Douglas City Council is continuing to make tangible progress to reduce its carbon footprint as it strives to meet the Isle of Man Government’s pledge to be carbon Net Zero by 2050.

Findings show the Council’s carbon footprint has reduced by 14 per cent since it’s baseline year of 2018/19 with a three per cent reduction in the last year alone.

A report to the Council’s Executive Committee maps out the Council’s evolution towards reducing its footprint in line with its Net Zero Strategy and Action Plan One, which was adopted in March 2022.

While the local authority is leading the way from a local government perspective, forecasts show there is much work ahead.

Council Leader Claire Wells explained: ‘The Isle of Man Government has pledged that the Isle of Man will be Carbon Net Zero by 2050 and, as the largest local authority in the Island and one of the largest employers in Douglas, we are fully committed to contributing towards this goal.

‘It’s more than five years since we embarked on our Net Zero journey, formally recording, monitoring and reducing our carbon footprint across all areas and striving to deliver services in a more sustainable way.

‘We all play our part via a wide range of initiatives - from the way we manage our housing stock to recycling and kerbside collections and a decrease in electricity and gas consumption - as we constantly endeavour to reduce our own carbon energy burden and boost green credentials in the process.

‘While the potential climate impact of major policy or project decisions is at the forefront of what we do, we are also well aware that this is very much a team effort, and we want to engage with the public. Only by educating and informing each other can we build support in the community and harness a collective effort towards a cleaner, greener future.

‘A significant share of emission reductions comes from people making low carbon choices and we must take residents with us, so to see so many of our ratepayers motivated to act is very promising indeed.’

The Council has also trialled a Carbon ‘Budget’ Tool which forecasts the reduction in carbon required, year on year.