For many years, the Parish Council has supported and/or led a number of initiatives to help the environment and protect the climate; e.g. Care for Our Village, Trees for Tomorrow.  Some of these initiatives are long term projects while others have a fixed duration.  The Parish Council also engages with local groups and organisations (e.g. the Scouts, the Churches) on environmental issues as well as being active in projects that go beyond the Parish; e.g. Climate Action Stokesley and Villages (CASaV) and the Living Leven group led by the Tees River Trust.

The Parish Council produced its first Climate and Environmental Action Plan in 2021.

The opportunity for the Parish Council to affect the environment and climate fall under three main headings; namely,

1. Reducing its own carbon footprint
2. Nature Recovery (land and biodiversity management) and
3. Community Engagement and leadership.

The scope of the Parish Council’s actions in each of these areas will vary; for example, the Parish Council does not own any buildings so its ability to reduce its energy consumption is limited.  Nevertheless, the Parish Council seeks to act wherever it can.

The aim of the Climate and Environmental Action Plan is to:

Help the Parish Council, individuals, businesses, and organisations within the Parish to alleviate Climate Change and improve the Environment

1. Reduce the Parish Council’s carbon emissions wherever possible
2. Improve the environment and biodiversity within the Parish to help alleviate Climate Change
3. Encourage individuals, businesses, and local organisations to take similar actions
4. Work with other organisations and/or individuals to tackle Climate Change and help the environment
5. Signpost resources to help parishioners tackle Climate Change and help the environment
6. Ensure RPC regularly reviews the action plan