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Sustainability Charter

New Sustainability Charter officially launched

haddo footprintsAberdeenshire Council's new Sustainability Charter was officially launched on Monday 8th September 2008. Artist, Matthew Wickham, set alight a small area of grass, at Haddo House, in the shape of a footprint to mark the event, using fire as a metaphor to represent mankind's carbon release and creating a "carbon footprint".

Short film of the Charter Launch

 

haddo footprintsThe updated charter, which covers 2008-12, follows on from that of the previous four years, and sets out what the couincil aims to do to improve its environmental performance. It is an overarching document which guides the Council in relation to the sustainable practices it is committed to.

As a Council we are committed to using resources as efficiently as possible. Our Sustainability Charter 2008/12, sets out the direction we will take when we conduct our business, it states that:

We will work to ensure all our actions are sustainable and meet the needs of the current generation of Aberdeenshire’s people without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Through the services we provide we try to make it easier for our residents to follow greener lifestyles. For instance, our Waste Management Service works to provide facilities for recycling and advice on how to reduce waste, while through Planning we seek to ensure that new developments in Aberdeenshire balance a range of factors; environmental, social and economic, to contribute towards a ‘sustainable community’ here in the North East.We also want to make our own operations as sustainable as possible and in April 2008 the new Sustainability Charter was approved by Committee which is designed to guide the way we work. It sets out an Action Programme to 2012 and sets out our principles of sustainability, namely:

1. Responsible use of natural, built and community resources

We will minimise the use of non-renewable resources like fossil fuels, and use renewable energies within their limits through responsible energy management to reduce waste. All resources will be used as efficiently as possible.

2. The need to care for both present and future generations

We will ensure that long-term and global impacts like greenhouse gases and loss of species have greater weighting than short-term, local effects. Where there is a potential threat to the environment or to communities, the precautionary principle will apply.

3. Achieving a Sustainable Aberdeenshire

The council will support policies to promote social cohesion and a sustainable economy, operating within environmental limits.

4. Evidence Based Decision Making

In accordance with the principles of good governance, we will use sound science to inform our actions. While our decisions making process will be evidence based.

Sustainability Charter 2008-12

Sustainability Charter Annual Reports

For more information on sustainability please contact us.