Isle of Anglesey Council seeks Net Zero implementation partner

On the same day as the UK’s sixth Carbon Budget with its legal commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 78% by 2035 to 1990 levels, the Isle of Anglesey County Council in north-west Wales has, with considerably less fanfare, unveiled its own plans for the Island (population 70,000) to become a carbon neutral authority by 2030.

A contract notice published by the Council on the Sell2Wales public procurement e-notice portal is seeking a private sector company to provide professional capacity, expertise knowledge and design services to the Council to aid the Island’s transition to carbon neutrality.

The contract which is open for any bidder to apply for recognises the scale of the challenge in achieving its goals, highlighting that transitioning the Island’s Council to carbon neutrality, will require among other areas, decarbonising: travel, transport, leisure, procured goods and services, waste, environment, smallholding land and buildings, commercial buildings, libraries/galleries, education (including schools) and domestic housing stock, whilst also taking into account human behavioural change.

The successful bidder will, in return for a contract worth approximately £1m over four years will be expected to baseline the Council’s carbon footprint, draft corporate policies and protocols, deliver infrastructure investment plans that contribute to carbon neutrality, associated business case/ justifications, benefits realisation plans, specifications, cost benefit analysis, delivery and action plans, as well as the establishment of a monitoring and reporting framework.

Whilst the Isle of Anglesey has grabbed attention by seeking a private sector delivery partner, the Council’s efforts are part of a wider policy and legislative framework that seeks to ensure Wales transitions to becoming a low carbon and environmentally sustainable economy, that is ready to adapt to the impacts of climate change and which mitigates the impacts of change on biodiversity.

Ahead of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow later this year, further policy, development and contract opportunities are bound to emerge as minds turn from rhetoric to delivery as climate change impacts (such as last week’s clifftop landslip at Nefyn on the Llyn Peninsula in a neighbouring local authority) become ever more apparent.

For companies interested in pursuing this contract opportunity, the notice can be viewed at https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=APR362695.

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