The Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to consider a new Environment Strategy for County Durham. This strategy aims to replace the previous Climate Emergency Response Plan and align with the council's new priorities, focusing on practical environmental stewardship. The committee was also scheduled to receive an update and provide feedback on the proposed strategy.

Environment Strategy Report

The committee was scheduled to consider a report outlining the proposed new Environment Strategy for County Durham. This strategy is intended to replace the Climate Emergency Response Plan (CERP), which was rescinded in July 2025, and to align with the council's new Council Plan and its ambition for Practical Environmental Stewardship.

The new strategy was scheduled to:

• Bring together and showcase the practical actions the council will take to address environmental issues in County Durham.
• Establish environmental targets to feed into the council's performance and reporting framework.
• Provide a new home for approved actions and projects previously under the CERP.
• Establish and adopt a new internal Environmental Policy for the council as part of its Environmental Management System (EMS).
• Inform partners and the Durham Partnership in the development of their environmental strategies.
• Help leverage funding for council projects and activities.

The report proposed six key thematic areas to structure the strategy:

• Resourceful Environment: This theme was scheduled to focus on the sustainable use of natural resources to reduce the council's operational costs and waste, drive community regeneration, and help businesses and residents improve energy efficiency. It includes plans to reduce the council's use of resources like gas, electricity, water, and waste, explore opportunities for geothermal energy, support the county's role as a lithium supplier, and improve waste reduction and recycling.
• Cleaner Environment: This theme was scheduled to address the council's approach to reducing pollution and making the county a clean and attractive place. It includes plans to reduce sources of pollution affecting air, water, and soil, and improve local environmental quality by tackling issues such as litter, dog fouling, and fly-tipping.
• Prosperous Environment: This theme was scheduled to focus on supporting existing businesses, including the farming community, while capitalising on opportunities to maximise investment and grow the county's environmental and visitor economy. It includes plans to support businesses in the environmental sector, promote tourism by highlighting the county's natural environment and heritage, support farming communities and local food, and maximise environmental investment opportunities, such as generating income through Biodiversity Net Gain¹ on council-owned land.
• Thriving Environment: This theme was scheduled to support wildlife recovery, improvements to landscape quality and character, heritage protection, and access to nature and green spaces. It includes plans for nature recovery, woodland and tree management, landscape protection, historic environment preservation, and improving access to natural and semi-natural spaces.
• Resilient Environment: This theme was scheduled to focus on developing County Durham's resilience and preparedness for extreme weather events and changing climatic conditions. It includes plans for community and council preparedness for extreme weather and the use of nature-based solutions to prevent flooding, reduce wildfire risk, and provide cooling.
• Engaging Environment: This theme was scheduled to cover maintaining and developing partnerships to add value to the council's environmental improvement work and ensuring residents, businesses, and communities are motivated and supported to care for the county's environment. It includes plans to add value through partnerships, increase environmental volunteering opportunities, support local food growing, encourage environmentally responsible behaviour through education, and recognise positive environmental behaviour.

The report indicated that the completed strategy was anticipated to be presented to Full Council by January 2027. The committee was recommended to note the content of the report and provide comments on the outline, any perceived gaps, and suggestions for inclusion.

The report also highlighted the council's statutory duties under various acts, including the Environment Act (2021), Flood and Water Management Act (2010), Environmental Protection Act (1990), and Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981). It noted that while there is no statutory obligation for an Environment Strategy, it would help focus business case development for investments and leverage funding from external bodies such as NECA² and the Environment Agency.