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London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on July 9, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2030

“In July 2019, Richmond Council declared a Climate Emergency, committing to working towards becoming carbon neutral by 2030. ”

Climate documents

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Document

PDF · ·
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Action Plan

PDF · Approved · Council Only

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

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames was a top performer amongst single tier councils, in the Community, engagement and communications section.

SectionLondon Borough of Richmond upon ThamesAverage single tier council
Total score78%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
15/21
10.3/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
13/18
9.0/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
5/7
4.1/7
Section 4 · Top performer Community, engagement and communications
9/9
5.1/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
4/5
2.9/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
4/4
2.2/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
4/5
0.9/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
3/5
2.3/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
3/4
2.1/4

Emissions data

615.4 ktCO2e

2019 emissions

3.1 tCO2e

per capita

10.5 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 London Borough of Richmond upon Thames 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
Epsom and Ewell Borough Council96%Yes2035July 23, 2019
St Albans City and District Council90%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council89%Yes2030No
London Borough of Bromley88%Yes2029No
Three Rivers District Council87%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead87%Yes2050June 26, 2019
Wokingham Borough Council87%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Fareham Borough Council86%Yes2030Oct. 24, 2019
Surrey County Council85%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Rochford District Council85%No2030No
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These councils are the most similar to London Borough of Richmond upon Thames 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
London Borough of Bromley96%Yes2029No
Epsom and Ewell Borough Council95%Yes2035July 23, 2019
Wokingham Borough Council90%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Three Rivers District Council89%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Spelthorne Borough Council88%No2050Oct. 14, 2020
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council87%Yes2030No
London Borough of Barnet87%YesNo targetNo
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council86%Yes2038March 28, 2019
London Borough of Harrow86%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Castle Point Borough Council86%NoNo targetNo
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These councils grographically border or overlap with London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
London Borough of Hounslow99%Yes2030No
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames99%Yes2038June 25, 2019
London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham98%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Elmbridge Borough Council98%Yes2030July 17, 2019
London Borough of Wandsworth98%Yes2050July 17, 2019
Spelthorne Borough Council98%No2050Oct. 14, 2020
Greater London Authority97%YesDec. 1, 2019
Surrey County Council97%Yes2030July 9, 2019
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These councils are the most similar to London Borough of Richmond upon Thames 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
Epsom and Ewell Borough Council98%Yes2035July 23, 2019
Elmbridge Borough Council98%Yes2030July 17, 2019
Fareham Borough Council98%Yes2030Oct. 24, 2019
St Albans City and District Council97%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Mid Sussex District Council97%YesNo targetNo
Surrey Heath Borough Council95%Yes2030Oct. 9, 2019
East Hertfordshire District Council95%Yes2030No
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead94%Yes2050June 26, 2019
Blaby District Council93%Yes2030No
West Berkshire Council93%Yes2030July 2, 2019
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These councils are the most similar to London Borough of Richmond upon Thames 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
Brighton and Hove City Council100%Yes2030Dec. 13, 2018
Ipswich Borough Council100%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Stevenage Borough Council100%Yes2030June 12, 2019
Gosport Borough Council100%Yes2050No
Kingston-upon-Hull City Council100%Yes2030March 21, 2019
Worthing Borough Council100%YesJuly 18, 2019
Norwich City Council100%Yes2030Jan. 29, 2019
City of London100%Yes2027No
Derby City Council100%Yes2050May 23, 2019
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council100%NoNo targetJuly 6, 2020
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Powers & Responsibilities

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is a London Borough, 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.

    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 English local authority powers in the UK100 Power Shift report.

    More about this council

    richmond.gov.uk
    London Borough of Richmond upon Thames’s official homepage.
    @lbrut
    London Borough of Richmond upon Thames’s Twitter account.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check London Borough of Richmond upon Thames’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 London Borough of Richmond upon Thames’s climate performance, and actions you can take.

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