Story by Eli Haidari.

Richmond Council is set to receive further funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme that will assist in achieving its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, it was announced today.

The national Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.

Having previously been awarded funding by the scheme in 2021, the new funding will bring the total amount of funding received by Richmond Council to £3.53 million.

The funding will enable the council to continue delivering its strategy to decarbonise its own estate, as set out in the borough's Climate Action Plan. Measures and initiatives will include the replacements of boilers at the end of their useful life with low carbon heat alternatives, roof and wall insulation, LED lighting replacement and the instillation of solar PV panels. 

Cllr Julia Neden-Watts, Chair of the Environment, Sustainability, Culture and Sports Services Committee said: "Making this borough greener remains a priority for this Council for the next four years.

"We have made great strides since 2020 on delivering our Climate Action Plan, including reducing carbon emissions from our own buildings and operations. Of course, there is still plenty of work to do. I welcome this funding which will allow us to accelerate this work."

Richmond Council recently announced an overall decrease in emissions as an organisation of 62.7% since 2017/18 as well as the reduction of 40.7% in total carbon emissions from the borough.

Their Climate Emergency Strategy for 2020-2024 and its Action plan for 2022 can be read here.