmental improvement. This priority area has a central role to play in helping Hertfordshire on the journey to Net Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050.
Behaviour change is a methodological, systematic approach to engagement with individuals and communities to impact the range of factors that inform decisions individuals make. The HCCSP Behaviour Change Strategic Action Plan brings together actions from the initial four action plans that have a behavioural aspect to allow HCCSP to develop targeted interventions for behaviour change with the capability, opportunity and motivation approach.
Adaptation
Humanity has breached the tipping points of a number of climate change impacts including increases in the number and severity of flooding events, extreme heat events and associated impacts on supply chain, council services and health. The more we reduce emissions right now the easier it will be to adapt to the changes we can no longer avoid; but we cannot control many of the impacts of climate change that will continue to impact our world and Hertfordshire in particular.
Councils, businesses and residents must identify the risks that climate change has on our everyday lives, and then remove or reduce those risks to a manageable level. This will allow Hertfordshire residents to live well and accommodate climate change through adaptation and by building resilience. HCCSP has formed a sub group to clarify this subject, establishing a framework for a cross-county risk register and climate adaptation plan for Hertfordshire.
Updates on our Strategic Action Plans
We hold stakeholder webinars and events to update on progress and highlight the work of the partnership. Our annual event in 2024 will be held on 19 November at the Hertfordshire Development Centre in Stevenage. Contact us for more information.
2022: HCCSP Annual Event 2022 evaluation
2023: HCCSP Annual Event 2023 retrospective
Contact us if you'd like to find out more about our work – you can also join our mailing list to hear about future events.
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