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Cambridgeshire County Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on May 14, 2019.

Whole area pledge for 2050

“Our vision is to deliver net-zero carbon emissions for Cambridgeshire by 2050, in partnership with all stakeholders, whilst supporting our communities and Cambridgeshire’s biodiversity and environmental assets to adapt and flourish as our climate changes.”

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

SectionCambridgeshire County CouncilAverage county council
Total score56%40%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
11/21
8.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
12/18
6.6/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
4/5
2.7/5
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
5/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
4/5
2.4/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
0/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.2/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
3/5
1.7/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
3/4
1.5/4

Emissions data

3188.9 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

4.9 tCO2

per person

1.0 ktCO2

per km2

42%

Transport

29%

Domestic

15%

Industry

7%

Commercial

5%

Public Sector

2%

Agriculture

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

These councils are the most similar to Cambridgeshire County 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
West Northamptonshire Council82%NoNo targetNo
South Derbyshire District Council82%Yes2030June 27, 2019
Warwickshire County Council82%Yes2030July 25, 2019
North Kesteven District Council82%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Huntingdonshire District Council81%No2040No
Lichfield District Council81%NoNo targetDec. 10, 2019
North West Leicestershire District Council80%Yes2030June 25, 2019
Winchester City Council79%Yes2024June 5, 2019
Oxfordshire County Council79%No2030April 2, 2019
South Staffordshire Council78%YesNo targetSept. 10, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Cambridgeshire County 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
Vale of White Horse District Council88%Yes2045Feb. 13, 2019
Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council86%Yes2030May 23, 2019
Guildford Borough Council86%Yes2030July 23, 2019
Test Valley Borough Council85%Yes2050Sept. 4, 2019
Stratford-on-Avon District Council83%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Lichfield District Council82%NoNo targetDec. 10, 2019
Chelmsford City Council82%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Middlesbrough Borough Council82%No2029Sept. 4, 2019
Peterborough City Council82%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Cherwell District Council82%No2030July 22, 2019
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Cambridge City Council98%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
South Cambridgeshire District Council98%Yes2050Nov. 28, 2019
East Cambridgeshire District Council97%Yes2050Oct. 17, 2019
Suffolk County Council97%Yes2030March 21, 2019
Fenland District Council97%NoNo targetNo
Huntingdonshire District Council96%No2040No
Peterborough City Council94%Yes2030July 24, 2019
North Hertfordshire District Council93%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Uttlesford District Council93%Yes2030July 30, 2019
East Hertfordshire District Council93%Yes2030No

These councils are the most similar to Cambridgeshire County 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
North Yorkshire County Council98%Yes2030No
New Forest District Council98%NoNo targetNov. 6, 2021
Wiltshire Council97%No2030Feb. 26, 2019
Selby District Council97%Yes2030No
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council97%Yes2030July 10, 2019
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council96%No2030July 16, 2019
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council96%Yes2025July 18, 2019
Huntingdonshire District Council96%No2040No
Stafford Borough Council96%No2040July 23, 2019
North West Leicestershire District Council96%Yes2030June 25, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Cambridgeshire County 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
South Derbyshire District Council96%Yes2030June 27, 2019
North West Leicestershire District Council95%Yes2030June 25, 2019
Teignbridge District Council95%Yes2025April 18, 2019
North Lincolnshire Council94%Yes2030No
Broadland District Council93%No2050No
Northumberland Council92%Yes2030June 11, 2019
South Staffordshire Council92%YesNo targetSept. 10, 2019
Vale of White Horse District Council92%Yes2045Feb. 13, 2019
Denbighshire County Council90%No2030July 2, 2019
Central Bedfordshire Council90%No2030July 19, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

Cambridgeshire County Council is a County Council, 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
    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.

    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.

    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 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 English local authority powers in the UK100 Power Shift report.

    More about this council

    cambridgeshire.gov.uk
    Cambridgeshire County Council’s official homepage.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Cambridgeshire County Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/cambridgeshire-county-council/ [Accessed 22 Mar 2023].

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