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Worcestershire County Council

Declarations & pledges

Climate emergency declaration

This council declared a climate emergency on July 15, 2021.

Whole area pledge for 2030

“The council has set a target to be carbon neutral by 2050 and is working in partnership to achieve the Worcestershire LEP Energy Strategy aim of halving the county’s carbon emissions by 2030.”

Council only pledge for 2050

“Make Worcestershire County Council, in all areas where it is directly responsible, carbon neutral by 2050, taking into account both production and consumption emissions.”

Climate documents

Last update: Feb. 8, 2022
Worcestershire County Council Climate Strategy

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Worcestershire County Council Climate Strategy

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Worcestershire County Council Action Plan

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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

SectionWorcestershire County CouncilAverage county council
Total score40%40%
Section 1 Governance, development and funding
8/21
8.4/21
Section 2 Mitigation and adaptation
8/18
6.6/18
Section 3 Commitment and integration
2/5
2.7/5
Section 4 Community, engagement and communications
3/9
4.7/9
Section 5 Measuring and setting emissions targets
4/5
2.4/5
Section 6 Co-benefits
2/4
1.9/4
Section 7 Diversity and inclusion
1/5
0.2/5
Section 8 Education, skills and training
1/5
1.7/5
Section 9 Ecological emergency
2/4
1.5/4

Emissions data

2263.8 ktCO2

Total 2020 emissions

3.8 tCO2

per person

1.3 ktCO2

per km2

36%

Domestic

35%

Transport

15%

Industry

6%

Commercial

4%

Public Sector

3%

Agriculture

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 Worcestershire 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
Gloucestershire County Council88%Yes2030May 15, 2019
Staffordshire County Council88%Yes2050July 25, 2019
Bedford Borough Council88%Yes2030March 5, 2019
Warwickshire County Council86%Yes2030July 25, 2019
Newcastle-Under-Lyme District Council86%No2030April 3, 2019
Lancashire County Council85%No2030Feb. 28, 2019
North East Derbyshire District Council85%Yes2030July 8, 2019
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council85%Yes2025July 18, 2019
West Sussex County Council85%Yes2030April 5, 2019
Derbyshire County Council84%Yes2032No

These councils are the most similar to Worcestershire 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
Gloucestershire County Council93%Yes2030May 15, 2019
West Sussex County Council93%Yes2030April 5, 2019
Hampshire County Council92%No2050June 17, 2019
Ashford Borough Council91%Yes2030No
Essex County Council91%Yes2030No
Leicestershire County Council90%No2030May 15, 2019
Lewes District Council90%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Kent County Council89%Yes2030May 23, 2019
Falkirk Council89%Yes2030Aug. 26, 2019
North Lanarkshire Council89%Yes2030June 20, 2019

Read more about how we calculate this.

Council nameSimilarityHas planCarbon Neutral byDeclared emergency
Wychavon District Council96%Yes2050No
Redditch Borough Council96%No2050Sept. 23, 2019
Tewkesbury Borough Council96%Yes2030Oct. 1, 2019
Cotswold District Council96%NoNo targetJuly 3, 2019
Cheltenham Borough Council95%Yes2030Feb. 18, 2019
Stratford-on-Avon District Council95%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Bromsgrove District Council94%NoNo targetJuly 24, 2019
Worcester City Council94%No2030July 16, 2019
Warwick District Council93%No2030June 26, 2019
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council93%Yes2030Oct. 8, 2019

These councils are the most similar to Worcestershire 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
North Northamptonshire Council97%No2030July 28, 2021
Bedford Borough Council97%Yes2030March 5, 2019
Flintshire County Council97%NoNo targetNo
North East Derbyshire District Council96%Yes2030July 8, 2019
Wyre Council96%Yes2030July 11, 2019
Nottinghamshire County Council96%No2030May 27, 2021
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority96%Yes2050No
Derbyshire County Council96%Yes2032No
Amber Valley Borough Council94%Yes2030July 24, 2019
Erewash Borough Council94%No2050No

These councils are the most similar to Worcestershire 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
Swale Borough Council99%Yes2025June 26, 2019
Rugby Borough Council99%No2030July 18, 2019
Tewkesbury Borough Council97%Yes2030Oct. 1, 2019
East Sussex County Council97%Yes2050Oct. 15, 2019
Waverley Borough Council96%Yes2030Sept. 18, 2019
Mole Valley District Council96%No2030June 18, 2019
Lewes District Council96%Yes2030July 15, 2019
Gloucestershire County Council96%Yes2030May 15, 2019
Midlothian Council95%No2030Dec. 17, 2019
Carlisle City Council95%No2030March 5, 2019

Powers & Responsibilities

Worcestershire 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

    worcestershire.gov.uk
    Worcestershire County Council’s official homepage.

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    Cite this page

    mySociety, Climate Emergency UK (2022). Climate Action Plan Explorer: Worcestershire County Council. Available at: http://data.climateemergency.uk/councils/worcestershire-county-council/ [Accessed 28 Nov 2022].

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