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East Sussex County Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on Oct. 15, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2050

“Declared a climate emergency in October 2019 and committed to becoming carbon neutral from its own activities as soon as possible, and by 2050 at the latest.”

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 Sussex County CouncilAverage county council
Total score38%40%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
9/21
8.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
2/18
6.6/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
3/5
2.7/5
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
3/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
4/5
2.4/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
3/4
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
3/4
1.5/4

Emissions data

1897.2 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

3.4 tCO2

per person

1.1 ktCO2

per km2

41%

Domestic

38%

Transport

7%

Commercial

7%

Industry

4%

Public Sector

3%

Agriculture

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 East Sussex 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
Kent County Council92%Yes2030May 23, 2019
Essex County Council90%Yes2030No
Lewes District Council89%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Maidstone Borough Council88%Yes2030April 10, 2019
West Sussex County Council88%Yes2030April 5, 2019
Ashford Borough Council88%Yes2030No
Bedford Borough Council87%Yes2030March 5, 2019
Arun District Council87%No2030Jan. 15, 2020
East Suffolk Council83%No2030July 24, 2019
Epping Forest District Council83%Yes2030Sept. 19, 2019

These councils are the most similar to East Sussex 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
Kent County Council92%Yes2030May 23, 2019
West Sussex County Council91%Yes2030April 5, 2019
Arun District Council91%No2030Jan. 15, 2020
Midlothian Council91%No2030Dec. 17, 2019
Great Yarmouth Borough Council91%NoNo targetNo
East Hertfordshire District Council91%Yes2030No
Central Bedfordshire Council90%No2030July 19, 2019
Hertfordshire County Council90%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Essex County Council90%Yes2030No
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council90%Yes2050No
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Eastbourne Borough Council98%Yes2030July 10, 2019
Wealden District Council98%Yes2050July 24, 2019
Rother District Council97%No2030Sept. 16, 2019
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council97%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Hastings Borough Council97%Yes2030Feb. 13, 2019
Lewes District Council96%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council95%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Sevenoaks District Council95%Yes2030No
Maidstone Borough Council94%Yes2030April 10, 2019
Brighton and Hove City Council94%Yes2030Dec. 13, 2018

These councils are the most similar to East Sussex 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
Kent County Council99%Yes2030May 23, 2019
West Lothian Council97%NoNo targetSept. 24, 2019
Lincolnshire County Council96%Yes2050No
East Suffolk Council96%No2030July 24, 2019
Falkirk Council95%Yes2030Aug. 26, 2019
South Lanarkshire Council95%NoNo targetSept. 25, 2019
Newark and Sherwood District Council95%Yes2035July 16, 2019
Derbyshire County Council95%Yes2032No
Sedgemoor District Council95%Yes2030March 20, 2019
West Lindsey District Council95%Yes2050No

These councils are the most similar to East Sussex 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
Rugby Borough Council99%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Waverley Borough Council98%Yes2030Sept. 18, 2019
Worcestershire County Council97%Yes2030July 15, 2021
Tewkesbury Borough Council97%Yes2030Oct. 1, 2019
Swale Borough Council97%Yes2025June 26, 2019
Lewes District Council97%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Gloucestershire County Council96%Yes2030May 15, 2019
Staffordshire County Council95%Yes2050July 25, 2019
Flintshire County Council94%YesNo targetNo
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council94%Yes2025July 18, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

East Sussex 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

    eastsussex.gov.uk
    East Sussex County Council’s official homepage.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: East Sussex County Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/east-sussex-county-council/ [Accessed 1 Apr 2023].

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