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Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on Oct. 30, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2030

“The Council’s carbon emissions to be at net zero by 2030 (NZ30).”

Whole area pledge for 2040

“Rotherham-wide carbon emissions to be at net zero by 2040 (NZ40).”

Climate documents

Last update: June 21, 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

SectionRotherham Metropolitan Borough CouncilAverage single tier council
Total score51%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
12/21
10.3/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
7/18
9.0/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
6/7
4.1/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
5/9
5.1/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
2/5
2.9/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
2/4
2.2/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
3/5
0.9/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
1/5
2.3/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
1/4
2.1/4

Emissions data

1042.7 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

3.9 tCO2

per person

3.6 ktCO2

per km2

34%

Domestic

31%

Transport

23%

Industry

7%

Commercial

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.

These councils are the most similar to Rotherham 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
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority92%No2040Nov. 7, 2019
West Yorkshire Combined Authority90%No2038June 27, 2019
Bradford Metropolitan District Council87%Yes2030Jan. 15, 2019
Tees Valley Combined Authority87%NoNo targetNo
Kirklees Council87%Yes2038Jan. 16, 2019
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council87%Yes2030May 23, 2019
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council86%No2040Sept. 19, 2019
Chesterfield Borough Council85%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Hyndburn Borough Council85%No2030Sept. 19, 2019
Sheffield City Council85%Yes2050Feb. 6, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Rotherham 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
Torfaen County Borough Council89%YesNo targetJune 25, 2019
Bradford Metropolitan District Council89%Yes2030Jan. 15, 2019
Newcastle-Under-Lyme District Council89%No2030April 3, 2019
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority88%No2040Nov. 7, 2019
Wyre Forest District Council88%YesNo targetMay 22, 2019
Erewash Borough Council88%No2050No
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council88%YesNo targetNo
Newport City Council87%Yes2030Nov. 23, 2021
Charnwood Borough Council87%Yes2030No
Tees Valley Combined Authority86%NoNo targetNo
Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority98%No2040Nov. 7, 2019
Chesterfield Borough Council96%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Bolsover District Council96%YesNo targetNo
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council96%No2040Sept. 19, 2019
North East Derbyshire District Council95%Yes2030July 8, 2019
Sheffield City Council95%Yes2050Feb. 6, 2019
Mansfield District Council95%No2040March 5, 2019
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council95%Yes2040Sept. 18, 2019
Nottinghamshire County Council95%No2030May 27, 2021
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council95%Yes2030May 23, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Rotherham 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
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority99%No2040Nov. 7, 2019
West Yorkshire Combined Authority97%No2038June 27, 2019
Redcar and Cleveland Council96%Yes2030March 28, 2019
Newport City Council95%Yes2030Nov. 23, 2021
Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council95%No2037July 16, 2019
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council94%No2040Sept. 19, 2019
Mansfield District Council92%No2040March 5, 2019
Pendle Borough Council92%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Peterborough City Council92%Yes2030July 24, 2019
St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council92%Yes2040June 10, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Rotherham 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
Torfaen County Borough Council98%YesNo targetJune 25, 2019
North East Lincolnshire Council98%Yes2050Sept. 19, 2019
Hyndburn Borough Council98%No2030Sept. 19, 2019
Kirklees Council98%Yes2038Jan. 16, 2019
Warrington Borough Council98%Yes2030June 7, 2019
Newport City Council97%Yes2030Nov. 23, 2021
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council97%Yes2030Oct. 8, 2019
West Yorkshire Combined Authority97%No2038June 27, 2019
Cannock Chase District Council96%No2030July 17, 2019
Tees Valley Combined Authority96%NoNo targetNo

Features

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

Powers & Responsibilities

Rotherham 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

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

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    Cite this page

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

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