Zero Carbon Oxford Partnership (ZCOP) 

What is Zero Carbon Oxford Partnership (ZCOP)?

The Zero Carbon Oxford Partnership (ZCOP) is a group of the Oxford’s largest and most significant organisations, including a number of the Project LEO consortium, coming together to collaborate on carbon reduction and tackle the climate emergency.

Its creation and mission came out of Oxford City Council’s Zero Carbon Oxford Summit in February this year, where all partners committed to support the target of net zero carbon emissions in the city by 2040.

The Partnership is in the process of developing a Roadmap and Action Plan that sets out milestones in the journey to achieving net zero by 2040, and key areas for local collaborative action.

The energy system will need to radically change in order to support renewable energy generation and low carbon technologies, such as those that will be outlined in the ZCOP Roadmap and are being used by Project LEO.

The success of Project LEO in demonstrating this change is therefore crucial for achieving net zero, and for the long-term success of the Zero Carbon Oxford partnership.

Why is it relevant to Project LEO?

The remit of the partnership is complimentary to Project LEO’s overall goals for accelerating the transition to a net zero energy system.

The partnership provides a space for collaboration of local organisations, which in turn will help to support development of the enabling environment required for Project LEO to succeed. The implementation of the ZCOP Roadmap and Action Plan will help focus this collaboration; of particular relevance to LEO will be the first few years of the Action Plan, which covers the remaining time of Project LEO.

Insights from the project have already been included in the development of the Roadmap and Action plan, and learnings from Project LEO will also be utilised within the ZCOP going forwards.

Achieving a net zero Oxford by 2040 will require an increase in understanding and collaborative action from local ZCOP organisations on their role in the changing energy system. This will help establish a supportive framework for Project LEO, as well as engagement opportunities, dissemination of learnings and recruitment for market trials.

There is also the opportunity to generate insights for Project LEO on how Oxford is building this enabling environment amongst organisations, which is complimentary to the detailed community activities being led by the Low Carbon Hub through LEO’s Smart and Fair Neighbourhoods programme. In particular, the Roadmap and Action Plan can provide the “big picture” net zero context for the two Smart and Fair Neighbourhood projects within Oxford (Rose Hill and Osney Island).

Finally, the partnership has a remit to identify policy and regulatory gaps, and seeks to understand the extent of what can be done to address these, through collective lobbying where appropriate. Project LEO is also undertaking work in this space and there are significant opportunities for ZCOP and LEO to work together to maximise the impact of their activities.

More information

For more information on the partnership, see the summit press release and the Zero Carbon Oxford Partnership website.