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Aberdeen City Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

We don’t think this council has declared a climate emergency – let us know if it has!

Council only pledge for 2045

“In March 2021, the Council Climate Change Plan 2021-25: Towards a Net Zero and Climate Resilient Council was approved. The Plan and accompanying Project Register set out the approach, pathway and actions towards net zero and climate resilient Council assets and operations, by 2045.”

Whole area pledge

“Our aim is to be a true national and international exemplar by becoming a climate positive city as soon as possible.”

Climate documents

Last update: March 16, 2022

Climate Plan Scorecard

This council’s climate plans as of 20th September 2021 were assessed and scored by trained Climate Emergency UK volunteers, as part of the Council Climate Plan Scorecards project.

Show the full Scorecard Read more about the scoring process

SectionAberdeen City CouncilAverage single tier council
Total score36%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
10/21
10.3/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
9/18
9.0/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
3/7
4.1/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
4/9
5.1/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
2/5
2.9/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
2/4
2.2/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.9/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
1/5
2.3/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
0/4
2.1/4

Emissions reduction projects

Local authorities in Scotland are required to publish yearly data on their compliance with their climate change duties – including the emissions reduction projects they are undertaking.

See all of Aberdeen City Council’s projects

45

Projects

2.2 ktCO2 per year

Total annual emissions savings

£20,102,519.9

Total capital cost

Emissions data

952.2 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

4.2 tCO2

per person

4.6 ktCO2

per km2

34%

Domestic

29%

Transport

13%

Industry

12%

Commercial

11%

Public Sector

1%

Agriculture

Data from the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy “subset dataset”, representing carbon dioxide emissions within the scope of influence of local authorities.

These councils are the most similar to Aberdeen City Council in terms of emissions profile, deprivation, rural/urban population density, and geographical nearness. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
City of Edinburgh Council79%Yes2030Feb. 7, 2019
Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council72%Yes2030April 3, 2019
West Lothian Council72%NoNo targetSept. 24, 2019
West Dunbartonshire Council71%Yes2045May 29, 2019
Falkirk Council69%Yes2030Aug. 26, 2019
North of Tyne Combined Authority69%YesNo targetMay 7, 2019
Renfrewshire Council68%No2030June 27, 2019
Midlothian Council66%No2030Dec. 17, 2019
North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council66%Yes2050July 25, 2019
Leeds City Council65%No2030March 27, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Aberdeen City Council in terms of their emissions profile, based on the latest data from the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
West Dunbartonshire Council89%Yes2045May 29, 2019
Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council85%Yes2030April 3, 2019
Runnymede Borough Council83%NoNo targetOct. 17, 2019
Cheltenham Borough Council81%Yes2030Feb. 18, 2019
Canterbury City Council78%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Preston City Council76%No2030April 18, 2019
City of Edinburgh Council75%Yes2030Feb. 7, 2019
Nottingham City Council75%Yes2028Jan. 21, 2019
London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham74%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea74%Yes2030Oct. 1, 2019
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Aberdeenshire Council94%No2045No
Angus Council89%YesNo targetSept. 5, 2019
Dundee City Council86%Yes2045June 24, 2019
The Moray Council86%Yes2030June 27, 2019
Fife Council82%Yes2045Sept. 26, 2019
East Lothian Council81%No2045Aug. 27, 2019
Perth and Kinross Council77%No2045No
Midlothian Council77%No2030Dec. 17, 2019
City of Edinburgh Council77%Yes2030Feb. 7, 2019
Scottish Borders Council76%Yes2045Sept. 5, 2020

These councils are the most similar to Aberdeen City Council in terms of the proportion of their population living in high deprivation, medium deprivation, and low deprivation neighbourhoods. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Broxtowe Borough Council96%Yes2027July 17, 2019
Milton Keynes94%Yes2030Jan. 23, 2019
South Ribble Borough Council93%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Chorley Council93%Yes2030Nov. 19, 2019
Canterbury City Council93%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Fylde Borough Council92%NoNo targetNo
South Derbyshire District Council92%Yes2030June 27, 2019
Warwickshire County Council91%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Staffordshire County Council90%Yes2050July 25, 2019
Erewash Borough Council90%No2050No

