Wednesday 18 November 2020

More than half of UK councils have set a net zero goal for 2030 or sooner

More than half of the UK's local councils have now set a net zero goal for 2030 or sooner.

That's according to data compiled by climate change charity Carbon Copy, which highlights nearly three-quarters have formally declared a climate emergency - it suggests local ambition is driving many of the country's councils to set decarbonisation goals more than 20 years earlier than national targets require.

The study notes the first council in the UK to declare a climate emergency was Bristol City Council, which announced the move on 13th November 2018.

Carbon Copy has launched an interactive map that compares local areas across the country, offers details about targets and discloses current carbon emissions for each local authority area.

Ric Casale, Co-Founder and Trustee of Carbon Copy said: “We designed the UK Carbon Zero Explorer to help people across the UK to discover how their local community is responding to the climate crisis. What we have learned is that actually, there is a great deal to be positive about. More than half of UK principal councils have acknowledged that the nationally set 2050 deadline for reaching net-zero carbon emissions is simply not ambitious enough and that we need to treat this crisis as an emergency.

"Local climate action is not only measured by reduced emissions but also in terms of community and care. We hope that by sharing and celebrating the huge impact that local leadership is already having across the country, we can inspire more communities towards repair and renewal."