Sustainable tourism key to Cumbria’s new carbon neutral plan

Ambition to become the UK's first carbon-neutral county, by 2037, looks to reduce the impact of visitors, especially in the Lakes

Across Cumbria local communities, businesses and grassroots organisations are being mobilised to map out ways that they hope will help it become the UK's first carbon-neutral county. The county is aiming to decarbonise by 2037, an ambition initially supported by 2.5m of national lottery funding, awarded last August and to be drip-fed over five years starting this month. Tourism will be an area of focus, alongside housing, transport and agriculture.

The national lottery funding is an injection of adrenaline at the beginning of a long journey," said Karen Mitchell, CEO of Cumbria Action for Sustainability (Cafs). The funding was secured by the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership, which was set up by Cafs in 2019 with the help of the county council. The partnership has 68 members tasked with leading the drive to cut emissions, including the Lake District national park authority.