Rising to the Climate Challenge: The Role of Counties in Delivering Net-Zero

Our report highlights how county authorities are delivering practical, place‑based climate action, whilst setting out the challenges faced by local areas.

County areas have demonstrated strong self‑driven leadership despite limited, short‑term funding and policy uncertainty. The document showcases a wide range of innovative projects led by County Councils Network (CCN) member authorities.

These include large‑scale electric vehicle infrastructure, hydrogen‑powered refuse fleets, geothermal energy development, LED street‑lighting upgrades, community climate funds, and mass tree planting programmes.

Many of these initiatives focus on rural and hard‑to‑reach communities that face specific challenges and require tailored approaches.

However, the report finds that emissions in county areas are declining more slowly than in other parts of England, due largely to resource pressures, a lack of long‑term certainty, and national programmes designed primarily around urban contexts.

The report argues that county authorities are well positioned to accelerate climate action but require clearer national policy, sustained funding and greater flexibility in delivery.

Key findings from report include:

• County authorities can influence over 80% of UK emissions.
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• Due to the specific challenges in county and rural areas, transport-based emissions in those places have reduced by 5% compared to 10% for the rest of the country.
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• Just 38% of electric vehicles being registered in counties – despite those areas being the home of almost half of England’s population.

Recommendations to government include:

• Provide clearer national policy and defined roles for county authorities. Increase long‑term climate funding for county areas.
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• Move away from city‑focused approaches to climate investment.
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• Give counties greater flexibility to tailor schemes to local needs.
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• Establish national mechanisms for collecting performance data to support evaluation and scaling of successful initiatives.

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