Rother District Council has been accredited as a Silver Carbon Literate Organisation (CLO), highlighting the authority’s commitment to cutting emissions and addressing climate change.
Carbon Literacy training is one of the projects the council is undertaking to help reduce its carbon footprint and become a net zero district by 2030.
To become Carbon Literate employees have undertaken Carbon Literacy learning covering climate change, carbon footprints, what staff can do to help, and why it’s relevant to employees and local communities.
The council previously achieved Bronze CLO status last year, and now with over 30 per cent of staff accredited as Carbon Literate, the authority has received the Silver award.
Cllr Kathryn Field, portfolio holder for environment, licensing and climate strategy at Rother District Council, said: “I am very proud we have been awarded Silver Carbon Literacy accreditation.
“Since we declared a climate emergency in 2019 and launched our new Climate Strategy last year, the council has taken a number of steps to reduce emissions and raise awareness of climate change across Rother.
“This achievement marks a significant milestone in the council’s commitment to reaching our ambitious 2030 net zero target, and I am delighted that so many of our staff have participated in the training.”
The authority is on course for 50 per cent of council staff to be Carbon Literacy trained by 2026, which will enable the organisation to become gold-certified.
To further encourage staff to make greener, more environmentally friendly choices, the council recently joined the green travel scheme Easit East Sussex.
The initiative offers staff a range of travel-related discounts to encourage more sustainable travel choices, helping to reduce traffic congestion and pollution while also offering employees cost savings.
Earlier this summer, the authority was also named the most improved district council in the country for its efforts to tackle climate change, following its assessment by Climate Emergency UK.
The council’s latest Climate Action Scorecard rated Rother 9th out of 51 district councils with a score of 50 per cent. In 2023, the council was rated 50th out of 51 district councils with a score of 19 per cent.
More information on the council’s work to tackle climate change can be found online at www.rother.gov.uk/climate-emergency.
For more information on The Carbon Literacy Project visit www.carbonliteracy.com
Published: 26th September 2025
