Climate change is the great challenge to our planet and our society. That’s why Cambridge Labour is committed to making Cambridge a Zero Emission city by 2050.

We want Cambridge residents and visitors to our city to enjoy our green spaces. That’s why we’re investing in our parks and updating our facilities so that people can enjoy Cambridge to their fullest.

A greener Cambridge

We believe in a greener, cleaner Cambridge, which is why we’re investing in our parks and open spaces. We’re planting trees in our public spaces, but we’re also keen to encourage planting of trees in people’s gardens with our popular ‘Free Trees for Babies’ programme, where we’ll give you a tree to plant in your garden to mark your baby’s birth. 

We’ve also planted more wildflower meadows, including at Parker’s Piece, Coleridge Rec and Barnwell Road and planning to trial a ‘zero chemicals’ approach in two parks.

Using our public spaces

We want people to use our public spaces, which is why we’ve improved play areas, pavilions, landscaping, noticeboards and benches, and renovated the paths across Parker’s Piece. We’re undertaking an assessment on making the River cam corridor more accessible, while protecting its fragile environment, including installing extra public art.

We’re making it easier and healthier to cycle around Cambridge, by creating extra new cycle parking at Queen Anna Terrace, East Road, Free School Lane and Jesus Green Lane (with space for an extra 116 bikes) and we’re working with coach, bus and taxi operators to reduce vehicle emissions and air pollution.

Eco-Friendly Cambridge

We’re committed to making recycling easier and more efficient across the city and South Cambridgeshire through the Shared Waste Service, encouraging residents and businesses to recycle more. We’ve installed new recycling bins alongside litter bins throughout the city, and we’ve reorganised every bin round to save 20,000 lorry miles helping with air pollution in our city.

We’re implementing the actions in our Climate Change Strategy, reducing emissions from our own estate and property portfolio, and investing £250,000 in 2018/19 in extra emission-cutting technology at Parkside Pools and installing a biomass boiler at King’s Hedges Pool and at other council buildings. We’ve also set up a new ‘Cambridge Water Refill’ scheme to provide free drinking-water refills and reduce plastic waste.