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Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

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

Climate pledges

We couldn’t find any climate pledges from this council. If you’ve found one, let us know!

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

SectionComhairle nan Eilean SiarAverage single tier council
Total score19%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
9/21
10.3/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
0/18
9.0/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
2/7
4.1/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
2/9
5.1/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
2/5
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
1/4
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 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s projects

53

Projects

1.0 ktCO2 per year

Total annual emissions savings

£9,068,719.5

Total capital cost

Emissions data

125.7 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

4.7 tCO2

per person

0.0 ktCO2

per km2

45%

Domestic

30%

Transport

10%

Industry

8%

Agriculture

4%

Commercial

3%

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 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 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
Argyll and Bute Council62%Yes2045Sept. 30, 2021
The Highland Council62%No2025May 9, 2019
Isle of Anglesey County Council59%Yes2030Sept. 8, 2020
Dumfries and Galloway Council56%Yes2025June 27, 2019
Gwynedd County Council56%No2030March 7, 2019
Scottish Borders Council55%Yes2045Sept. 5, 2020
Shetland Islands Council53%YesNo targetJan. 22, 2020
Cumberland Council53%NoNo
Pembrokeshire County Council52%Yes2030May 9, 2019
Ceredigion County Council52%Yes2030March 5, 2020

These councils are the most similar to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 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
Ards and North Down Borough Council73%NoNo targetFeb. 27, 2019
Shetland Islands Council57%YesNo targetJan. 22, 2020
Ribble Valley Borough Council56%No2030No
Cumberland Council55%NoNo
Epping Forest District Council54%Yes2030Sept. 19, 2019
Tandridge District Council54%Yes2030Feb. 13, 2020
Isle of Anglesey County Council53%Yes2030Sept. 8, 2020
Sevenoaks District Council53%Yes2030No
South Lanarkshire Council53%NoNo targetSept. 25, 2019
Melton Borough Council53%No2030July 17, 2019
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
The Highland Council82%No2025May 9, 2019
Argyll and Bute Council78%Yes2045Sept. 30, 2021
Inverclyde Council73%NoNo targetNo
Stirling Council72%NoNo targetOct. 3, 2019
West Dunbartonshire Council72%Yes2045May 29, 2019
North Ayrshire Council72%No2030June 25, 2019
Renfrewshire Council71%No2030June 27, 2019
Perth and Kinross Council70%No2045No
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council70%No2030May 2, 2020
East Dunbartonshire Council70%Yes2045No

These councils are the most similar to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 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
West Devon Borough Council98%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Ceredigion County Council94%Yes2030March 5, 2020
South Holland District Council88%NoNo targetNo
Forest of Dean District Council85%Yes2030Dec. 6, 2018
Gwynedd County Council84%No2030March 7, 2019
Carmarthenshire County Council81%Yes2030Feb. 20, 2019
Torridge District Council81%Yes2030July 1, 2019
Boston Borough Council80%NoNo targetJan. 20, 2020
North Norfolk District Council79%Yes2030April 24, 2019
Herefordshire Council78%Yes2030March 8, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 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
Shetland Islands Council99%YesNo targetJan. 22, 2020
Orkney Islands Council98%YesNo targetMay 14, 2019
Powys County Council85%No2030July 30, 2020
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council82%NoNo targetOct. 7, 2019
Mid Ulster District Council81%NoNo targetNo
Ceredigion County Council80%Yes2030March 5, 2020
North Norfolk District Council80%Yes2030April 24, 2019
West Devon Borough Council78%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Argyll and Bute Council77%Yes2045Sept. 30, 2021
Scottish Borders Council77%Yes2045Sept. 5, 2020

Powers & Responsibilities

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 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

    cne-siar.gov.uk
    Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s official homepage.
    @cne_siar
    Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Twitter account.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’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: Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/comhairle-nan-eilean-siar/ [Accessed 27 May 2023].

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