Climate Change

Climate change will affect everyone, and by doing nothing its impacts will get much worse. But we still have time to turn the situation around and get back on track if we act now. We want to help make this happen to benefit all the residents in Sandwell.

The role of the Council

In 2019, the UK government committed to become net zero by 2050. Net zero means all of the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere must be removed to slow down and eventually stop the Earth heating up.

In recognition of the urgency to tackle climate change, Sandwell Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2020. We have two targets we have committed to:

1. To be a carbon-neutral Council by 2030
2. To be a carbon-neutral borough by 2041

We worked together with residents of Sandwell during an eight-week public consultation on climate change and air quality in early 2020, where we found that many participants were very concerned about these topics.

This helped us shape our Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan.

We directly report into the Climate Change Members' Steering Group, chaired by Cllr Keith Allcock, Cabinet Member for Environment and Highways.

How is the Council tackling climate change?

Emission Reporting

Below are our greenhouse gas emissions for Scope 1, 2 and 3.

Scope 1 emissions are the direct emissions we cause, such as burning gas and oil for energy. Scope 2 emissions are the emissions from the electricity we buy, and scope 3 emissions all the other indirect emissions tied to Council activities, such as buying goods and services, disposing of waste, business travel and employee commuting to name a few. Schools are including in our scope 3 reporting.

Not all of our scope 3 emissions have been reported here, we are working on increasing our knowledge of our emissions in this area.  We use the Environmental Reporting Guidelines from Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and report each calendar year:

Solar PV

At our main office building at Sandwell Council House, we’ve installed solar PV panels and heat pumps which will help us cut our carbon emissions. Solar PV was added to West Bromwich Outdoor Market through the Towns Fund programme in 2021, and the Sandwell Aquatic Centre, run by Kore Sandwell (formerly Sandwell Leisure Trust), also has solar PV and solar thermal heating to reduce emissions.

We’ve also installed 6 kW of solar panels at Tipton Leisure Centre, 25 kW at Wednesbury Leisure Centre, 34 kW at Blackheath Library and 8 kW at Bleakhouse Library. In total, we've installed 340 kW of solar on our buildings and 224 kW of solar on our schools.

Trees and Compost

Our Trees Strategy was approved by Cabinet in February 2023 and commits to planting 15,000 new trees by 2030. We also have selected sites across the borough that we cut less often to promote wildlife.

The Council use peat-free compost and topsoil. Peatlands and peatbogs store a large quantity of carbon, keeping it from harming our environment. When we remove it to use in compost, we disturb the stored carbon and it gets released into the atmosphere, which contributues to global warming. By using peat-free compost and topsoil, we help keep the carbon stored in the ground.

District heat pump

Refurbishments are under way at Darley House which will see four low rise blocks and the high-rise block receive a much-needed modernisation. This will include external insulation by over cladding the blocks with mineral wool insulation and rain screen cladding to improve the thermal efficiency, replacing the single glazed windows with double glazed windows, new insulated pitched roofs to cover the existing flat roofs. This will help save energy and costs, as well as upgrading of street lighting and a new district heating system that will serve all the blocks. Find out more here.

Single Use Plastic Policy

Our Single Use Plastics Policy was adopted in November 2023 and will help the Council reduce the amount of single use plastics we use and throw away.

Circular Economy

The West Midland Resource Reuse Network (WMRRN), run by International Synergies Ltd (ISL) on behalf of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), is a regional, facilitated programme highlighting the following waste steams: waste water sludge, sand and metals. The WMRRN project enables ISL to provide support to companies managing these waste streams with the potential to generate impact including cost and carbon savings, new revenue streams, job creation, waste reduction, resource efficiency and social value creation. To get involved click here.

A new Circular Economy Literacy Training course has been launched to support businesses across the West Midlands in adopting more sustainable practices, helping them reduce waste, reuse materials and unlock new opportunities for growth. Find out more here.

Tipton Leisure Centre Decarbonisation

Works are currently underway to install a sector-leading heat pump solution at Tipton Leisure Centre to replace the aging fossil fuel powered boilers currently in place. The project will result in a 100% reduction in gas consumption at the centre and is expected to lower CO2 emissions by around 200 tonnes per year, while also reducing running costs. The project represents a £2million investment in the centre, funded primarily via the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme administered by Salix.

Heat Decarbonisation Surveys

The Council is currently undertaking surveys of a range of public buildings and schools to evaluate their suitability for retrofit measures to make them more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. The surveys will then be used to develop projects to help decarbonise the Council’s building portfolio by installing measures such as heat pumps, solar panels, insulation, and other technologies that reduce running costs and lower carbon emissions.

