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East Devon District Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on July 24, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2040

“Our targets , Carbon emissions: To reduce our carbon emissions annually, and to be carbon neutral by 2040.”

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

East Devon District Council was a top performer amongst district councils.

SectionEast Devon District CouncilAverage district council
Top performer Total score78%43%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
12/21
9.4/21
Section 2 · Top performer Mitigation and adaptation
18/18
8.1/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
5/7
3.8/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
8/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
4/5
2.6/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
4/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
2/5
0.5/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
4/5
1.5/5
Section 9 · Top performer Ecological emergency
4/4
1.8/4

Emissions data

507.3 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

3.4 tCO2

per person

0.6 ktCO2

per km2

40%

Transport

39%

Domestic

7%

Industry

6%

Agriculture

6%

Commercial

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 Devon 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
Dorset Council85%No2040May 16, 2019
Devon County Council85%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
Wiltshire Council82%No2030Feb. 26, 2019
South Somerset District Council81%Yes2023May 21, 2019
Somerset County Council79%No2030Feb. 20, 2019
Wychavon District Council78%Yes2050No
Malvern Hills District Council77%Yes2030July 23, 2019
North Devon Council77%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Sedgemoor District Council77%Yes2030March 20, 2019
Tewkesbury Borough Council75%Yes2030Oct. 1, 2019

These councils are the most similar to East Devon 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
Boston Borough Council89%NoNo targetJan. 20, 2020
Lewes District Council87%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Devon County Council86%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
Dorset Council85%No2040May 16, 2019
West Sussex County Council85%Yes2030April 5, 2019
East Sussex County Council83%Yes2050Oct. 15, 2019
Horsham District Council83%Yes2050June 26, 2019
Somerset West and Taunton Council83%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
Harborough District Council83%No2030June 24, 2019
Essex County Council83%Yes2030No
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Exeter City Council96%Yes2030July 23, 2019
Mid Devon District Council95%Yes2030June 26, 2019
Somerset West and Taunton Council95%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
Torbay Council93%Yes2030June 19, 2019
Teignbridge District Council93%Yes2025April 18, 2019
Sedgemoor District Council92%Yes2030March 20, 2019
South Somerset District Council91%Yes2023May 21, 2019
Somerset County Council91%No2030Feb. 20, 2019
Devon County Council90%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
Vale of Glamorgan Council89%Yes2030July 29, 2019

These councils are the most similar to East Devon 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
South Norfolk District Council98%NoNo targetNo
Mid Suffolk District Council98%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Huntingdonshire District Council96%No2040No
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council96%Yes2030July 10, 2019
Orkney Islands Council96%YesNo targetMay 14, 2019
Maldon District Council96%No2030Feb. 4, 2021
New Forest District Council95%NoNo targetNov. 6, 2021
Hertfordshire County Council95%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council95%No2030July 16, 2019
Dacorum Council95%Yes2050July 17, 2019

These councils are the most similar to East Devon 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
South Holland District Council98%NoNo targetNo
East Lindsey District Council98%Yes2040No
Shropshire Council - Unitary98%No2030May 16, 2019
Cornwall Council (Unitary)97%Yes2030Jan. 22, 2019
Wychavon District Council95%Yes2050No
North Devon Council95%Yes2030July 24, 2019
South Lakeland District Council95%Yes2030Feb. 26, 2019
South Norfolk District Council94%NoNo targetNo
North Yorkshire County Council94%Yes2030No
East Ayrshire Council93%No2030No

Powers & Responsibilities

East Devon 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

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

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: East Devon District Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/east-devon-district-council/ [Accessed 24 Mar 2023].

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