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Vale of Glamorgan Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on July 29, 2019.

Council only pledge for 2030

“Project Zero brings together the wide range of work and opportunities available to tackle the climate emergency, reduce the Council’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2030 and encourage others to make positive changes.”

Climate documents

Vale of Glamorgan Council Action Plan

PDF · · 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

SectionVale of Glamorgan CouncilAverage single tier council
Total score45%50%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
10/21
10.3/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
14/18
9.0/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
4/7
4.1/7
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
4/9
5.1/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
2/5
2.9/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
2/4
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
2/4
2.1/4

Emissions data

546.5 ktCO2e

2019 emissions

4.1 tCO2e

per capita

1.6 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 Vale of Glamorgan 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
North Somerset Council88%Yes2030Feb. 19, 2019
Worcestershire County Council80%Yes2050July 15, 2021
Leicestershire County Council78%Yes2030May 15, 2019
Staffordshire County Council78%Yes2050July 25, 2019
Warrington Borough Council77%Yes2030June 7, 2019
East Staffordshire Borough Council77%Yes2040Aug. 17, 2020
Bath and North East Somerset Council76%Yes2030March 14, 2019
Newcastle-Under-Lyme District Council76%Yes2030April 3, 2019
Stroud District Council76%Yes2030Dec. 13, 2018
Wyre Forest District Council75%YesNo targetMay 22, 2019
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These councils are the most similar to Vale of Glamorgan 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
Central Bedfordshire Council90%Yes2030March 5, 2019
Sedgemoor District Council88%Yes2030March 20, 2019
Gravesham Borough Council87%Yes2030June 26, 2019
East Suffolk Council87%Yes2030July 24, 2019
North Devon Council87%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Newcastle-Under-Lyme District Council86%Yes2030April 3, 2019
Leicestershire County Council86%Yes2030May 15, 2019
North Somerset Council86%Yes2030Feb. 19, 2019
Hyndburn Borough Council86%No2030Sept. 19, 2019
Wyre Forest District Council85%YesNo targetMay 22, 2019
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These councils grographically border or overlap with Vale of Glamorgan Council. Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Cardiff Council96%Yes2030March 28, 2019
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council96%Yes2050No
Bridgend County Borough Council96%Yes2030No
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These councils are the most similar to Vale of Glamorgan 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
Swindon Borough Council96%Yes2030No
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council95%Yes2030Oct. 8, 2019
Cheshire West and Chester Council94%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Warrington Borough Council93%Yes2030June 7, 2019
Canterbury City Council93%Yes2030July 18, 2019
Leicestershire County Council93%Yes2030May 15, 2019
West Lancashire Borough Council92%Yes2030July 17, 2019
West Northamptonshire Council92%YesNo targetNo
City of Edinburgh Council91%Yes2030Feb. 7, 2019
Cheltenham Borough Council90%Yes2030Feb. 18, 2019
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These councils are the most similar to Vale of Glamorgan 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
Bath and North East Somerset Council98%Yes2030March 14, 2019
Bromsgrove District Council98%NoNo targetJuly 24, 2019
North Hertfordshire District Council97%Yes2030May 21, 2019
Newcastle-Under-Lyme District Council97%Yes2030April 3, 2019
North East Derbyshire District Council96%Yes2030July 8, 2019
North Somerset Council96%Yes2030Feb. 19, 2019
North Lanarkshire Council96%Yes2030June 20, 2019
Amber Valley Borough Council96%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Mid Sussex District Council95%YesNo targetNo
Chelmsford City Council95%Yes2030July 16, 2019
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Powers & Responsibilities

Vale of Glamorgan Council 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

    valeofglamorgan.gov.uk
    Vale of Glamorgan Council’s official homepage.
    @VOGCouncil
    Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Twitter account.
    Tyndall Centre Carbon Budget report
    Check Vale of Glamorgan 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 Vale of Glamorgan Council’s climate performance, and actions you can take.

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