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Cumbria County 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 2050

“The council is now working towards the international, national and regional aspiration to achieve a low/net zero carbon economy by 2050 and is embedding the impacts of climate change in all council strategies.”

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

SectionCumbria County CouncilAverage county council
Total score16%40%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
1/21
8.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
0/18
6.6/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
3/5
2.7/5
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
2/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
0/5
2.4/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
2/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.2/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
0/5
1.7/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
0/4
1.5/4

Emissions data

2789.7 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

5.6 tCO2

per person

0.4 ktCO2

per km2

30%

Domestic

26%

Transport

25%

Industry

9%

Commercial

8%

Agriculture

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. Data has been combined from constituent local authorities.

These councils are the most similar to Cumbria 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
Northumberland Council83%Yes2030June 11, 2019
South Ayrshire Council78%No2045No
North Yorkshire County Council78%Yes2030No
South Lakeland District Council77%Yes2030Feb. 26, 2019
East Ayrshire Council77%No2030No
Allerdale Borough Council77%Yes2030Sept. 25, 2019
East Riding of Yorkshire Council76%No2050Feb. 24, 2021
Carlisle City Council76%No2030March 5, 2019
West Lancashire Borough Council76%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Wyre Council76%Yes2030July 11, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Cumbria 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
South Ayrshire Council82%No2045No
East Riding of Yorkshire Council82%No2050Feb. 24, 2021
South Lakeland District Council79%Yes2030Feb. 26, 2019
North Norfolk District Council78%Yes2030April 24, 2019
Angus Council77%YesNo targetSept. 5, 2019
Northumberland Council76%Yes2030June 11, 2019
North Yorkshire County Council76%Yes2030No
Argyll and Bute Council75%Yes2045No
East Lindsey District Council75%Yes2040No
Carlisle City Council74%No2030March 5, 2019
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
South Lakeland District Council95%Yes2030Feb. 26, 2019
Allerdale Borough Council95%Yes2030Sept. 25, 2019
Copeland Borough Council93%Yes2050No
Eden District Council93%No2030July 11, 2019
Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council91%No2037July 16, 2019
Carlisle City Council90%No2030March 5, 2019
Lancaster City Council90%Yes2030Jan. 30, 2019
Wyre Council87%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Blackpool Borough Council86%Yes2030June 26, 2019
Fylde Borough Council85%NoNo targetNo

These councils are the most similar to Cumbria 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
Newark and Sherwood District Council98%Yes2035July 16, 2019
Carlisle City Council98%No2030March 5, 2019
South Ayrshire Council97%No2045No
Sedgemoor District Council97%Yes2030March 20, 2019
Lincolnshire County Council97%Yes2050No
East Suffolk Council96%No2030July 24, 2019
Ashford Borough Council96%Yes2030No
Falkirk Council94%Yes2030Aug. 26, 2019
Wrexham County Borough Council94%No2030Sept. 25, 2019
Bassetlaw District Council94%NoNo targetNo

These councils are the most similar to Cumbria 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
Chichester District Council96%Yes2025July 9, 2019
Denbighshire County Council96%No2030July 2, 2019
East Lothian Council96%No2045Aug. 27, 2019
West Oxfordshire District Council95%Yes2030June 26, 2019
Winchester City Council94%Yes2024June 5, 2019
Devon County Council94%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
East Ayrshire Council94%No2030No
North Devon Council94%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Broadland District Council93%No2050No
Craven District Council93%No2030Aug. 6, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

Cumbria 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

    cumbria.gov.uk
    Cumbria County Council’s official homepage.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Cumbria County Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/cumbria-county-council/ [Accessed 26 Mar 2023].

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