Monmouthshire Council is the highest scoring council for climate action locally across the Gwent area, according to Climate Emergency UK who published their second edition of the Council Climate Action scorecards, the only holistic analysis of all UK councils’ climate action.

Monmouthshire scored 46 percent which is just behind the top 62 councils across the UK which scored 50 percent or more on climate action.

Monmouthshire Council was the only council to score above 80 percent in any section locally, scoring 87 percent in waste reduction and food.

The council also saw an increase in their score compared to 2023 when the previous action scorecards were released, improving their score by 9 percentage points.

The average score in Wales was 36 percent whilst the average score across England was 38 percent.

The scorecards are created by assessing councils according to a three-stage marking process using primarily publicly available date as well as national data and freedom of information responses from councils.

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

“Yet, across Wales the average overall score since 2023 was just six percentage points. This shows that councils across the UK are struggling to step up their climate action at the emergency pace needed because there are nationwide barriers making it harder for councils to deliver effective climate action that would cut residents’ bills, make their homes warmer and raise funds for cash strapped local governments.”

Despite the small overall improvement, there are 58 councils across the UK that scored over 80 percent in one or more sections, such as planning and land use, buildings and heating and transport.