Epsom and Ewell Borough Council (EEBC) have announced their intention to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.

On Monday evening (January 20) the council officially endorsed what a spokesperson called an "ambitious" carbon neutrality target to be achieved by 2035.

The action plan officially adopted by councillors on Monday includes measures to appoint a full-time Environment and Sustainability Officer in a two-year post "to coordinate the Council’s work on climate change", and moving EEBC's energy usage to 100 per cent renewably sourced.

Councillor Neil Dallen, Chair of the Environment and Safe Communities Committee, spoke about the borough council's plans to tackle the climate crisis.

"The Government has a target for the UK to achieve net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050 – our target is for the council to be carbon neutral by 2035," Cllr Dallen, a former mayor of Epsom and Ewell, said.

"We’re also going to do more to support local residents, businesses and other public sector organisations in the borough to improve their carbon footprint.

"This is not going to be easy. There will be practical, technical and financial constraints to overcome, but overcome them we must.

"We now have a much better understanding of the risks and impact of climate change and why decisive action is needed now," he added.

The borough council joined the UK parliament and numerous other local authorities across the country by officially declaring a climate emergency last year.

The overall borough’s carbon footprint is estimated at 44.9 kilo tonnes per year, including both domestic and industrial CO2 emissions.

EEBC said that means the borough has the lowest per capita CO2 emissions within Surrey at 3.2 tonnes per person.

That's "some 38 per cent below the Surrey Borough and District average" a spokesperson said, referencing Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy data published in June 2019.

On Monday, councillors listened to a statement from Councillor Alex Coley, who leads EEBC's Climate Change Action Group.

Cllr Coley thanked all members of the cross-party group for their contributions as he sounded an upbeat tone about Epsom and Ewell's approach to tackling the crisis.

"Climate change affects everyone. It doesn’t know rich or poor, young or old. It doesn’t know political parties or geographic boundaries," Cllr Coley said.

"That is why this has been a cross party working group of Labour, Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Residents’ Association councillors.

"We have kept a very positive attitude and approach in our working group, putting politics aside and focusing on an issue which is more important to the future of our borough and the generations that will live, work and study here in years to come."

EEBC's Draft Climate Action Plan includes an extensive list of the measure's approved by councillors to tackle climate change in the borough and is available via the EEBC website.