West Oxfordshire has been named the top performing rural district in the UK following the release of the 2025 national Council Climate Action Scorecards, a significant achievement that highlights our collective commitment to reducing carbon emissions and building climate resilience across the district.
The national assessment, conducted between July 2024 and March 2025, evaluated councils on their climate strategies across seven different sections. Developed in consultation with more than 90 organisations and individuals, the scorecard consisted of up to 93 questions, showcasing best practice and highlighting where local authorities are using their powers to influence and drive impactful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Councillor Andrew Prosser, Executive Member for Climate Action and Nature Recovery, said:
“I am absolutely delighted with this result for West Oxfordshire, it reflects a huge amount of work across the Council, and with our partners - whether it be our neighbouring councils, the Zero Carbon Oxfordshire Partnership, local organisations or our communities. And it is this collaborative work that has enabled Oxfordshire to have performed so well across the board.
“The work we’re doing isn’t just about West Oxfordshire, it’s part of a bigger picture to cut emissions right across Oxfordshire. That’s why it’s essential for everyone to share insights and best practices on climate action so we can accelerate carbon reduction and build climate resilience together.”
West Oxfordshire excelled in sectors such as buildings and heating, planning and land use, and waste reduction and food.
The district’s success is underpinned by deep community involvement. It is vital that communities continue to shape and deliver community climate actions to accelerate progress and maximise the community benefits. We need to learn from each other’s climate successes and ways to overcome challenges, scaling up initiatives so that the impact can be felt more widely.
Key projects that contributed to this success included supporting vulnerable households to improve energy efficiency through the Better Housing Better Health programme, retrofitting council-owned buildings with low carbon heating systems and renewable technologies, and facilitating the planting of community orchards to enable community food growing, restore habitats for wildlife, and address climate change.
The Council also continues to deliver carbon literacy training to staff, as well as climate awareness training to council members. Furthermore, a Sustainability Impact Assessment Tool has been introduced to embed climate considerations into decision-making, ensuring Council operations are as sustainable as possible.
By acting to both reduce emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change, West Oxfordshire is helping to create a stronger, greener future for the district and beyond.
Contact Information
West Oxfordshire District Council Communications Team
communications@westoxon.gov.uk
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