Title

CLIMATE CHANGE

Councils need more 'funding and powers' to tackle climate change

Progress needs to be accelerated in every local area if the UK’s climate and nature targets are to be met, campaigners have said.

Progress needs to be accelerated in every local area if the UK's climate and nature targets are to be met, campaigners have said.

A new report from the charities Friends of the Earth and Ashden argued local authorities were ‘crucial' to helping the UK tackle the climate emergency.

Most councils have now declared a climate emergency and 85% have created climate action plans.

However, the study warned that the quality and scale of ambition still varied greatly across the country - in large part because of a lack of clarity from the Government about the role of councils in the journey to net zero.

Friends of the Earth campaigner Sandra Bell said: ‘Whether it's declaring a climate emergency or producing a plan to curb climate and nature breakdown, most local authorities have shown they want to do more to protect our planet.

'But, in spite of this, we're still not seeing local progress at the rate needed to halt the worst climate impacts.

‘For many councils it's a question of funding and powers - both of which are in short supply.'

CLIMATE CHANGE

Show us the money

By Lee Peart | 31 March 2026

Social care funding is ‘a classic for the insurance system’, and the deadline for the final Casey Commission report should be brought forward. Lee Peart repo...

CLIMATE CHANGE

Turning 'unbuildable' land into housing capacity

By Simon Towers | 31 March 2026

Simon Towers discusses how local authorities can use biodiversity improvements to bring formerly unviable or unbuildable sites into development and increase ...

CLIMATE CHANGE

Pride in Place requires a reinvigorated community development workforce

By Graham Duxbury | 31 March 2026

Graham Duxbury looks at how to empower communities to seize the opportunity presented by Pride in Place.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Marvin the Paranoid Android's secret council reorganisation diary

By Blair McPherson | 30 March 2026

Brought in to advise a council with reorganisation, Marvin the Paranoid Android’s suggestions don’t go down well. He concludes the real challenge facing this...

Popular articles by William Eichler