These councils are the most similar to Aberdeen City Council in terms of the proportion of their population living in urban, rural, and highly rural neighbourhoods. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council98%Yes2030May 23, 2019
Bradford Metropolitan District Council98%Yes2030Jan. 15, 2019
West Yorkshire Combined Authority97%No2038June 27, 2019
Hyndburn Borough Council97%No2030Sept. 19, 2019
Cannock Chase District Council96%No2030July 17, 2019
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority96%No2040Nov. 7, 2019
St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council96%Yes2040June 10, 2019
Leeds City Council96%No2030March 27, 2019
St Albans City and District Council96%No2030July 9, 2019
Dartford Borough Council95%NoNo targetOct. 7, 2019

Features

This council’s climate plan has been tagged with the following features:

Powers & Responsibilities

Aberdeen City Council is a Unitary Authority, with powers over:

Council buildings and staff

Climate actions might include:

  • making council offices more energy efficient
  • incentivising ‘Active Travel’ or public transport use among employees
  • providing carbon literacy training for employees
    Environmental health

    Climate actions might include:

    • reducing industrial emissions through air quality enforcement
    • bringing up insulation and energy efficiency standards through enforcement of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) and Decent Homes Standard 2000, for cold and damp conditions in private rental and social housing

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Passenger transport

    Climate actions might include:

    • encouraging bus and private hire operators to use low-emission vehicles, through licensing requirements or Clean Air Zones
    • incentivising bus use by improving routes, timetables, and ticket prices through ‘Enhanced Partnerships’ with operators
    • proposing to central government the development of light rail / tram networks that integrate, rather than compete, with other modes of transport in the area

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Planning and building control

    Climate actions might include:

    • imposing reasonable requirements that new developments comply with energy efficiency standards and get a proportion of their energy from local, renewable sources (Planning and Energy Act, 2008)
    • incorporating additional energy performance standards into their Local Plan, for new works that require planning permission
    • using Area Action Plans to guide development proposals towards lower carbon emissions or more cycling and walking routes, for example
    • enforcing legislation that requires private rental properties to be of Energy Efficiency Rating E or above (Energy Efficiency Regulations, 2015)
    • funding energy efficiency improvements on existing homes, through initiatives such as Green Homes Grants

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Schools and libraries

    Climate actions might include:

    • reducing the carbon footprint of civic buildings through better insulation and renewable energy use
    • incentivising ‘Active Travel’ or public transport use among employees
    • providing carbon literacy training for employees
    • encouraging eco-clubs at schools
    • using school land to plant trees and hedgerows, or to grow food

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Housing

    Climate actions might include:

    • setting energy standards above building regulations (Planning and Energy Act, 2008)
    • enabling housing associations to improve the energy efficiency of their housing stock through loans
    • where councils operate their own social housing, prioritising energy efficiency – for example, by requiring Passivhaus standard for newly built schemes

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Spending, procuring, and investing

    Climate actions might include:

    • embedding carbon impact assessment as part of the council’s budgeting and financial accountability process
    • utilising Public Works Loan Board loans or the Business Rates Retention Scheme to invest in emissions-reducing capital projects that otherwise wouldn’t get funded
    • specifying low carbon equipment and practices when procuring for relevant services from suppliers
    • prioritising positive environmental impacts during procurement, through the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012
    Transport planning

    Climate actions might include:

    • incentivising ‘Active Travel’ like walking and cycling by creating or widening footways and cycleways
    • incentivising Electric Vehicle use by assigning street space to EV charging
    • disincentivising the use of fossil fuel cars through congestion charging,low-traffic neighbourhoods, or the reduction of parking space

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Waste collection and disposal

    Climate actions might include:

    • establishing ‘Joint Waste Solutions’ with neighbouring councils, to get more value out of waste, recycling, and street cleaning contracts
    • running marketing campaigns to encourage residential recycling, reuse, and waste minimisation

    See more in the Climate Emergency UK checklist.

    Read more about local authority powers across the UK, at The Institute for Government.

    More about this council

    aberdeencity.gov.uk
    Aberdeen City Council’s official homepage.
    @AberdeenCC
    Aberdeen City Council’s Twitter account.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Aberdeen City Council’s ‘carbon budget’ – their share towards meeting the UK’s Paris agreement targets.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Aberdeen City Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/aberdeen-city-council/ [Accessed 24 Mar 2023].

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