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East Cambridgeshire District Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on Oct. 17, 2019.

Whole area pledge for 2050

“Our vision for 2050 is to deliver net zero carbon emissions for the Council’s operations and, in partnership with all stakeholders, for East Cambridgeshire as a whole, with clear and demonstrable progress towards that target year on year.”

Climate documents

Last update: March 16, 2022
Environment Plan (year 2), June 2021

Action Plan · 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

SectionEast Cambridgeshire District CouncilAverage district council
Total score42%43%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
9/21
9.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
2/18
8.1/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
2/7
3.8/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
7/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
4/5
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
2/5
1.5/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
3/4
1.8/4

Emissions data

435.7 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

4.8 tCO2

per person

0.7 ktCO2

per km2

49%

Transport

29%

Domestic

12%

Industry

5%

Commercial

3%

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.

These councils are the most similar to East Cambridgeshire 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
Huntingdonshire District Council84%No2040No
South Cambridgeshire District Council83%Yes2050Nov. 28, 2019
North Warwickshire Borough Council79%No2030Oct. 22, 2019
Horsham District Council79%Yes2050June 26, 2019
Stratford-on-Avon District Council79%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Uttlesford District Council79%Yes2030July 30, 2019
Babergh District Council79%Yes2030July 23, 2019
South Norfolk District Council78%NoNo targetNo
North Kesteven District Council77%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Cambridgeshire County Council77%Yes2050May 14, 2019

These councils are the most similar to East Cambridgeshire 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
South Derbyshire District Council89%Yes2030June 27, 2019
South Cambridgeshire District Council88%Yes2050Nov. 28, 2019
Breckland District Council88%Yes2035Sept. 19, 2019
Lichfield District Council88%NoNo targetDec. 10, 2019
Mid Suffolk District Council87%Yes2030July 25, 2019
South Norfolk District Council87%NoNo targetNo
Vale of White Horse District Council85%Yes2045Feb. 13, 2019
Teignbridge District Council84%Yes2025April 18, 2019
Babergh District Council84%Yes2030July 23, 2019
East Hampshire District Council83%No2050July 18, 2019

Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Cambridge City Council97%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
Cambridgeshire County Council97%Yes2050May 14, 2019
South Cambridgeshire District Council96%Yes2050Nov. 28, 2019
Fenland District Council95%NoNo targetNo
West Suffolk Council95%No2030Sept. 19, 2019
Uttlesford District Council94%Yes2030July 30, 2019
Suffolk County Council94%Yes2030March 21, 2019
King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council94%Yes2050Feb. 4, 2020
Huntingdonshire District Council93%No2040No
Braintree District Council93%Yes2030July 22, 2019

These councils are the most similar to East Cambridgeshire 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
Melton Borough Council100%No2030July 17, 2019
South Staffordshire Council99%YesNo targetSept. 10, 2019
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council98%Yes2025July 18, 2019
Selby District Council98%Yes2030No
Orkney Islands Council98%YesNo targetMay 14, 2019
Wiltshire Council97%No2030Feb. 26, 2019
Huntingdonshire District Council97%No2040No
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council97%No2030July 16, 2019
Tewkesbury Borough Council96%Yes2030Oct. 1, 2019
South Lakeland District Council96%Yes2030Feb. 26, 2019

These councils are the most similar to East Cambridgeshire 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
North Warwickshire Borough Council99%No2030Oct. 22, 2019
South Cambridgeshire District Council97%Yes2050Nov. 28, 2019
Clackmannanshire Council88%NoNo targetAug. 19, 2021
Copeland Borough Council88%Yes2050No
Allerdale Borough Council88%Yes2030Sept. 25, 2019
Horsham District Council86%Yes2050June 26, 2019
Rushcliffe Borough Council84%Yes2030March 7, 2019
Stratford-on-Avon District Council84%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Selby District Council83%Yes2030No
North Kesteven District Council82%Yes2030July 11, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

East Cambridgeshire 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

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

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    Cite this page

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

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