Council launches ambitious new plans to tackle climate and environment crises in Cambridge

25 March 2026

Cambridge City Council has approved four new plans to help build climate resilience, increase tree canopy cover to 20% by 2050, support biodiversity in Cambridge, and get its own operations to net zero by 2030 – as councillors restate and strengthen their commitment to tackling the climate and environment crises and improving people’s quality of life in Cambridge.

At its Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 24 March, councillors approved:

  • The Climate Change Strategy 2026-2031 – building on the council’s Climate Change Strategy 2021-2026, setting out how the council will continue to target net zero emissions in its own operations by 2030, and support the city to do the same.
  • A plan to invest £600,000 to progress the council’s City Centre Heat Network project – a network of air source and river source heat pumps to provide lower-carbon energy to a number of city centre heritage buildings, with potential 93% reduction in emissions over 40 years for the connected buildings, plus significant associated improvements to air quality.
  • The council’s updated Biodiversity Strategy 2026-2031 – updating the 2022 strategy to strengthen the council’s commitment to addressing the biodiversity emergency, with a vision for bigger, better, more joined up nature in every ward of the city; with quality open space within walking distance of people’s homes or workplaces.
  • The council’s Urban Forest Strategy 2026-2036 – reaffirming the council’s promise to restore, protect and grow Cambridge’s tree canopy cover to 20% by 2050, within the context of a changing climate and the rising threat of pests and diseases.

Climate Change Strategy 2026-2031

The new Climate Change Strategy comes after a decade of steady carbon reduction actions with the council’s own emissions down by 51.9% since 2014/15 – including an 8.1% reduction in the last year alone. Progress has come as result of reducing emissions from its own buildings and fleet vehicles, and embedding climate action across all council services. 

The council will continue to focus on existing areas of work that help minimise the wider city’s emissions, which have also reduced by 47.3% since 2005, such as retrofitting council homes and other buildings; minimising waste; and supporting sustainable food, renewable energy and sustainable travel. The 2026 strategy sets a near-term goal to bring the council’s emissions down 69% by 2028, to inform any future decisions that may be needed by the council, or a newly formed unitary council, to achieve net zero by 2030. The strategy introduces new areas of focus for 2026 onwards:

  • Integrating climate-adaptation into the whole strategy – for example, enhancing nature, preserving water and ensuring new buildings will be able to cope with heat, or drought, by designing them to use less water, stay cool, and be resilient during extreme weather.
  • Incorporating emissions reductions into the council’s supply chain and procurement processes – for example, requiring contractors to use electric vehicles, or that lower carbon materials are used in construction. 
  • Expanding support and advice for residents and businesses to adopt low-carbon lifestyles – recognising that around one third of required UK emissions reductions rely on household decisions.
  • Collaboration – deepening relationships with and between key partners in the community and with business, innovation and anchor institutions in the city as part of a city-wide approach to climate change and inclusive innovation.

City Centre Heat Network

The council plans to work with key city institutions to develop a network of air source and river source heat pumps to provide lower-carbon energy to reduce carbon emissions by 93% over 40 years for many of the city’s historic or listed buildings, which are especially challenging to reduce carbon emissions on, and the council’s own Guildhall, Corn Exchange and Parkside pools. The network would have further potential to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality for everyone in the city if taken forward through the removal of gas reliance. It is also future proofed for expansion, with the envisioned core network being able to expand over time across the city to service additional commercial and residential connections.

Cabinet approved the use of £600,000 from the council’s existing Climate Change Fund to continue scoping this work, and to apply to the government’s Green Heat Network Fund for funding that would be needed for the project to progress. The council will now be able to fully develop the project ahead of a decision by Cambridge City Council and a new shadow unitary authority in 2027/2028, before work could start in 2029.

Biodiversity Strategy 2026-2031

The mid-term review of the Biodiversity Strategy 2022-2030 shows that good progress has been made – especially through local community partnerships and projects – but nature is still under pressure and needs more coordinated action. 

