Cambridge has been named an ‘A’ List City by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) after Cambridge City Council reported to CDP the actions it has been taking to reduce carbon emissions and prepare for climate change, including work the council has undertaken with partners.
Cambridge is one of 119 cities globally to be recognized by CDP for taking bold leadership on environmental action and transparency, despite the pressures of a challenging global economic situation. CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions.
Since 2016 the council has been reporting to CDP the work it has been doing to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. This year the city has made it to the ‘A’ List – only 13% of cities out of the 939 that disclosed environmental data in 2023 received an ‘A’ score, demonstrating climate leadership through effective action.
Leading Cambridge’s response to the climate change and biodiversity emergencies is one of four key priorities for 2022 to 2027 in the council’s Corporate Plan. The council’s Annual Climate Change Report highlighted actions that have been taken in the last year to meet the objectives set out in its Climate Change Strategy (2021 to 2026) including:
- Contributing to falls in the council’s direct carbon emissions from its corporate buildings, fleet vehicles and business travel by 10% between 2021/22 and 2022/23
- Installing air source heat pumps and making energy efficiency upgrades to Parkside and Abbey Pools
- Investing £2.5 million from 2020/21 to 2022/23 to retrofit 264 council homes with energy efficiency and low carbon measures
- Bringing together key partners through the City Leaders’ Climate Change Group to identify ways to collectively reduce carbon emissions to increase the impact across the city
- Delivering actions to improve the city’s resilience to climate change including working with partners to improve tree canopy cover and biodiversity.
The council was also recently listed as one of the top three district councils, ranking in joint third with Oxford City Council, on the Council Climate Action Scorecards produced by Climate Emergency UK who assessed all UK councils on the actions they have taken towards net zero. The council scored 55% overall, exceeding the average score for district councils which was 29%. The council’s highest scores were for the building and heating (71%), collaboration and engagement (70%) and waste reduction and food (69%) questions.
Cllr Rosy Moore, Executive Councillor for Climate Action and Environment, said: “Cambridge being named as an ‘A’ List City by CDP is fantastic news and a great testament to the work the council has undertaken in recent years to mitigate and adapt to climate change. There is a lot of work going on across the council to help to achieve our climate objectives.
“It is also great to see that our actions to tackle climate change have led to the council being recognised by Climate Emergency UK as one of the top three district councils in the UK. We are happy to have been ranked so highly in comparison to other councils, but we know that there is a lot still to do to address the climate emergency and we will consider how we can do more to keep moving in the right direction.
“It is also important to note the efforts of our residents, local businesses and partners who have contributed to this by doing what they can to take action on climate change.
“Acting on climate change is one of our top priorities. Our vision for the city to be net zero by 2030 is a joint one – we are proud to be leading the response to the climate crisis and hope to continue to empower residents to do their part.”
