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West of England Combined Authority

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on July 1, 2019.

Whole area pledge for 2030

“‘In 2030, the West of England is net zero carbon’.”

Climate documents

Last update: Sept. 27, 2021

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

SectionWest of England Combined AuthorityAverage combined authority council
Total score31%48%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
10/21
9.5/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
7/18
9.4/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
2/5
2.2/5
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
3/9
5.0/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
1/5
3.0/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
2/4
2.6/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
1.1/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
0/5
2.5/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
2/4
1.8/4

Emissions data

2963.1 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

3.1 tCO2

per person

2.6 ktCO2

per km2

37%

Domestic

32%

Transport

13%

Industry

10%

Commercial

7%

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 West of England Combined Authority 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
Rushmoor Borough Council92%Yes2030June 20, 2019
Brighton and Hove City Council90%Yes2030Dec. 13, 2018
Bath and North East Somerset Council90%Yes2030March 14, 2019
Worcester City Council90%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Coventry City Council89%NoNo targetJune 18, 2019
West Midlands Combined Authority89%No2041June 28, 2019
Salford City Council89%No2038July 17, 2019
Sheffield City Council88%Yes2050Feb. 6, 2019
Leeds City Council87%No2030March 27, 2019
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council87%No2025Sept. 11, 2019

These councils are the most similar to West of England Combined Authority 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
Erewash Borough Council98%No2050No
Wyre Council95%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Milton Keynes95%Yes2030Jan. 23, 2019
Worcestershire County Council94%Yes2030July 15, 2021
Nottinghamshire County Council94%No2030May 27, 2021
North Northamptonshire Council93%Yes2030July 28, 2021
Chorley Council93%Yes2030Nov. 19, 2019
Bedford Borough Council93%Yes2030March 5, 2019
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority93%Yes2050No
Fife Council92%Yes2045Sept. 26, 2019

These councils are the most similar to West of England Combined Authority 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
Milton Keynes99%Yes2030Jan. 23, 2019
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead97%No2050June 26, 2019
Preston City Council97%No2030April 18, 2019
Welwyn Hatfield Council96%Yes2030June 19, 2019
Thanet District Council96%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Three Rivers District Council96%No2030May 21, 2019
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority95%No2040Nov. 7, 2019
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council95%Yes2040Sept. 18, 2019
Hertfordshire County Council95%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Warwick District Council95%No2030June 26, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

West of England Combined Authority is a Combined Authority, 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
    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

    Read more about English local authority powers in the UK100 Power Shift report.

    More about this council

    westofengland-ca.org.uk
    West of England Combined Authority’s official homepage.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2023). CAPE: West of England Combined Authority. Available at: http://cape.mysociety.org/councils/west-of-england-combined-authority/ [Accessed 26 Mar 2023].

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