Climate change
In July 2025, the Council passed a motion declaring a nature recovery emergency, to sit alongside our existing climate emergency. A joint strategy has been produced, recognising that the two areas are inextricably linked. There will be a separate action plan for climate change and nature recovery. The existing climate change action plan is being revised and the nature recovery action plan will be developed over the next 6-9 months and will include public consultation.
The
- Darlington Borough Council climate change and nature strategy [pdf document].
- Climate change action plan [pdf document].
- Climate change report 2020/21 [pdf document].
- Climate change report 2021/22 [pdf document].
- Climate change report 2022/23 [pdf document].
- Climate change report 2023/24 [pdf document].
- Climate change report 2024/25 [pdf document].
- Progress on 10 of our projects [pdf document].
If you would prefer an Easy Read version of the strategy, with ideas of how you can help yourself and others, please follow this link.
Our Council Plan 2024 2027 has been published, which sets out our long-term vision, ambitions and priorities for Darlington. The three core principles are:
- addressing inequalities
- efficient and effective use of resources
- tackling climate change
We are also members of the Tees Valley Combined Authority, has its own region-wide net zero strategy.
We have produced an infographic for communities to share, explaining what climate change is and what action can be taken locally. Community infographic Community Infographic[pdf document]
The Climate Change Act includes an section allowing the Secretary of State to order reporting on how organisations are preparing for climate change. This is called the Adaptation Reporting Power. Local authorities have never been included in this, but this year we have taken part in a pilot project and have submitted our report Arp Report Pilot [pdf document].
In 2024, we commissioned a carbon audit of council land Darlington The Report V2, to see how much carbon is being stored. We are the first local authority in the UK to do this.
This year, we have developed a Single Use Plastics Policy, to continue our journey to reducing the amount of single use plastics we use across the council.