Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership

working together to take climate action

Action to tackle climate change across Cumbria is led by a partnership of more than eighty organisations from all different walks of life in the county.

Our vision

To work towards a net zero carbon county by 2037 with improved quality of life, people living in balance with their environment and a sustainable low carbon economy.

The next full partnership meeting with be on Tuesday 25 November | 10am-11.30am

Partnership news

New funding awarded for action on climate change

3 February 2026

Futureproof Cumbria (previously Cumbria Action for Sustainability) has received £300,000 in new funding from Westmorland and Furness Council and support from the Lake District National Park Authority to grow the Zero Carbon Cumbria (ZCC) project and Partnership (ZCCP), to support climate action by diverse organisations and communities across the area. The Partnership is a collaboration involving over 300 people from around 80 organisations which brings people together from all walks of life to share knowledge, coordinate activity and

Find out more >

Our purpose

The partnership is working towards the goal of net zero carbon emissions in Cumbria by 2037, while ensuring that Cumbria benefits from the opportunities this brings. Its purpose is to plan and oversee a radical programme of action that will enable Cumbria to become a net zero carbon county and to mitigate the likely impact of existing climate change.

Our aims

The partnership’s key aims and objectives are to:

Build on the Cumbria Carbon Baseline report to develop a programme of action to reduce carbon emissions to reach net zero by 2037.
Broaden and deepen engagement facilitating a strong community and youth voice, creating new ways of meaningful joint working and co-designed solutions with communities, decision making bodies and other partners.
Identify and support leads to take forward a sector-based programme of carbon reduction projects aligned to a net zero by 2037 pathway.
Join up and connect existing climate related programmes working across the county and beyond – sharing learning, gathering intelligence and influencing decisions.
Build relationships by establishing clear communication channels and link the work of the ZCCP with other groups, forums and partnership boards across the county to facilitate collective and co-ordinated action.
Build organisational and community capacity to better respond to climate change.
Create a lasting project legacy by attracting new funds, redirecting existing funding, and influencing decision/policy-making.
Connect with previously unengaged individuals, communities and organisations, as well as those already engaged to inspire and inform, create new skills, experience, knowledge, agency and volunteer capacity to reduce carbon emissions.
Support equitable climate action that enables communities to drive the change needed and ensure that any transition is just and fair.
Develop and share a new pioneering monitoring and evaluation framework to measure emission reductions, engagement, behaviour and policy impacts.

Participants

Two of the partnership’s greatest strengths are its diversity and that it is community led. There are representatives from many different walks of life including local authorities, local sustainability groups, schools, the farming sector, NHS, police, Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), businesses, national parks, Natural England, the Environment Agency, Electricity North West, United Utilities and more.

Governance & leadership

The partnership is currently jointly chaired by Karen Mitchell (Chief Executive of Futureproof Cumbria) and David F Murphy (Associate Professor of Sustainability & Collaborative Leadership and Academic Lead of the Initiative for Leadership & Sustainability, University of Cumbria).

As part of ongoing governance reviews, ZCCP is considering future reporting structures following local government reorganisation. As new local leaders groups are established we will work with partners to ensure that ZCCP keeps them well informed of progress and opportunities for collaboration.

To ensure progress towards net zero carbon, the partnership is steered by a Strategic Oversight Board, currently chaired by Sarah Swindley.

Find out more about the ZCC team >

Meetings

The full partnership meets quarterly. There is also a quarterly meeting of the Strategic Oversight Board. The sector groups each set their own meeting schedules, to best suit their work.

Sector groups

The main way that the partnership will drive change is through its working groups, which focus on the main sources of emissions in Cumbria. There are four groups up and running now, and new groups may be formed to focus on other themes.

Join us

To get involved and find out more about the Partnership, please contact Partnership Manager, Michael Robinson.

Current work of the partnership

The partnership has made some big strides forward, laying the groundwork for the shift towards a zero carbon county.

The partnership has been growing and evolving since it was first set up in 2019. It has succeeded in bringing together very diverse organisations to work towards the shared goal of carbon reduction.

Read the latest news from the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership >

Wider context

Businesses and organisations in the public and third sectors in Cumbria have been building carbon reduction into their strategies and plans, and some also have dedicated climate action plans.

Click the button below to find links to the climate action plans of some key organisations. You’ll also find links to some of the Cumbria-wide strategies that are relevant to carbon reduction, such as health, transport, nature recovery, jobs and skills. These show the wider context of the partnership’s work.