Our environment is far more than just protection of the landscape. We live and breathe our environment every day, whether walking through a town centre, exploring an Island glen, driving a country lane or cycling. Our environment is multi-dimensional and determining more clearly the boundaries and balance between people and nature will go a long way to improving our quality of life – and help achieve a sustainable Island for the future.
Our Economic Strategy ambition for sustainability is to decarbonise the services parts of our economy by 2030, supporting an overall reduction of 35% in the Island’s GHG emissions. This will be achieved by accelerating our Energy Strategy, prioritising the decarbonisation of our electricity system to provide long term energy security and stability together with providing support to the services sector to substantially decarbonise.
Over the lifetime of this Plan we will:
- Deliver the Climate Change Action Plan (which is based on the Professor Curran Action Plan), to achieve our Climate Change goals.
- Ensure a vibrant Island offer for young people today and attract people to live and work on the Island to grow the economically active population.
- Develop and publish for Food Security for our Island.
- Plan for the Future of Agriculture so that the sector meets the needs of the Island, people and farming community.
- Ensure that environmental considerations are embedded across Government decisions and infrastructure.
- Ensure street policy is informed by communities so that streets and places are inclusive, easy to navigate, safe and healthy and reflect the wishes of the people who live there.
- Develop a Plan for Climate Change Adaptation, including flood management and mitigation..
- Deliver sustainable sewage treatment across the Island.
- Deliver a strategy for waste management. (action completed).
- Review our approach to ensuring clean air, watercourses and bathing water by undertaking regular, year-round bathing water quality testing in areas based on use not designation, carrying out air quality monitoring in a variety of locations, and meeting or exceeding international standards in relation to environmental waste.
- Deliver a strategy for energy security, making renewable and green energy available for all Island residents and businesses.