Leader of the council Mary Mears will also write to the Local Strategic Partnership with a view to persuading as many organisations as possible to sign up to the campaign. The Local Strategic Partnership is made up of organisations and businesses across the city, including the Primary Care Trust, Sussex Police, the city’s Economic Partnership, community and voluntary organisations.

Councillor Mears explained: “A low carbon Brighton & Hove is our top sustainability priority and this is a real opportunity to re-energise our staff, be bold, and inspire others across the city to do the same.

“We’ve already made efficiencies right across our own buildings, vehicle fleet and even our street lighting, achieving savings of about £145,000 and nearly 400 tonnes of CO2. Now we need to go further, and by saving energy and CO2, we will also be saving council taxpayers’ money.”

Before this agreement, the council’s target carbon reduction was 4% per year for the next five years.

A report will be brought to the January meeting of the Sustainability Cabinet Committee outlining the measures which will be taken.

Council initiatives to reduce carbon emissions include:

• Launching a £6 million energy efficiency grant scheme over three years to help householders cut costs and carbon emissions
• Installing a network of electric car charging points in the cityCommitting the council and the city to tough, short-term targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions – by 12% over three years
• Helping secure £180,000 from the Department for International Development for Climate Connections, a three year city-wide public engagement project
• Playing an integral part in helping the city’s Food Partnership secure a grant of £500,000 over four years
• Running the Be Local Buy Local campaign to support local jobs and the environment.

For more informatio on the 10:10 campaign (and to sign up) go to www.1010uk.org