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Babergh District Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on July 23, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2030

“This Council pledges to: 1. Acknowledge a climate emergency. 2. Set up a Task Force, commencing by September 2019, to examine ways in which Babergh & Mid Suffolk Councils will respond to the climate change challenge on a spend to save basis, with the ambition to make Babergh & Mid Suffolk Councils carbon neutral by 2030.”

Climate documents

Last update: March 16, 2022
Babergh & Mid Suffolk Cabinets’ Response To The Proposals Of The Environment & Climate Change Task Force And Actions That Will Be Included In Their First Carbon Reduction Management Plan

Action Plan · PDF · Approved · Council Only

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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

SectionBabergh District CouncilAverage district council
Total score58%43%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
14/21
9.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
13/18
8.1/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
5/7
3.8/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
6/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
2/5
2.6/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
2/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.5/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
3/5
1.5/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
3/4
1.8/4

Emissions data

434.2 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

4.7 tCO2

per person

0.7 ktCO2

per km2

43%

Transport

32%

Domestic

16%

Industry

4%

Agriculture

4%

Commercial

1%

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 Babergh District 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
South Norfolk District Council88%NoNo targetNo
Mid Suffolk District Council88%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Breckland District Council82%Yes2035Sept. 19, 2019
West Lindsey District Council82%Yes2050No
Maldon District Council80%No2030Feb. 4, 2021
Braintree District Council78%Yes2030July 22, 2019
East Cambridgeshire District Council78%Yes2050Oct. 17, 2019
Broadland District Council78%No2050No
South Holland District Council78%NoNo targetNo
Chichester District Council77%Yes2025July 9, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Babergh District 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
Breckland District Council92%Yes2035Sept. 19, 2019
Mid Suffolk District Council87%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Bassetlaw District Council86%NoNo targetNo
Malvern Hills District Council84%Yes2030July 23, 2019
South Derbyshire District Council84%Yes2030June 27, 2019
New Forest District Council84%NoNo targetNov. 6, 2021
East Cambridgeshire District Council84%Yes2050Oct. 17, 2019
West Lindsey District Council84%Yes2050No
South Norfolk District Council83%NoNo targetNo
Teignbridge District Council83%Yes2025April 18, 2019

Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Colchester Borough Council98%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Ipswich Borough Council97%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Mid Suffolk District Council97%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Tendring District Council97%Yes2030Aug. 6, 2019
Braintree District Council96%Yes2030July 22, 2019
Maldon District Council95%No2030Feb. 4, 2021
West Suffolk Council95%No2030Sept. 19, 2019
Rochford District Council94%Yes2030No
Chelmsford City Council93%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council93%No2030July 18, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Babergh District 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
Monmouthshire County Council97%Yes2030May 16, 2019
The Moray Council97%Yes2030June 27, 2019
Maldon District Council96%No2030Feb. 4, 2021
Rugby Borough Council96%Yes2030July 18, 2019
South Hams District Council95%Yes2030July 25, 2019
West Sussex County Council95%Yes2030April 5, 2019
Lewes District Council95%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Epping Forest District Council95%Yes2030Sept. 19, 2019
Braintree District Council94%Yes2030July 22, 2019
Welwyn Hatfield Council94%Yes2030June 19, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Babergh District 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
Richmondshire District Council97%Yes2030July 23, 2019
Rutland County Council97%No2050No
West Lindsey District Council94%Yes2050No
Mid Devon District Council93%Yes2030June 26, 2019
South Norfolk District Council93%NoNo targetNo
Pembrokeshire County Council92%Yes2030May 9, 2019
South Somerset District Council92%Yes2023May 21, 2019
South Lakeland District Council91%Yes2030Feb. 26, 2019
Derbyshire Dales District Council91%Yes2030May 30, 2019
Cornwall Council (Unitary)90%Yes2030Jan. 22, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

Babergh District Council is a Non-Metropolitan District, 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.

    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.

    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
    Waste collection

    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 English local authority powers in the UK100 Power Shift report.

    More about this council

    babergh.gov.uk
    Babergh District Council’s official homepage.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Babergh District Council’s ‘carbon budget’ – their share towards meeting the UK’s Paris agreement targets.
    Friends of the Earth ‘Near You’ tool
    Discover climate groups in this area, data about Babergh District Council’s climate performance, and actions you can take.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Babergh District Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/babergh-district-council/ [Accessed 1 Apr 2023].

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