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South Hams District Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on July 25, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2030

“That the Council aim to reduce its organisational carbon emissions to net-zero by 2030.”

Whole area pledge for 2050

“That the Council commit to working with partners through the Devon Climate Emergency Response Group to aim to reduce the District of South Hams’ carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050 at the latest.”

Climate documents

Last update: March 16, 2022
Climate Change And Biodiversity Action Plan

Action Plan · PDF · ·
Operational Carbon Reduction Plan

Action Plan · PDF · Approved ·
Climate Change And Biodiversity Action Plan

Action Plan · PDF · Approved ·

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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

South Hams District Council was a top performer amongst district councils, in the Measuring and setting emissions targets section.

SectionSouth Hams District CouncilAverage district council
Total score66%43%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
15/21
9.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
10/18
8.1/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
4/7
3.8/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
8/9
4.7/9
Section 5 · Top performer Measuring and setting emissions targets
5/5
2.6/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
4/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
0/5
0.5/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
3/5
1.5/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
3/4
1.8/4

Emissions data

531.6 ktCO2

Total 2019 emissions

6.1 tCO2

per person

0.6 ktCO2

per km2

9%

Commercial

25%

Domestic

20%

Industry

2%

Public Sector

44%

Transport

Data from the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy “subset dataset”, representing carbon dioxide emissions within the scope of influence of local authorities.

These councils are the most similar to South Hams District 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
Mid Devon District Council77%Yes2030June 26, 2019
South Somerset District Council73%Yes2023May 21, 2019
North Devon Council70%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Shropshire Council - Unitary70%No2030May 16, 2019
Wychavon District Council69%Yes2050No
North Warwickshire Borough Council68%No2030Oct. 22, 2019
Somerset County Council68%No2030Feb. 20, 2019
Cornwall Council (Unitary)67%Yes2030Jan. 22, 2019
Teignbridge District Council67%Yes2025April 18, 2019
East Devon District Council67%Yes2040July 24, 2019

These councils are the most similar to South Hams District 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
North Warwickshire Borough Council88%No2030Oct. 22, 2019
Bassetlaw District Council85%NoNo targetNo
West Lindsey District Council85%Yes2050No
Babergh District Council84%Yes2030July 23, 2019
South Kesteven District Council83%Yes2050Sept. 26, 2019
Monmouthshire County Council81%Yes2030May 16, 2019
Flintshire County Council81%NoNo targetNo
Cornwall Council (Unitary)81%Yes2030Jan. 22, 2019
South Derbyshire District Council80%Yes2030June 27, 2019
Breckland District Council79%Yes2035Sept. 19, 2019

These councils grographically border or overlap with South Hams District Council. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Teignbridge District Council95%Yes2025April 18, 2019
Plymouth City Council95%Yes2030March 18, 2019
Torbay Council95%Yes2030June 19, 2019
West Devon Borough Council94%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Cornwall Council (Unitary)84%Yes2030Jan. 22, 2019
Devon County Council83%No2030Feb. 21, 2019

These councils are the most similar to South Hams District 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
Chichester District Council92%Yes2025July 9, 2019
Malvern Hills District Council91%Yes2030July 23, 2019
Babergh District Council91%Yes2030July 23, 2019
Dorset Council89%No2040May 16, 2019
Teignbridge District Council88%Yes2025April 18, 2019
Braintree District Council87%No2030July 22, 2019
Wychavon District Council86%Yes2050No
Rugby Borough Council85%No2030July 18, 2019
Mendip District Council84%Yes2030Feb. 25, 2019
Epping Forest District Council84%Yes2030Sept. 19, 2019

These councils are the most similar to South Hams District 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
Isle of Anglesey County Council98%Yes2030Sept. 8, 2020
Cotswold District Council92%NoNo targetJuly 3, 2019
Derbyshire Dales District Council92%Yes2030May 30, 2019
Pembrokeshire County Council92%Yes2030May 9, 2019
West Lindsey District Council91%Yes2050No
Hambleton District Council90%No2034Dec. 14, 2021
Mid Devon District Council90%Yes2030June 26, 2019
Uttlesford District Council90%Yes2030July 30, 2019
North Norfolk District Council88%Yes2030April 24, 2019
Stratford-on-Avon District Council86%Yes2030July 15, 2019

Features

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

Comprehensive plan for mitigation Integrated with Local Plan Clear communication Strong on public health Good on green jobs, skills & training

Powers & Responsibilities

South Hams District Council is a Non-Metropolitan District, 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.

    Housing

    Climate actions might include:

    • setting energy standards above building regulations (Planning and Energy Act, 2008)
    • enabling housing associations to improve the energy efficiency of their housing stock through loans
    • where councils operate their own social housing, prioritising energy efficiency – for example, by requiring Passivhaus standard for newly built schemes

    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
    Waste collection

    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

    southhams.gov.uk
    South Hams District Council’s official homepage.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check South Hams District Council’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 South Hams District Council’s climate performance, and actions you can take.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2022). Climate Action Plan Explorer: South Hams District Council. Available at: http://data.climateemergency.uk/councils/south-hams-district-council/ [Accessed 27 Jun 2022].

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