Cheltenham achieves 6th place ranking in 2025 Climate Emergency UK Scorecards

Cheltenham Borough Council is one of the highest scoring councils for climate action in Gloucestershire, according to Climate Emergency UK, who published their second edition of the Council Climate Action Scorecards on 17 June, the only holistic analysis of all UK council’s climate action.

Climate scorecards are tools designed to assess and track the progress of organisations and councils in their climate action efforts.

They offer a structured framework to evaluate steps taken toward achieving net zero emissions and identify areas needing improvement. Since different council types have varying powers, questions are only posed where a council has the authority to influence that particular issue.

Cheltenham, along with other councils, were assessed using 93 questions across seven key sections. The data was gathered from a wide range of publicly available documents, national sources and direct responses between July 2024 and March 2025.

The final score is calculated by summing the scores from each section and applying a weighting system that reflects the relative importance of each question. Questions with higher weightings represent actions considered to have the greatest impact on emissions reduction and long-term sustainability.

Cllr Richard Pineger, cabinet member for the climate emergency, said: “It’s great to see Cheltenham’s climate efforts getting national recognition. The recent scorecards show we’re committed about hitting our net zero goals while helping us figure out where we can do better and keep making the case for local climate action.”

The improvement from 2023 to 2025 demonstrates the positive development of climate action within Cheltenham, backed up by evidence, it identifies areas needing improvement and areas of success. It facilitates learning from other councils and is a driving force for climate action at the local level by promoting transparency, accountability, and collaboration.

Annie Pickering, operations director at Climate Emergency UK, said: “The majority of councils have improved their Scorecard results since 2023, showing that councils, along with residents, want to prioritise climate action to improve their lives and communities.”

In 2025, Cheltenham Borough Council improved its score by 25%, being awarded a badge in recognition of one of the most improved district councils. With an overall score of 56%, Cheltenham placed 6th amongst UK district averages and topped the rankings within Gloucestershire.

This improvement highlights our ongoing commitment to achieving net zero, demonstrated through consistent climate action with the local community and businesses, aligned with our established climate action plan.

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For Climate Emergency UK, contact: [email protected] or Annie, Co-Director at Climate Emergency UK for more information

Notes to Editors

1. Over 80% of UK councils have a Climate Action Plan and have set a target to be a net zero council or area between 2030 or 2050. Climate Emergency UK is a not-for-profit community interest company which has been working with councils and residents since 2019 to share best practice about what councils can do to tackle the climate and ecological emergency and to encourage effective action. The Scorecards is a project of Climate Emergency UK, in partnership with mySociety.

Climate Emergency UK - https://www.climateemergency.uk/ 

mySociety - https://www.mysociety.org/