Our climate action scorecard 2023

Climate Emergency UK has published the results of the Council Climate Action Scorecards. The not-for-profit organisation has scored all UK councils on their climate action across seven sections. These are:

• biodiversity
• buildings and heating
• collaboration and engagement
• governance and finance
• planning and land use
• transport
• waste reduction and food

How did we do?

• our overall score was equal to the average score for all district councils
• we're above average in four out of the seven sections
• we scored well in the areas of biodiversity (62%), and waste reduction and food (43%) - these scores were over two times higher than the average score for district councils
• other areas where we performed well were transport, and planning and land use

The action scorecards are a useful tool to help us identify areas where we can improve. We remain committed to delivering our climate change programme in partnership with all our stakeholders. We continue to work towards reducing our carbon emissions across our activities.

What's our response?

Lead Councillor for Planning, Environment and Climate Change, Cllr George Potter said:
"We're making steady progress on our actions around climate change. We adopted our Climate Change Action Plan in February this year. We're now working to put our plan into operation across all our services and integrate the actions into our day-to-day business activities.

"Our high biodiversity score shows how well we're already doing to protect and increase biodiversity in our green spaces. The excellent services provided by our waste team to reduce waste and increase recycling in our borough are also reflected in our higher-than-average score for that section.

"Other aspects of our score are a timely reminder that there is still significant work to do if we want to demonstrate leadership in all areas of tackling the climate crisis.  The scorecard will be useful in helping us to identify areas where we need to do more.

"We're aware we cannot achieve net zero for the borough on our own, and that there is much more we still need to do. We thank our residents and businesses for playing their part in reducing carbon emissions."

More information on our scorecard results (opens new window)

Published on: 19 October 2023