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Dover District Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on Nov. 4, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2030

“Our aim is simple: for Dover District Council to become a net zero carbon emitter by 2030 at the latest. ”

Whole area pledge for 2050

“Because we also want to help you live and work more sustainably. We aspire for the whole district to be carbon neutral by 2050.”

Climate documents

Last update: March 16, 2022
Action Plan

Action Plan · PDF · Approved
Climate Change Strategy, January 2021

Climate Strategy · PDF · Approved · Whole Area

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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

SectionDover District CouncilAverage district council
Total score51%43%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
13/21
9.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
9/18
8.1/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
5/7
3.8/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
7/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
1/5
2.6/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
4/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
1/5
0.5/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
0/5
1.5/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
2/4
1.8/4

Emissions data

402.6 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

3.4 tCO2

per person

1.3 ktCO2

per km2

38%

Domestic

33%

Transport

14%

Commercial

10%

Industry

2%

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.

These councils are the most similar to Dover 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
Gravesham Borough Council84%No2030June 26, 2019
Tendring District Council82%Yes2030Aug. 6, 2019
East Sussex County Council82%Yes2050Oct. 15, 2019
Kent County Council81%Yes2030May 23, 2019
East Suffolk Council80%No2030July 24, 2019
Swale Borough Council80%Yes2025June 26, 2019
Suffolk County Council80%Yes2030March 21, 2019
Arun District Council79%No2030Jan. 15, 2020
Ashford Borough Council79%Yes2030No
Maidstone Borough Council78%Yes2030April 10, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Dover 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
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council86%Yes2030May 23, 2019
Broxtowe Borough Council86%Yes2027July 17, 2019
Wirral Council86%No2030July 15, 2019
Mansfield District Council85%No2040March 5, 2019
Halton Borough Council85%YesNo targetOct. 16, 2019
Gravesham Borough Council85%No2030June 26, 2019
Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council84%Yes2038Nov. 28, 2018
Broxbourne Borough Council84%NoNo targetNo
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority84%No2040Nov. 7, 2019
London Borough of Bexley84%NoNo targetNo

Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Thanet District Council98%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Canterbury City Council98%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Folkestone and Hythe District Council96%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Ashford Borough Council94%Yes2030No
Swale Borough Council94%Yes2025June 26, 2019
Rochford District Council93%Yes2030No
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council92%No2030July 18, 2019
Tendring District Council92%Yes2030Aug. 6, 2019
Maidstone Borough Council92%Yes2030April 10, 2019
Maldon District Council91%No2030Feb. 4, 2021

These councils are the most similar to Dover 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
Allerdale Borough Council96%Yes2030Sept. 25, 2019
Rossendale Borough Council93%No2030Sept. 25, 2019
Bassetlaw District Council93%NoNo targetNo
Norfolk County Council92%No2030No
Carlisle City Council91%No2030March 5, 2019
Northumberland Council91%Yes2030June 11, 2019
Wyre Forest District Council91%YesNo targetMay 22, 2019
Lancaster City Council90%Yes2030Jan. 30, 2019
Scarborough Borough Council90%No2030Jan. 7, 2019
Cumbria County Council90%Yes2050No

These councils are the most similar to Dover 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
Buckinghamshire Council99%No2050No
Warwickshire County Council98%Yes2030July 25, 2019
West Northamptonshire Council98%NoNo targetNo
Hart District Council98%Yes2040Sept. 1, 2019
Leicestershire County Council97%No2030May 15, 2019
Lichfield District Council97%NoNo targetDec. 10, 2019
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council97%No2030July 16, 2019
Conwy County Borough Council96%No2030May 9, 2019
Wyre Council96%Yes2030July 11, 2019
High Peak Borough Council95%Yes2030Oct. 15, 2019

Features

This council’s climate plan has been tagged with the following features:

Clear communication Strong on public health

Powers & Responsibilities

Dover 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

    dover.gov.uk
    Dover District Council’s official homepage.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Dover 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 Dover District Council’s climate performance, and actions you can take.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Dover District Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/dover-district-council/ [Accessed 26 Mar 2023].

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