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Aberdeenshire 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

“Aberdeenshire Council has a target of 75% by 2030 and Net Zero by 2045 from the 2010/11 baseline year.”

Whole area pledge for 2045

“We will […] work with others across the region to ensure that Aberdeenshire reaches Net Zero by 2045, by promoting energy transition and a circular economy”

Climate documents

We couldn’t find any climate action plans for this council.

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

Aberdeenshire Council scored zero points in this assessment. This is because the council either didn’t have any published plans at the time of the assessment, or the plans didn’t qualify.

SectionAberdeenshire CouncilAverage single tier council
Total score0%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
0/21
10.3/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
0/18
9.0/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
0/7
4.1/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
0/9
5.1/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
0/5
2.9/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
0/4
2.2/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.9/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
0/5
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 Aberdeenshire Council’s projects

39

Projects

5.9 ktCO2 per year

Total annual emissions savings

£89,152,150

Total capital cost

Emissions data

1348.6 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

5.2 tCO2

per person

0.2 ktCO2

per km2

38%

Transport

35%

Domestic

12%

Industry

9%

Agriculture

5%

Commercial

2%

Public Sector

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 Aberdeenshire 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
Perth and Kinross Council83%No2045No
The Highland Council80%No2025May 9, 2019
Craven District Council77%No2030Aug. 6, 2019
Scottish Borders Council76%Yes2045Sept. 5, 2020
South Lakeland District Council76%Yes2030Feb. 26, 2019
Stirling Council75%YesNo targetOct. 3, 2019
Angus Council74%YesNo targetSept. 5, 2019
Hambleton District Council74%No2034Dec. 14, 2021
North Yorkshire County Council73%Yes2030No
Argyll and Bute Council71%Yes2045No

These councils are the most similar to Aberdeenshire 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
Craven District Council92%No2030Aug. 6, 2019
The Highland Council89%No2025May 9, 2019
Angus Council77%YesNo targetSept. 5, 2019
Malvern Hills District Council77%Yes2030July 23, 2019
West Lindsey District Council77%Yes2050No
South Lakeland District Council77%Yes2030Feb. 26, 2019
Northumberland Council76%Yes2030June 11, 2019
Argyll and Bute Council76%Yes2045No
Wealden District Council76%Yes2050July 24, 2019
Gwynedd County Council74%No2030March 7, 2019
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Aberdeen City Council94%Yes2045No
Angus Council92%YesNo targetSept. 5, 2019
The Moray Council92%Yes2030June 27, 2019
Dundee City Council88%Yes2045June 24, 2019
Fife Council84%Yes2045Sept. 26, 2019
Perth and Kinross Council83%No2045No
East Lothian Council81%No2045Aug. 27, 2019
City of Edinburgh Council80%Yes2030Feb. 7, 2019
Clackmannanshire Council79%NoNo targetAug. 19, 2021
Midlothian Council79%No2030Dec. 17, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Aberdeenshire 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
Derbyshire Dales District Council99%Yes2030May 30, 2019
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council97%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Bromsgrove District Council97%YesNo targetJuly 24, 2019
Horsham District Council96%Yes2050June 26, 2019
Ribble Valley Borough Council96%No2030No
Tandridge District Council96%Yes2030Feb. 13, 2020
North Kesteven District Council96%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Stratford-on-Avon District Council96%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Buckinghamshire Council96%No2050No
Central Bedfordshire Council96%No2030July 19, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Aberdeenshire 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
The Highland Council99%No2025May 9, 2019
Perth and Kinross Council97%No2045No
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council96%No2030May 2, 2020
Ryedale District Council94%No2050Oct. 10, 2019
Mid Suffolk District Council94%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Dumfries and Galloway Council93%Yes2025June 27, 2019
Scottish Borders Council91%Yes2045Sept. 5, 2020
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council91%NoNo targetOct. 7, 2019
The Moray Council90%Yes2030June 27, 2019
Forest of Dean District Council89%Yes2030Dec. 6, 2018

Powers & Responsibilities

Aberdeenshire 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

    aberdeenshire.gov.uk
    Aberdeenshire Council’s official homepage.
    @Aberdeenshire
    Aberdeenshire Council’s Twitter account.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Aberdeenshire 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: Aberdeenshire Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/aberdeenshire-council/ [Accessed 26 Mar 2023].

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