12 November 2025 - Institutional leaders from across Cambridge came together last week for the latest meeting of the Cambridge City Climate Leaders Group — a collaborative initiative bringing together key organisations committed to accelerating the city’s transition to a net zero, climate-resilient future.
Hosted by Cambridge City Council, Cambridge Zero and CISL at the Entopia building, CISL’s award-winning sustainable headquarters, the session provided a platform for local institutions, businesses and civic leaders to share progress, explore challenges, and align around shared priorities for action. The meeting also marked an important next step in shaping a city-wide climate plan, building on the City Council’s next Climate Change Strategy.
Shaping a shared approach to climate action
The meeting began with an overview from Lynne Miles, Director of Economy and Place at Cambridge City Council, who set out the ambition, as part of the Council’s own strategy to engage beyond the Council’s own assets to create a collective city-wide framework for climate action. This broader plan aims to reflect the commitments, expertise and innovation already taking place across the city — and to create a stronger, more connected story of Cambridge’s contribution to tackling climate change.
Participants were encouraged to upload or share their organisation’s Sustainability or Climate Change Strategies. These submissions will help map ongoing projects and commitments, forming the foundation for an integrated city strategy. The council is still looking for examples so please also share your own via this link too.
Inspiration and insight from local experts
The session featured contributions from three guest speakers offering practical insights into climate governance, innovation and system-wide collaboration.
Dr Karen Barass, from the Centre for Climate Engagement at Hughes Hall, outlined work on developing a Governance Framework to unlock net zero finance for Cambridgeshire and other local authorities through locally determined contributions (LDCs). Highlighting what makes this project innovative, she explained that it takes the LDC concept “beyond theory by developing, testing, and articulating a practical methodology that enables local government to create an LDC tailored to their specific context.”
Janet Hall, of Sustainability Co, provided updates on the Cambridge City Centre Heat Network and emerging work on Heat Zoning — exploring how coordinated infrastructure planning could cut emissions and improve energy resilience within the historic heart of Cambridge.
Lynne Miles, Director of Economy & Place, Cambridge City Council, shared updates on the City Council’s climate priorities and progress to date, highlighting opportunities for collective delivery across sectors.
Representatives from both South Cambs District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council highlighted their own climate strategies are also in the process of being updated so a real moment of opportunity to shape the future of the region.
Collaboration and creativity in action
In breakout discussions, participants began to co-design elements of the emerging city-wide plan, sharing examples of their organisations’ work and suggestions from other contexts on how to cut emissions, adapt to climate risks, and support community resilience. The conversations highlighted the importance of creativity, communications, partnerships, and long-term vision in making local progress at pace.
Upload your Sustainability Strategy
Please upload or share a link to your publicly available Sustainability / Environmental / Climate Change Strategy (or similar) here. This will help us to capture existing actions, projects and commitments from organisations across Cambridge, to start shaping the city-wide plan and help tell the story of what the city is doing collectively to tackle climate change. So far, we haven’t received any uploads, and we really need your input so that we can develop the city plan.