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Hertfordshire County Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on July 16, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2030

“A carbon neutral organisation by 2030.”

Whole area pledge for 2050

“A net zero greenhouse gas county before 2050.”

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

SectionHertfordshire County CouncilAverage county council
Total score50%40%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
6/21
8.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
11/18
6.6/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
4/5
2.7/5
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
6/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
2/5
2.4/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
4/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.2/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
2/5
1.7/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
1/4
1.5/4

Emissions data

4218.4 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

3.5 tCO2

per person

2.6 ktCO2

per km2

39%

Domestic

33%

Transport

12%

Commercial

11%

Industry

4%

Public Sector

1%

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 Hertfordshire 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
Dacorum Council93%Yes2050July 17, 2019
Hertsmere Borough Council89%Yes2050Sept. 18, 2019
Milton Keynes89%Yes2030Jan. 23, 2019
West Sussex County Council87%Yes2030April 5, 2019
Hampshire County Council87%No2050June 17, 2019
Welwyn Hatfield Council86%Yes2030June 19, 2019
Three Rivers District Council85%No2030May 21, 2019
Charnwood Borough Council85%Yes2030No
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council85%Yes2030Oct. 8, 2019
North Hertfordshire District Council85%Yes2030May 21, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Hertfordshire 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
Great Yarmouth Borough Council93%NoNo targetNo
City of York Council92%Yes2030March 11, 2019
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council92%Yes2030Aug. 29, 2019
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council92%Yes2038July 10, 2019
South Tyneside Council91%No2030July 18, 2019
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council91%Yes2030Oct. 8, 2019
Dacorum Council91%Yes2050July 17, 2019
North Lanarkshire Council91%Yes2030June 20, 2019
Kent County Council91%Yes2030May 23, 2019
Renfrewshire Council90%No2030June 27, 2019
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Bracknell Forest Council99%Yes2050No
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead99%No2050June 26, 2019
Surrey Heath Borough Council98%Yes2030Oct. 9, 2019
Slough Borough Council98%YesNo targetNo
Wokingham Borough Council98%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Rushmoor Borough Council97%Yes2030June 20, 2019
Runnymede Borough Council97%NoNo targetOct. 17, 2019
Woking Borough Council97%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Surrey County Council97%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Hart District Council96%Yes2040Sept. 1, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Hertfordshire 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
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council96%No2030July 16, 2019
New Forest District Council96%NoNo targetNov. 6, 2021
Huntingdonshire District Council96%No2040No
South Norfolk District Council95%NoNo targetNo
Dacorum Council95%Yes2050July 17, 2019
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council95%Yes2030July 10, 2019
Mid Suffolk District Council95%Yes2030July 25, 2019
East Devon District Council95%Yes2040July 24, 2019
South Ribble Borough Council95%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council95%Yes2025July 18, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Hertfordshire 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
Surrey County Council99%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Dacorum Council99%Yes2050July 17, 2019
Swansea City Council98%No2030June 27, 2019
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead98%No2050June 26, 2019
Rochford District Council97%Yes2030No
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council97%Yes2040Sept. 18, 2019
Welwyn Hatfield Council97%Yes2030June 19, 2019
Peterborough City Council97%Yes2030July 24, 2019
South Gloucestershire Council96%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Tees Valley Combined Authority96%NoNo targetNo

Features

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

Powers & Responsibilities

Hertfordshire 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

    hertsdirect.org
    Hertfordshire County Council’s official homepage.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Hertfordshire County Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/hertfordshire-county-council/ [Accessed 26 Mar 2023].

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