STROUD District Council is the first council in Europe to be carbon neutral.

This means the carbon dioxide emissions from its operations have been outweighed by the reduction in emissions from energy efficiency measures and renewable energy installations it has put in place.

It is now working towards making the whole of the Stroud district carbon neutral by 2030

Here are ten of the steps it is taking to tackle climate change:

1. Declaring a climate emergency. Last November the council took this step.

2. Tree planting. Last year the council planted 100 trees at Stratford Park and it is working on proposals to develop much more woodland including a five acre site on the edge of Stroud town, to capture carbon and help reduce flood-risk.

3. Allocating an initial budget of £260,000.

4. Waste and recycling. Thanks to an award-winning partnership with Ubico and residents, Stroud District throws away the least residual waste to landfill/incineration per household in England.

5. Improving transport links to take traffic off the roads. The council is upgrading the Stroud-Nailsworth-Stonehouse cycle path with Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and Gloucestershire County Council for cycling and walking commuters by covering the muddy, gravelled sections with a smooth surface. And SDC is bidding for £9million of Heritage Lottery Fund money with Cotswold Canals Trust to link Stroud with the national inland waterway network, and forming a green linear park in the process. So far around five miles of the canal between Stroud and Stonehouse have been restored, including towpath for use by walkers and cyclists.

6. Cutting plastic waste to landfill or incineration. The council is working closely with Stroud District Action on Plastic group (SDAP) and Transition Stroud to reduce reliance on single-use plastics so the district can be accredited as plastic-free by Surfers Against Sewage. And all SDC publicly accessed buildings (council offices at Ebley Mill, Museum in the Park, The Pulse and Stratford Park Leisure Centre) offer free-of-charge water refills as part of the refill scheme.

7. Cutting SDC staff’s carbon footprint: encouraging staff to lift share, use public transport, and walk or cycle to work.

8. Electric vehicles: upgrading to more environmentally-friendly wheels to help staff including Neighbourhood Wardens carry out their duties with the least environmental impact.

9. Prosecuting environmental polluters.

10. Cutting buildings’ carbon footprint: 600 district homes have been retrofitted to make them more energy efficient. Windows and doors have been replaced, lofts insulated, and solar panels installed on roofs – including at Stratford Park Leisure Centre. Climate change is at the heart of SDC's Local Plan, to ensure that all built development in the District is carbon neutral by 2030, all new properties with off road parking are constructed with EV charging points and renewable energy is actively promoted.