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Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

We don’t think this council has declared a climate emergency – let us know if it has!

Climate pledges

We couldn’t find any climate pledges from this council. If you’ve found one, let us know!

Climate documents

We couldn’t find any climate action plans for this council.

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

SectionComhairle nan Eilean SiarAverage single tier council
Total score19%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
9/21
10.3/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
0/18
9.0/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
2/7
4.1/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
2/9
5.1/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
2/5
2.9/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
0/4
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

154.4 ktCO2e

2019 emissions

5.8 tCO2e

per capita

0.0 ktCO2e

per km2

Latest CO2 estimates from the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. County and combined authority data combined from constituent authorities.

These councils are the most similar to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 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
The Highland Council71%No2025May 9, 2019
Argyll and Bute Council64%Yes2045No
Shetland Islands Council53%YesNo targetJan. 22, 2020
Orkney Islands Council45%YesNo targetMay 14, 2019
Dumfries and Galloway Council43%Yes2025June 27, 2019
Scottish Borders Council41%Yes2045Sept. 5, 2020
Powys County Council40%No2030July 30, 2020
Eden District Council38%No2030July 11, 2019
Perth and Kinross Council34%Yes2045No
Ceredigion County Council32%Yes2030March 5, 2020
Search inside these councils’ plans

These councils are the most similar to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 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
Orkney Islands Council65%YesNo targetMay 14, 2019
Ards and North Down Borough Council64%NoNo targetFeb. 27, 2019
Bolsover District Council63%YesNo targetNo
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council62%NoNo targetNo
Shetland Islands Council59%YesNo targetJan. 22, 2020
Ceredigion County Council57%Yes2030March 5, 2020
Mansfield District Council56%Yes2040March 5, 2019
Scottish Borders Council55%Yes2045Sept. 5, 2020
Copeland Borough Council53%Yes2050No
Mole Valley District Council52%Yes2030June 18, 2019
Search inside these councils’ plans

These councils are the most similar to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 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
The Highland Council77%No2025May 9, 2019
Argyll and Bute Council65%Yes2045No
Shetland Islands Council48%YesNo targetJan. 22, 2020
Dumfries and Galloway Council42%Yes2025June 27, 2019
Eden District Council39%No2030July 11, 2019
Powys County Council39%No2030July 30, 2020
Orkney Islands Council36%YesNo targetMay 14, 2019
Scottish Borders Council35%Yes2045Sept. 5, 2020
Ryedale District Council30%Yes2050Oct. 10, 2019
Ceredigion County Council29%Yes2030March 5, 2020
Search inside these councils’ plans

These councils are the most similar to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 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
The Highland Council84%No2025May 9, 2019
Argyll and Bute Council71%Yes2045No
Shetland Islands Council62%YesNo targetJan. 22, 2020
Orkney Islands Council47%YesNo targetMay 14, 2019
Dumfries and Galloway Council44%Yes2025June 27, 2019
Scottish Borders Council43%Yes2045Sept. 5, 2020
Powys County Council43%No2030July 30, 2020
Eden District Council41%No2030July 11, 2019
Perth and Kinross Council38%Yes2045No
Ryedale District Council33%Yes2050Oct. 10, 2019
Search inside these councils’ plans

Powers & Responsibilities

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is a Unitary 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
    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.

    Social housing

    Climate actions might include:

    • prioritising energy efficiency when building new council-operated social housing schemes – for example, through the Passivhaus standard
    • enabling housing associations to improve the energy efficiency of their housing stock, through loans from the local authority

    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 local authority powers across the UK, at The Institute for Government.

    More about this council

    cne-siar.gov.uk
    Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s official homepage.
    @cne_siar
    Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Twitter account.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s ‘carbon budget’ – their share towards meeting the UK’s Paris agreement targets.

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