The updated strategy will continue to focus on protecting and improving habitats; creating a joined-up nature network to link habitats across the city; engaging communities; and delivering biodiversity net gain by ensuring new developments contribute to measurable improvements for nature – keeping the ambitious 20% biodiversity net gain commitment for council-led developments. New commitments in the updated Biodiversity Strategy include:

  • Increasing biodiversity in every ward of the city, with annual reporting and longer-term habitat and species monitoring.
  • Focusing on large-scale, joined-up projects, with stronger collaboration with residents, businesses, universities and regional partnerships.
  • A new ambition for Cambridge to become an accredited Nature City.
  • For all Cambridge residents to have nature rich green space within walking distance of their home or workplaces.
  • Designation of two new Local Nature Reserves at Fulbourn Road Open Space and at Church End in Cherry Hinton.

Urban Forest Strategy 2026-2036

The council manages a large and evolving tree stock undertaking regular inspections and maintenance. The council has also delivered extensive tree planting programmes across its land and led on a range of engagement initiatives including the popular Trees for Babies scheme - with a focus on species diversity and sustainability. Between 2008 and 2018, tree canopy was recorded as having increased from 17.1% to 17.6% reflecting the combined increase across public and private land and reinforcing the need for collective action.

This work will continue, with the Urban Forest Strategy 2026-2036 setting out:

  • The council’s ambition for Cambridge’s tree canopy to increase to at least 20% by 2050.
  • Expanding the council’s focus from caring for council-owned trees, to trees on privately owned land, and the need to work with landowners, developers, institutions and communities.
  • A greater emphasis on protecting existing trees and enabling them to grow to maturity – recognising that large established trees deliver faster and bigger climate and biodiversity benefits than planting alone.
  • Continued expansion of the council’s use of tree canopy data to guide planting, protection and investment and support residents, landowners, managers and planners to make more informed decisions.

Cllr Rosy Moore, Cabinet Member for Climate and Environment at Cambridge City Council, said: “Cambridge City Council has been actively tackling climate change since 2007 and we are making great progress, more than halving our own emissions since 2014/2015. Every action we take together makes a difference for the future and improves lives today – whether that’s bringing down energy bills for our current council tenants and those moving into our new build energy-efficient council homes, or improving public health by having cleaner air across the city, or supporting the creation of new clean-energy jobs in the city.

“Our new Climate Change Strategy for 2026 restates our commitment to targeting net zero emissions in our operations by 2030, and to support the city to do the same, through working with local residents, businesses, innovators and community groups to support collective action. The City Centre Heat Network is just one example of our ambition to take a leading role in tackling this issue. Climate change is real, it’s happening, and it’s going to affect us all – so we have a golden thread through the strategy of adapting to the changes we are already feeling in Cambridge while being  bold and ambitious in our plans to cut our carbon emission and thereby play our part in taking on the challenge.”

Cllr Martin Smart, Cabinet Member for Nature, Open Space and City Services, said: “We need action on biodiversity and caring for our city’s trees now more than ever, but it’s so important to remember that these strategies build on projects already underway that can give us hope that the decline in nature can be reversed when we work together.

“Last summer I felt great pride in joining the Friends of Logan’s Meadow Local Nature Reserve at their opening event of the newly created wetlands in East Chesterton which, through a collaborative approach with multiple partners and volunteers, has already resulted in visiting water voles, otters and kingfishers. In the winter, we launched a city-wide community tree planting initiative, Trees for Peace, which will see a new tree planted in each ward of Cambridge each year. 

“Our updated strategies will help us build on these existing projects and go further, within the changing climate and the challenges we face, to ensure our local biodiversity and treescape is healthy, and that everyone who lives in Cambridge will have access to nature rich green spaces within walking distance of their home.”

The three strategies and the report on the City Centre Heat Network can all be found in the agenda for the Cabinet meeting, where the recording of the meeting can also be watched.