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Gloucestershire County Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

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

Council only pledge for 2030

“Our declaration in May 2019 included commitments for us to be net zero by 2030.”

Whole area pledge for 2050

“By 2050 we will create a carbon neutral county that provides quality of life now and for future generations, having improved the quality of our natural environment.”

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

SectionGloucestershire County CouncilAverage county council
Total score33%40%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
8/21
8.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
7/18
6.6/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
3/5
2.7/5
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
5/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
2/5
2.4/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
0/4
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

2558.8 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

4.0 tCO2

per person

0.9 ktCO2

per km2

34%

Domestic

33%

Transport

18%

Industry

6%

Commercial

5%

Public Sector

4%

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 Gloucestershire 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
Worcestershire County Council89%Yes2030July 15, 2021
Hampshire County Council88%No2050June 17, 2019
Bedford Borough Council87%Yes2030March 5, 2019
Warwickshire County Council87%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council87%Yes2025July 18, 2019
West Sussex County Council86%Yes2030April 5, 2019
Cherwell District Council86%No2030July 22, 2019
Charnwood Borough Council85%Yes2030No
Stafford Borough Council85%No2040July 23, 2019
Essex County Council85%Yes2030No

These councils are the most similar to Gloucestershire 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
Worcestershire County Council93%Yes2030July 15, 2021
Ashford Borough Council91%Yes2030No
Vale of Glamorgan Council90%Yes2030July 29, 2019
Lancaster City Council90%Yes2030Jan. 30, 2019
Falkirk Council90%Yes2030Aug. 26, 2019
Charnwood Borough Council89%Yes2030No
West Lothian Council88%NoNo targetSept. 24, 2019
East Lothian Council88%No2045Aug. 27, 2019
North East Combined Authority88%NoNo targetNov. 5, 2019
Sunderland City Council87%Yes2030March 27, 2019
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Buckinghamshire Council99%No2050No
Warwickshire County Council98%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Dacorum Council97%Yes2050July 17, 2019
Milton Keynes96%Yes2030Jan. 23, 2019
Luton Borough Council95%Yes2040Jan. 13, 2020
Central Bedfordshire Council95%No2030July 19, 2019
Three Rivers District Council95%No2030May 21, 2019
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead94%No2050June 26, 2019
South Oxfordshire District Council94%Yes2025April 11, 2019
Slough Borough Council94%YesNo targetNo

These councils are the most similar to Gloucestershire 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
East Riding of Yorkshire Council98%No2050Feb. 24, 2021
Cheshire East Council (Unitary)97%Yes2025May 22, 2019
Stafford Borough Council95%No2040July 23, 2019
North Yorkshire County Council95%Yes2030No
Cambridgeshire County Council95%Yes2050May 14, 2019
Cherwell District Council94%No2030July 22, 2019
North West Leicestershire District Council94%Yes2030June 25, 2019
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council94%Yes2030July 9, 2019
South Kesteven District Council94%Yes2050Sept. 26, 2019
Vale of Glamorgan Council94%Yes2030July 29, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Gloucestershire 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
Tewkesbury Borough Council98%Yes2030Oct. 1, 2019
South Kesteven District Council98%Yes2050Sept. 26, 2019
Waverley Borough Council97%Yes2030Sept. 18, 2019
East Hertfordshire District Council97%Yes2030No
East Sussex County Council96%Yes2050Oct. 15, 2019
Worcestershire County Council96%Yes2030July 15, 2021
Rugby Borough Council96%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Boston Borough Council96%NoNo targetJan. 20, 2020
Stafford Borough Council95%No2040July 23, 2019
Scarborough Borough Council95%No2030Jan. 7, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

Gloucestershire 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

    gloucestershire.gov.uk
    Gloucestershire County Council’s official homepage.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Gloucestershire County Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/gloucestershire-county-council/ [Accessed 22 Mar 2023].

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