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Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

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

Whole area pledge for 2038

“Our ambitious climate change target is for the council and the borough of Rochdale to work towards being carbon neutral by 2038.”

Climate documents

Last update: Dec. 5, 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

SectionRochdale Metropolitan Borough CouncilAverage single tier council
Total score11%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
2/21
10.3/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
1/18
9.0/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
0/7
4.1/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
2/9
5.1/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
1/5
2.9/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
2/4
2.2/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.9/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
0/5
2.3/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
1/4
2.1/4

Emissions data

677.6 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

3.0 tCO2

per person

4.3 ktCO2

per km2

42%

Domestic

29%

Transport

18%

Industry

7%

Commercial

4%

Public Sector

0%

Agriculture

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 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough 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
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council93%No2038Feb. 24, 2020
Bradford Metropolitan District Council91%Yes2030Jan. 15, 2019
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council89%No2025Sept. 11, 2019
Greater Manchester Combined Authority89%No2038July 26, 2019
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council88%Yes2030Aug. 29, 2019
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council87%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Sheffield City Council87%Yes2050Feb. 6, 2019
West Yorkshire Combined Authority87%No2038June 27, 2019
Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council86%Yes2050Sept. 16, 2019
South Tyneside Council86%No2030July 18, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Rochdale Metropolitan Borough 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
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council94%No2038Feb. 24, 2020
Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council93%Yes2050Sept. 16, 2019
Harlow Council91%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council91%Yes2038July 17, 2019
Cannock Chase District Council91%No2030July 17, 2019
Bradford Metropolitan District Council90%Yes2030Jan. 15, 2019
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council90%NoNo targetJuly 6, 2020
Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council90%No2030Dec. 4, 2019
Sheffield City Council89%Yes2050Feb. 6, 2019
West Yorkshire Combined Authority89%No2038June 27, 2019
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council97%No2025Sept. 11, 2019
Rossendale Borough Council97%No2030Sept. 25, 2019
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council97%Yes2038July 10, 2019
Greater Manchester Combined Authority97%No2038July 26, 2019
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council96%No2038Feb. 24, 2020
Burnley Borough Council96%Yes2030July 10, 2019
Manchester City Council96%Yes2038July 10, 2019
Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council96%Yes2038Jan. 30, 2019
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council95%No2030March 28, 2019
Salford City Council95%No2038July 17, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Rochdale Metropolitan Borough 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
Bradford Metropolitan District Council95%Yes2030Jan. 15, 2019
St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council92%Yes2040June 10, 2019
South Tyneside Council91%No2030July 18, 2019
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority91%Yes2040April 28, 2019
Hyndburn Borough Council91%No2030Sept. 19, 2019
Mansfield District Council90%No2040March 5, 2019
Preston City Council89%No2030April 18, 2019
Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council89%No2037July 16, 2019
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council89%No2038Feb. 24, 2020
Sunderland City Council88%Yes2030March 27, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Rochdale Metropolitan Borough 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
Broxtowe Borough Council100%Yes2027July 17, 2019
Adur District Council99%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Woking Borough Council99%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Fareham Borough Council99%Yes2030Oct. 24, 2019
Elmbridge Borough Council98%No2030July 17, 2019
Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council98%No2030Dec. 4, 2019
Ashfield District Council98%NoNo targetNo
Runnymede Borough Council98%NoNo targetOct. 17, 2019
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council98%No2025Sept. 11, 2019
Basildon Borough Council98%Yes2030No

Powers & Responsibilities

Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council is a 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.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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
    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 collection and 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

    rochdale.gov.uk
    Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council’s official homepage.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Rochdale Metropolitan Borough 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 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council’s climate performance, and actions you can take.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/rochdale-metropolitan-borough-council/ [Accessed 1 Apr 2023].

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