Figures published by Climate Emergency UK have shown that the climate change action plan for Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is ranked above the national average and scored second highest in the county.

Setting out a series of actions for addressing the climate emergency, the council’s plan was assessed along with the plans from a total of 409 local authorities in the country and scored 54%, with the average for UK councils being 46%. In Hampshire, only Fareham Borough Council’s plan scored more with 61%.

All UK councils’ climate change action plans that were published online before 20 September 2021, and written after 2015, were assessed by a team of over 120 volunteers, trained and overseen by Climate Emergency UK, a not-for-profit co-operative. Each council was given a scorecard, with scores being based on councils’ plans for actions to address the climate emergency, rather than reflecting steps already taken.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council declared a climate emergency in September 2019 and adopted its Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy in March 2021. Residents can find out more about how the council is tackling the climate emergency at www.basingstoke.gov.uk/climate-change-and-sustainability

Cabinet Member for the Natural Environment and Climate Improvement Cllr Mark Ruffell said: “We are grateful to Climate Emergency UK for its hard work and pleased that our plan has scored well, with the assessment reflecting the balance of realistic and achievable actions in our ambitious plan while highlighting best practice examples for us to learn from and base future actions on.

“This plan is a good starting point but we are well aware that it is vital to back this up with action and the assessment does not capture all of the impressive work the council has done already to implement its strategy.

“This includes our recent launch of an interactive climate change toolkit to help local communities understand what they can do to make a difference, and the council itself is already taking steps to reduce its own carbon footprint, including making our buildings more energy efficient.

“We have also started work on reducing carbon emissions in the borough in the long term. Innovative new policies for sustainable development are being drafted as part of our work to update the Local Plan, and we are also considering other schemes, which could include installing additional public electric vehicle charging points to further support and encourage environmentally friendly travel choices, following the installation of chargers in Overton and Whitchurch and the creation of Hampshire’s first electric vehicle charging hub at Feathers Yard in Basingstoke.

“We’ll be presenting our latest progress on delivering against our strategy and action plan to the Community, Environment and Partnerships Committee in March.”

To view the scores for the council’s climate change action plan in the full table of results see: https://councilclimatescorecards.uk/scoring/district/#jump=basingstoke-and-deane-borough-council