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London Borough of Sutton

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on July 22, 2019.

Whole area pledge for 2045

“Pledges to make Sutton carbon neutral by 2045.”

Climate documents

London Borough of Sutton Document

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London Borough of Sutton Document

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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

SectionLondon Borough of SuttonAverage single tier council
Total score48%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
5/21
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 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
4/4
2.2/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.9/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
1/5
2.3/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
3/4
2.1/4

Emissions data

565.1 ktCO2e

2019 emissions

2.7 tCO2e

per capita

12.9 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 Sutton 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
London Borough of Merton90%Yes2030July 10, 2019
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames89%Yes2038June 25, 2019
Bracknell Forest Council88%Yes2050No
London Borough of Bexley88%NoNo targetNo
London Borough of Barnet87%YesNo targetNo
Eastleigh Borough Council86%Yes2025July 18, 2019
London Borough of Bromley86%Yes2029No
Rushmoor Borough Council86%Yes2030June 20, 2019
Fareham Borough Council86%Yes2030Oct. 24, 2019
Woking Borough Council86%Yes2030July 25, 2019
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These councils are the most similar to London Borough of Sutton 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 Merton95%Yes2030July 10, 2019
London Borough of Croydon93%YesNo targetJuly 15, 2019
Hastings Borough Council93%Yes2030Feb. 13, 2019
Watford Borough Council91%Yes2030July 9, 2019
London Borough of Enfield91%Yes2030July 8, 2019
Worcester City Council89%Yes2030July 16, 2019
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council89%No2030July 18, 2019
London Borough of Ealing89%Yes2030April 2, 2019
London Borough of Barnet89%YesNo targetNo
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Borough Council89%Yes2030July 16, 2019
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These councils grographically border or overlap with London Borough of Sutton. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
London Borough of Merton99%Yes2030July 10, 2019
Epsom and Ewell Borough Council99%Yes2035July 23, 2019
London Borough of Croydon99%YesNo targetJuly 15, 2019
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council98%Yes2030No
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames98%Yes2038June 25, 2019
Greater London Authority98%YesDec. 1, 2019
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These councils are the most similar to London Borough of Sutton 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
London Borough of Bromley97%Yes2029No
Bath and North East Somerset Council96%Yes2030March 14, 2019
Charnwood Borough Council95%Yes2030No
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council94%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Three Rivers District Council94%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Lichfield District Council93%NoNo targetDec. 10, 2019
Warwickshire County Council93%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Sevenoaks District Council93%Yes2030No
Central Bedfordshire Council93%Yes2030March 5, 2019
South Gloucestershire Council93%Yes2030July 17, 2019
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These councils are the most similar to London Borough of Sutton 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
Manchester City Council100%Yes2038July 10, 2019
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames100%Yes2038June 25, 2019
Watford Borough Council100%Yes2030July 9, 2019
Leicester City Council100%Yes2030Feb. 1, 2019
London Borough of Hounslow100%Yes2030No
London Borough of Barnet100%YesNo targetNo
Slough Borough Council100%YesNo targetNo
London Borough of Croydon100%YesNo targetJuly 15, 2019
Luton Borough Council100%Yes2040Jan. 13, 2020
Nottingham City Council100%Yes2028Jan. 21, 2019
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Powers & Responsibilities

London Borough of Sutton 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

    sutton.gov.uk
    London Borough of Sutton’s official homepage.
    @suttoncouncil
    London Borough of Sutton’s Twitter account.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check London Borough of Sutton’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 Sutton’s climate performance, and actions you can take.

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