Engagement 

The Strategy Room

Sandwell Council took part in a pilot scheme to develop “The Strategy Room”, a 90-minute game to find out what residents think about climate change policies, run by Nesta and Fast Familiar. We reached over 100 participants across the borough and nearly all said they enjoyed discussing what climate actions could work in their local area, from local and sustainably-sourced food to community energy schemes. Anonymised data was collected during the sessions and is available to view on their website.

Net Zero Innovation Programme

We received funding from the Local Government Association (LGA) and University College London (UCL) to tackle climate change locally. We opened our climate change grant funding pot and 10 groups were successful in applying for over £23,000 in total during 2022. This has enabled them to run climate change projects within their community - from cycling schemes to upcycling, to community gardens and supporting biodiversity.

Multistory - Green Roots Programme

Multistory is a community arts organisation, and Sandwell Council has helped fund their 'Green Roots' programme, which invites Sandwell residents to explore how we might build environmentally resilient communities through our local, natural and urban environments. Through their activities such as 'People and Planters' and 'Climate Stewardship', they are encouraging us to get outside more and switch our behaviours to be more environmentall conscious. They worked with our Eco-School sign ups to produce magazine titled This is Real, to be used as an educational resource for tackling climate change at a local level for school students in Sandwell - find out more here.

Funding

Small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) grants to help you achieve ‘Net Zero in Sandwell’

The current round of Business Energy Advice Service (BEAS) grants, delivered by Business Growth West Midlands, closed on 16th March 2026. Each assessment provided a personalised report with practical recommendations that businesses could implement to reduce energy consumption and cut costs, and a grant would help implement the recommendations.

Sandwell Council's business team plan to roll out a second wave of this support, with details to be confirmed by July 2026. In the meantime, if you are an organisation that wishes to become more sustainable, or would just like to know what other support we offer, please head to our dedicated webages here, or the Business Growth West Midlands webpages here.

WMCA Community Environment Fund

Due to the enthusiastic and incredible response from applicants, the Community Environment Fund is closed from July 2024.

The Community Environment Fund was launched in October 2023 by West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). The Community Environment Fund has £1m of grant funding available from the Government’s Commonwealth Games Legacy Enhancement Fund to support communities in delivering initiatives that improve the environment and people’s lives.

Approximately 30 small grants of up to £25,000 and 5 large grants of up to £100,000 will be awarded
for projects located WMCA area under the following project themes:

• Natural environment – to protect, restore and enhance nature and wildlife.
• Circular economy – to reduce waste and keep resources and materials in use for
  as long as possible.
• Climate adaptation – to make communities more resilient and prepared for the
  impacts of climate change.
• Access to green space – to provide better access to and community use of green
  space for health and wellbeing – similar to the existing Community Green Grants
  programme.
• Environment awareness – to improve knowledge of environment issues and
  support behaviour change.

Electric Vehicles

We have installed 39 charge points across our corporate sites, a mixture of public chargers for our staff and the public, and private charges to charge our fleet vehicles. In addition, we have installed 16 EV chargers at Sandwell Leisure Centre, managed by Kore Sandwell. We are in conversation with Black Country Transport to increase our public electric vehicle charger provision, for more information click here.

Schools

We've worked with eight schools across the borough to install solar PV on their buildings, so that their school can benefit from clean renewable energy.

In academic year 24/25, we funded the first year's subscription for schools to join the Eco Schools Programme, where schools can follow a provides a simple, seven-step framework which empowering young people to make a difference in their school, local community and beyond. This was very successful and we are offering a subsequent year of funding for schools to join the programme. Interested in getting involved? Email the climate change team

In November 2025, as part of UK Parliment week, seven schools joined the climate change staff, Multistory and Act On Energy in the Council House Chambers to learn more about climate change and energy usage in the home. In the morning, Multistory got the students to think about what they would like to protect in nature and make a physical paper megaphone decorated with that subject, they also made eco-warrior badges. In the afternoon, charity Act On Energy ran an energy-saving awareness session where the students got involved via quizzes and team games. Overall, the sessions were very well received.

Saving Energy at Sandwell Aquatics Centre Using Pool Covers

The pool covers are an important energy efficiency measure which effectively act as an insulation blanket and help keep the pool water warm whilst not in use by the public.

The April 2025 installation was made possible thanks to Sport England which provided a grant via its Swimming Pool Support Fund to Sandwell Council, and it is expected that the covers will save approximately £30,000 per year in energy costs and reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 101 tonnes.

Learn more on this story here.

Read more about Council activities that help climate change below:

• Reduce your energy costs
• Recycling guide
• Public transport
• Green spaces in Sandwell
• Electric vehicles and Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) strategy
• Single Use Plastics Policy
• Improving air quality
• Order a Food Waste Bin
• View the Draft Local Plan

Questions? Email the climate change team