Environment and sustainability

The scrutiny and oversight of PCCs is a critical element of their shared responsibility with chPCCs, PFCCs and Deputy Mayors have a critical role to play in ensuring that their forces, commissioned services, and offices are using environmentally friendly and sustainable practices.  

The implications of policing not leading in these areas include growing protest movements, more civil emergencies (such as flooding), a rise in organised crime groups taking advantage of demand for resources, and demand on the police to enforce new legislative restrictions against those causing environmental harm. 

Fleet – one of the most important and simplest ways PCCs can help the environment and deliver sustainability is in the provision, fuelling and maintenance of their force’s fleet. 

Estates – decisions PCCs make on the buildings our police forces and OPCCs use can also make a major positive difference to environmental sustainability. 

We know that concern about climate change is an important issue for the public and this gives PCCs a strong mandate as the public’s voice in policing, to ensure that policing is striving to meet the challenges of climate change and taking steps to mitigate the risks it poses. 

With the Government committed to achieving Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050, and the College of Policing identifying climate change as one of the ten most significant challenges for policing over the next ten years, the APCC has joined forces with its policing partners at the National Police Chiefs Council and Bluelight Commercial, to deliver a policing decarbonisation programme BlueLight Commercial | Sustainability 

Portfolio leads