Climate change

Climate change is probably the single biggest issue facing society today. That’s why it is becoming a key focus of our work in the Peak District National Park.

National parks play a big role in tackling climate change issues – both in minimising the impact and adapting to any changes. We’re already doing a lot of work but we recognise there is much more we can do.

We want to ensure our efforts are co-ordinated into a comprehensive approach. That’s why we are currently working on a climate change action plan that will look at how we can:

• Take the lead on tackling climate change issues in the Peak District National Park
• Encourage everybody – residents and visitors – to play their part in reducing the impact of climate change
• Reduce our carbon footprint as an organisation

The action plan will be written by the end of 2008.

Many areas of the work for the Peak District National Park Authority have an impact on climate change. Some of the key initiatives we are involved in include:

• Moors for the Future – this is an internationally important partnership project to restore peat moorlands that could potentially store large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO₂).
  Damage from pollution, overgrazing and fires means that CO₂ stored in the peat is currently leaking out into the atmosphere. By restoring the moorlands, Moors for the Future hopes to stop this carbon being released and, as the moors regenerate, to absorb CO₂, from the atmosphere.
• Sustainable Development Fund – this is a grant scheme, which gives money to environmentally friendly projects or initiatives aimed at making a difference in local communities within the Peak District.
• Planning advice about renewable energy– one way of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels (gas, oil, coal) is through the use of renewable energy. Not all schemes are appropriate for a national park, like large-scale wind farms. We can offer advice on better ways of introducing renewable energy schemes into the national park through our supplementary planning guidance.

Playing your part

Climate change is such a huge issue that it’s easy to think our individual efforts won’t make a difference. But by working together our individual and group efforts all add up to make a big impact.

Here are some tips on reducing your carbon footprint as:

• a resident
• a visitor
• a business

What are we doing to tackle climate change?

As an environmental organisation we strive to adopt good environmental practices to reduce our environmental impact and carbon footprint.

However, like most organisations, our practices aren’t perfect and can always be improved. That’s why we have produced our Environmental Management Policy which sets out the issues we face and targets we have set to reduce our environmental impact and carbon footprint.

Every year we will report back and let you know the progress we are making – and identify areas where more improvements can be made.