Brighton & Hove’s One Planet Action Plan was recognised by Bioregional in April 2013, marking its debut as the first One Planet City. As well as greening the city council’s own operations, it aims to enable 280,000 seaside citizens to live well within a fairer share of the earth’s resources.
Working with Bioregional and other partners in the city, the overall goal was to boost the local economy, make Brighton & Hove more resistant to price hikes in energy, fuel and food, and foster a more equal and healthy city, all while protecting the environment and our planet.
The plan sets out how Brighton & Hove can meet all the targets under Bioregional’s ten One Planet Living principles, identifying achievable goals that are compatible with living within the natural resources our one planet can provide. For each principle, it sets objectives for both the council and the entire city.
It is a huge achievement for Brighton & Hove to be recognised as the world’s first One Planet City
Councillor Jason Kitcat, Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council
This detailed but practical three-year plan sets out baselines (“where we are now”), high-level objectives (“where we want to get to”) and short, medium and long term actions (“what we are going to do”) to improve local quality of life, reduce impacts on the environment, save money and make Brighton & Hove more resilient. For example, the plan embraces more local, renewable energy sources and insulation programmes, which save energy and make homes cheaper to heat.
The council has also published case studies detailing work going on around the city under the plan and the ten One Planet Living principles. In December 2014, Bioregional published an 18-month review of Brighton & Hove’s progress against the timetable and targets set out in the plan (see below).
Bioregional has been working in Brighton & Hove for more than a decade. Projects include the landmark One Brighton development of 178 homes, the first One Planet Community in the UK.
In 2014/15 we supported an exciting photography project in Brighton & Hove based on the ten principles of One Planet Living and the city’s One Planet status. It included a photography competition for local people with some stunning images taken, including the header photo for this page (credit Rich Howorth).
Land and nature
Achievement of UNESCO Biosphere status for the Brighton & Hove City region.
Health and happiness
Increasing the proportion of Council staff reporting good, very good or excellent health from 62% to 86%
Equity and local economy
132 businesses across the city joining the Living Wage campaign
Zero waste
Development of 30 community composting schemes, diverting 84tonnes of food waste from landfill each year
One Planet Living is our vision of a world where we can live happily within the Earth’s resources, and a straightforward framework to achieve this
Find out more
Melanie Rees is a former special needs head teacher who set up The Green Centre in Brighton in 2006. This community grassroots organisation engages the general public with all environmental issues, using the One Planet Living® framework at its core.
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