Climate Emergency UK has created a system to score local authority’s Climate Emergency Action Plans. Our intention is to use this data to create a league table of councils based on their climate action.
Why are we doing this?
79% of councils in the UK now have a Climate Emergency Action Plan. But currently there is no way of knowing if your council’s Plan is really good or if they are making any progress on completing the actions it sets out. Residents, businesses and stakeholders need to be able to hold their local authorities to account on Climate Action. By scoring council’s Climate Action Plans and creating a National Scoring System, it will be easy to see how well your council is doing and in what areas it needs to improve. This tool will also help local authorities improve their plans and indicate where the National Government needs to provide more support to local authorities.
How can you help?
We would like to have all the Action Plans scored by November 2021. You can help by volunteering to score the Climate Action Plans. The Plans you score will be double marked to ensure the system is fair and accurate, and Councils themselves will have a chance to comment on their provisional scores to ensure we don’t miss anything.
What experience do I need?
We will provide training so you don’t need any experience. In fact, the less you know about Councils might help you to be a good objective marker!
What will I gain?
This is a great opportunity to understand how local Councils work, as well as understanding local government policy on Climate Action. This is a good chance to improve your research and analytical skills too. By helping with this project you will be making a real contribution to the fight against the climate crisis.
What we need from you
- Attend our 2 hour Scoring training which is running from 5-7pm on the second and fourth Wednesday of August. You will only have to attend once.
- We’d like you to score at least 2 action plans a month for as long as you are available. An action plan will take approx. 5-7 hours to score (though the more you do, the quicker you will be)
- It’s best if you are able to work from a laptop or a computer with good internet, as you will need to be able to access Council websites and look at their action plans as a main part of this role.
How it works
- You will receive training on how the scoring system works.
- You will be assigned 2 or more Action Plans to score depending on your availability.
- You will be supported through online communication with other volunteers across the country.
- You will be supported on Slack so at any point you will be able to ask questions of CEUK staff and other volunteers.
- You will score those Action Plans then send your completed scoring sheets to CE UK. The Plans you score will be double marked to ensure the system is fair and accurate, and Councils themselves will have a chance to comment on their provisional scores to ensure we don’t miss anything.
Want to do more? Be part of our Local Climate Policy Programme, a 3 week crash course in local climate policy and action alongside the practical experience of assessing Council climate action plans. Find out more here.
Contact: If you’d like to get involved, learn more or need any help at all during the process please don’t hesitate to email declare@climateemergency.uk