25 Big Local Actions Update #1

2025 has had a dramatic start. Global politics aside, extreme weather events have affected people around the world, including here in the UK where Storm Eowyn brought unprecedented wind, and with it, devastating destruction. Whilst storms, flooding and wildfires have been happening for centuries; it’s clear that the frequency and the impact of these events is increasing at an alarming rate, and this is unquestionably related to climate change.?

So, how can we reduce carbon emissions and reverse the global heating that is contributing to this weather? Well, over the course of 2025, we’re sharing 25 Big Local Actions that you can take, together with others in your community or workplace, that can make a difference.?

In today’s newsletter, we’ll look at the first two actions: Insulate Our Homes and Restore Peatlands. If these two don’t feel relevant to you – remember we have 25 in total to share this year – so head to our 25 Big Local Actions in 2025 page to find the one that inspires you!?

Insulate Our Homes?

People across the UK could collectively save as much as ￡8 billion on their energy bills through insulating homes and other efficiency measures.

With this jaw-dropping figure in mind, insulating our poor UK housing stock and ensuring new construction meets the highest insulation standards should be a flagship priority, for our national and local governments.?

In addition to seeing lower energy bills, people feel the tangible benefits of better insulation by being warm indoors in the winter. Housing quality has a significant and material impact on health and wellbeing, as anyone who has lived in cold or damp conditions will tell you.

Speaking on a Carbon Copy Podcast episode, Insulate Our Homes, Andrea Howe from Cosy Homes in Lancashire (a partnership of 14 local authorities in Lancashire including Blackpool Council ) also mentioned how important it is to address poor housing for health reasons:

“We set up really to make sure that the most deprived properties, the most vulnerable residents, those with long-term health conditions, had an easy way access funding to make sure their homes were warm and that they remained well in their properties. We all know living in a cold home can impact on people's health and well-being.”?

Alongside helpful links to organisations like Energy Saving Trust , the Centre for Sustainable Energy and SHINE LONDON LIMITED , we’re spotlighting the example of Warmer Homes Scotland – The Scottish Government 's inspiring nationwide programme tackling fuel poverty, improving energy efficiency and providing jobs and training opportunities at the same time.?Warmer Homes Scotland is a brilliant example of local action that’s really big. To date this initiative has supported more than 35,000 households in Scotland, helping people to manage their bills and keep their homes warm and healthy.

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a standardised rating for UK homes that indicates the energy efficiency of the building in a clear and transparent way. The ratings are graded from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient), and these EPCs really do matter. Increasing the energy efficiency of the UK’s properties to EPC rating C (not even the most efficient!) could prevent around 650,000 new cases of childhood asthma by 2030. So there really is an enormous need for ambitious initiatives like Warmer Homes Scotland to be rolled out elsewhere.

The UK as a whole needs a new scheme and a big investment in training so we have the workforce in place to upgrade our nation’s homes – a home energy efficiency scheme modelled on Scotland’s programme; but importantly, we should not wait for Westminster. Locally, we have opportunities right now to plug some of the gaps in our leaky homes and save on energy bills, by navigating the different schemes currently available and by using local area services.?

Learn more about insulating homes

For more information about insulating homes, and steps you can take to improve the energy efficiency of your home, to listen to the Insulate Our Homes podcast episode, and to find links to organisations that can help, visit the Insulate Our Homes action page.

Restore Peatlands?

Are peatlands better than trees??

Which is more effective at storing carbon in the UK, all our peatlands or all our forests? Both bogs and forests cover a similar proportion of the total land area in this country, around three million hectares each.?

Same land cover, very different storage.?

In total, the UK’s peatlands (also known as peat bogs) store over three billion tonnes of carbon. To put this figure into perspective, that’s equivalent to 20 years of all the UK’s carbon emissions.?

How does this compare to the carbon captured and stored in all the forests in the UK? It’s not even close! The UK’s peatlands store so much more – around the same amount as all the forest in the UK, France and Germany, put together. This explains the importance of peatlands.?

The ‘life expectancy’ of the carbon stored in trees is relatively short as trees live over a time frame measured in decades, or a few centuries at best, before they decompose and release their carbon. Unlike trees, a wet peatland keeps carbon dioxide locked up in the ground with no time limit. Speaking on the?Carbon Copy Podcast, Alex Hubberstey from Lancashire Wildlife Trust , which leads Lancashire Peat Partnership comments:?

“You have to think of a forest as a ‘temporary’ carbon store… obviously an oak tree might last a thousand years, but peatlands can last 10,000 years and that carbon is never given off.”?

It’s not all about the carbon.?

In addition to their ability to store away carbon, peat bogs provide other valuable services, helping to reduce flood risks and purify water, as well as offering vital habitat for some of the UK’s most important and rare species. As Simon Gray from ULSTER WILDLIFE TRUST explains:?

“There are lots of endemic and rare species that are very specifically adapted to living on bogs, like insectivorous plants such as sundews, or particular bird species like curlews and hen harriers. The reason why peatlands have started to get a lot more limelight is because of their importance when it comes to carbon, but also in providing other ecosystem services like flood mitigation, improving water quality, and all sorts of things.”?

Seeing this magic isn’t easy. We need to look down instead of up; to see something that’s already there that we can work with instead of trying to invent something new.?

Restoring peatlands.?

Unfortunately, we can’t ignore the state of peatlands if we want to keep all this carbon locked up in the ground. A dry, degraded peatland – like many in England’s uplands – is a big source of carbon emissions as the carbon stored within the peat soil is lost to the atmosphere. And there’s a big opportunity to restore these peat bogs and the wider benefits they provide, as only 22% are currently in a near natural or rewetted condition.?

Ultimately, in choosing between tree planting and restoring peatlands, the best value lies with improving peat. But, of course, it’s not a forced choice between one or the other. The forced choice is to do something about both, to avoid negatively impacting our already overloaded climate.?

If you’re interested in learning more about what you can do locally, please visit our?peatland restoration page.?