East Cambridgeshire District Council has officially been ranked 29th out of 164 district councils for its work to combat climate change, putting it in the top quartile for performance.

This is the second time campaign group Climate Emergency UK has officially scored local authorities on their performance.

The assessment consisted of 91 questions or less, depending on council type, across 7 different sections, created in consultation with over 90 different organisations and individuals.

East Cambridgeshire District Council first declared a climate emergency in 2019 and since then has been focusing more resources on work to protect the environment and boost its mission to become net zero carbon. Net zero carbon means the council will only emit the same amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as it captures from, for example, the trees it grows. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which is causing the planet to rapidly warm, and is causing a rapid increase in storms, heatwaves and sea level rises.

So far, the council has installed solar panels on its office buildings and Electric Vehicle charge points in public car parks, as well as helping local community projects increase their biodiversity and working with Eco Schools.

This work has helped the council leap from 77^th position in Climate Emergency UK’s rankings in 2021 to 29^th position in 2023.

Cllr Julia Huffer, Environment Champion for East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “The staff and members of East Cambridgeshire District Council, together with support from local organisations and residents have worked extremely hard over the last few years and delivered some fantastic initiatives. These all help towards our mission to create a cleaner, greener East Cambridgeshire and support us on our journey to become net zero carbon. I’m delighted to see us jump up the national league table, in recognition of our efforts.

“Having said that, we are not complacent. There is still a huge amount of work to do and we are working hard to deliver the actions of our current Environment Plan.”