Does your community;
- Aim to be a resilient, vibrant and sustainable community by 2030?
- Aim to reduce its carbon emissions and energy use by 2030?
- Work well together?
If so, Mayo County Council invite you to register your interest in becoming a Decarbonising zone.
Under the Climate Action Plan 2019 each Local Authority is required to identify a Decarbonising Zone (DZ). The DZ will at a minimum reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 7% per annum to 2030 (a 51% reduction over the decade) and will become an exemplar site for the rest of the county to develop pathways and learnings for other communities to decarbonize.
Mayo County Council understands that for a DZ to be successful a whole of community approach is required and for this reason we would like to invite communities to apply to become Mayo’s first DZ.
Why become Mayo’s first DZ?
Mayo County Councils vision for the DZ is that by 2030 it will be a resilient, vibrant and sustainable community that by 2030 will be on a pathway to zero carbon emissions.
Mayo County Council will work with the community to reach this target through;
– providing guidance and leadership
– helping identify and apply for funding eg. Climate Action Fund, Ireland 2040, Community energy grants
– developing partnerships with relevant bodies eg. Academia, Government bodies, SEAI etc.
– developing the 2030 implementation plan with the community (to be submitted to Department of Local Government, Housing and Heritage by Q4 2021)
– assisting with implementing plan over timeframe to 2030
How to become Mayo’s first DZ?
The process is broken down into four steps (Further outlined in pdf attached)
Step 1: Expression of interest – Deadline March 22nd
Step 2: Preparing DZ application form (Webinars and information sessions will be held with interested communities on how to progress with the application process.)
Step 3: Deadline for receipt of submissions – 4pm, April 16th
Step 4: Announcement of Mayo DZ May 11th
Communities that are interested are requested to submit an expression of interest by March 22nd with name, contact details and whether your community meets the urban or rural requirements:
(i) urban areas and agglomerations with a population not less than 5000 persons, (Castlebar, Ballina and Westport)
or
(ii) rural areas with an area of not less than 4km2 (can include towns/villages)
to: Laura Dixon, Climate Action Officer, Mayo County Council [email protected] by March 22nd.