Back in January 2022 we launched the Council Climate Plan Scorecards, our pilot project which assessed all the council Climate Action Plans in the UK. Amongst many other tools, the scorecards website allows you to view councils’ overall scores and the breakdown of their scores in each scoring category, compared with those of other councils with similar powers.
On launch day the Council Climate Scorecards received widespread coverage on social media and in local and national press, including spending three days on The Guardian front page and climate page online and, now, over 120 regional media hits in the following weeks. The website also had 11,460 visitors during launch week and was featured on Sky News’ Daily Climate Show. To see the full story of the Council Climate Plan Scorecards, check out this Story Map (embedded below), overing the council climate scorecards background information, the scores, performance and response (made by one of our lovely volunteers Lucy).
Following the launch, the appetite for this tool amongst residents and councils was immediately apparent, and we’ve loved hearing and seeing how this information is being used. Residents and campaigners from all over the country attended our How to Use the Scorecards sessions online where they learned how to most effectively use the data to push councils to improve their Climate Action Plans. Councillors have been using the Scorecards to ask questions to full council on their Councils’ performance, campaigners are using the Scorecard data in the campaign actions, election hustings and meetings with councillors, and Councils themselves are looking at how they can improve compared to others.
As we all know, actions speak louder than words, so in the next stage of this project we will move onto assessing councils on the actual climate action they are taking in our Council Climate Action Scorecards. Looking forward, we are delighted to announce that we’ve received funding from Gower Street, Attainable and We Have The Power to continue the Council Climate Action Scorecards project for next year, and beyond – thank you!
In light of the latest IPCC report, which states that approximately half of the global population (3.6 billion people) are highly vulnerable to the the impacts of climate change, it is more vital than ever that all levels of Government take action of appropriate scale and urgency and we know that our Scorecards can help see what action is happening and what action is needed. While the UK Government clearly needs to step up its’ act, councils also have an important role to play. The Climate Change Commissions Sixth Carbon Budget Report states that local authorities can help influence up to 30% of the cuts in carbon emissions needed to get to net zero locally, and we want to see this happen.
The Council Climate Action Scorecards will be the first ever assessment of the actual climate action being taken by local authorities in the UK. This data will be collected by a team of trained volunteers and staff and the tool, the Council Climate Action Scorecards will be vital for campaigners and residents to hold their councils to account on climate action.
Don’t forget to join our mailing list to stay up to date with the Scorecards, and to check out the Scorecards website as some additional features, including being able to filter by Region, have been added since we launched in January 2022.
