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Kent County Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on May 23, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2030

“We will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our own estate and activities to net zero by 2030.”

Whole area pledge for 2050

“We are also committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the whole county to net zero by 2050.”

Climate documents

Last update: March 16, 2022
Energy And Low Emissions Strategy: Evidence Base

Summary Document · PDF · Approved · Whole Area
Energy And Low Emissions Strategy: Public Consultation Report, November 2019

Pre-Plan · PDF · · Whole Area
Kcc Net Zero Plan

Action Plan · PDF · ·
Kent And Medway Energy And Low Emissions Strategy: Implementation Plan 2020-2023

Action Plan · PDF · ·
Energy And Low Emissions Strategy, June 2020

Climate Strategy · PDF · Approved · Whole Area

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

SectionKent County CouncilAverage county council
Total score53%40%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
10/21
8.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
10/18
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
3/5
2.4/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
4/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
1/5
0.2/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
0/5
1.7/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
2/4
1.5/4

Emissions data

4997.7 ktCO2

Total 2019 emissions

3.9 tCO2

per person

2.2 ktCO2

per km2

10%

Commercial

37%

Domestic

12%

Industry

3%

Public Sector

37%

Transport

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 Kent 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
West Sussex County Council92%Yes2030April 5, 2019
Hertfordshire County Council92%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Maidstone Borough Council90%No2030April 10, 2019
Lewes District Council89%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Essex County Council88%No2030No
Dacorum Council88%Yes2050July 17, 2019
North Hertfordshire District Council88%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Hertsmere Borough Council88%Yes2050Sept. 18, 2019
East Sussex County Council87%Yes2050Oct. 15, 2019
Gloucestershire County Council86%Yes2030May 15, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Kent 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
Hampshire County Council96%No2050June 17, 2019
Hertfordshire County Council95%Yes2030July 16, 2019
East Sussex County Council94%Yes2050Oct. 15, 2019
West Sussex County Council92%Yes2030April 5, 2019
Essex County Council91%No2030No
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council90%Yes2030Aug. 29, 2019
North Hertfordshire District Council90%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Lewes District Council90%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Maidstone Borough Council89%No2030April 10, 2019
Folkestone and Hythe District Council89%Yes2030July 24, 2019

These councils grographically border or overlap with Kent County Council. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
London Borough of Bexley99%NoNo targetNo
London Borough of Bromley98%Yes2029No
Dartford Borough Council97%NoNo targetOct. 7, 2019
Sevenoaks District Council96%Yes2030No
Thurrock Council96%No2022Oct. 23, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Kent 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
South Derbyshire District Council97%Yes2030June 27, 2019
Broxtowe Borough Council97%Yes2027July 17, 2019
South Ribble Borough Council94%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Cambridge City Council94%Yes2030Feb. 21, 2019
Gloucestershire County Council94%Yes2030May 15, 2019
Dacorum Council94%Yes2050July 17, 2019
Aberdeen City Council93%Yes2045No
Fylde Borough Council93%NoNo targetNo
Cambridgeshire County Council93%Yes2050May 14, 2019
Staffordshire County Council93%Yes2050July 25, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Kent 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
Lancashire County Council97%No2030Feb. 28, 2019
Hampshire County Council96%No2050June 17, 2019
Leicestershire County Council96%No2030May 15, 2019
Staffordshire County Council96%Yes2050July 25, 2019
West Lothian Council95%NoNo targetSept. 24, 2019
East Staffordshire Borough Council95%Yes2040Aug. 17, 2020
West Sussex County Council95%Yes2030April 5, 2019
Chelmsford City Council95%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Cheshire West and Chester Council94%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Gravesham Borough Council94%No2030June 26, 2019

Features

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

Strong on public health

Powers & Responsibilities

Kent 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

    kent.gov.uk
    Kent County Council’s official homepage.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2022). Climate Action Plan Explorer: Kent County Council. Available at: http://data.climateemergency.uk/councils/kent-county-council/ [Accessed 22 May 2022].

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