Climate action checklist ticks the right box

Published: 03 July 2023

A new climate action checklist has been introduced at Deal Town Council to ensure all decisions are made with environmental impact in mind.

Thought to be the first of its kind for a town or parish council, this initiative arises from the council’s commitment made in 2019 to be carbon neutral by 2025.

Environment Committee chairperson, Cllr Sue Beer, said: “We’ve now held our first Full Council meeting using the new checklist, which shows very clearly the impact of each decision.

“It’s going to be used in all committees except Planning, which has existing measures in place. The checklist informs debate and ensures everything is considered through the prism of climate action.”

Each new activity discussed at a council meeting is measured against five criteria in 12 categories. They range from long term positive impact (shown in green) up to long term negative impact (illustrated in red). The categories are air quality, materials economy, climate change adaption, land use, biodiversity, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, renewables, sea health, chemical and plastic pollution, awareness, cost to the council and community & culture.

Cllr Beer said: “We believe we could be the first town or parish council to bring in such a measure. We are more than happy for others to take up what we have created as there is one absolute certainty - we must work together to tackle climate change.”

You can view the first agenda with checklists here and learn more here on our dedicated climate emergency section of the website.