In August 2021, Aylsham Town Council declared a climate emergency and are looking towards net zero carbon by 2030 - both through its own activities and with help from local residents.
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The name ACE - Aylsham Climate Emergency - was agreed when the community led membership set up five sub-groups, each working towards a strategy to achieve this.
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And there is now a new, dedicated website for ACE, which features all the sub-groups and their projects as they target the main areas which contribute to the crisis:
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Each group will target the main areas which contribute to the crisis:
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Role: To preserve what is good and improve what is bad in processes that support all life.
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Role: To advise and guide on energy conservation and grant funding to households, organisations and businesses in the Aylsham area.
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Role: To look at sustainable food outlets in the town
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Role: To work with the Town Council's Traffic Management Group and Broadland District Council and find funding to help bring projects forward.
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Role: To reduce, re-use, repair and recycle more waste in Aylsham.
Role: To find ways of reducing the use of plastic and 'put plastic in its place'.
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Groups will work on Projects either singularly or with other groups. Projects are agreed from completing a Project proposal Form
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Its not just about reducing carbon emissions on a local scale, but also raising awareness of global climate change.
The ACE committee meets every two months and is open to the public.
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The strategy will adopt the following guidelines:
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1. Identify main source of emissions
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2. Recognise which sources will be reduced by outside factors eg Government action or technological developments.
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3. Identify the most impactful changes that Aylsham residents and organisations can make.
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4. Create a 10 year plan of action.
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5. Run pilots for each measure using enthusiastic volunteers from social networks (real and virtual) across Aylsham.
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6. Monitor and improve measures based on feedback from pilots.
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Climate Change Terms of Reference
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Get Involved
If you would like to get involved or if you have a project for consideration please contact the Town Clerk.
Aylsham Climate Emergency
What can we all do about climate change?
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10 easy things that can make a difference
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Conserve water – don’t waste a drop. Invest in a water butt for your garden
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Buy organic food whenever possible – better for you and the environment
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Eat sustainable foods and cut down on eating meat – try going vegan once a week
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Use the car less – walk, cycle or use the bus whenever possible
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If using the car check your vehicle tyres are at the correct pressure – saves fuel (and tyres!)
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Use 2 stroke rather than 4 stroke engine garden appliances (far lower emissions)
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Reduce waste – reuse, restore, repair and recycle everything you possibly can and buy second-hand goods. Give composting a try
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Turn down the heating and wear an extra layer of clothing
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Plant a tree
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Find out more about what you can do and get involved
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Carbon Calculators now available on our website
To enable people to reduce their carbon footprint they initially need to be able to calculate their current footprint. To assist with this Aylsham Town Council have added a carbon footprint calculator to their website. This can be used by both individual households and also small businesses. We encourage everyone to calculate their current carbon expenditure.
Town Council Carbon Footprint
2019 65.65
2020 56.27
2021 38.66
2022 37.58
Climate Stripes
No words. No numbers. No graphs. Just 170 vertical coloured bars, showing the progressive heating of our planet in a single, striking image.
The climate stripes were created by Professor Ed Hawkins at the University of Reading in 2018.
They show clearly and vividly how global average temperatures have risen over nearly two centuries,
How do they work?
Each stripe represents the average temperature for a single year, relative to the average temperature over the period as a whole. Shades of blue indicate cooler-than-average years, while red shows years that were hotter than average. The stark band of deep red stripes on the right-hand side of the graphic show the rapid heating of our planet in recent decades.
© Reading University