Norfolk County Council is doing better than almost every other county council in the country at moving towards net zero, according to an independent assessment.
Campaign group Climate Emergency UK produced scorecards marking action by councils on climate change, including areas such as buildings, transport, planning and biodiversity.
Norfolk was placed joint second with Devon among county councils, with only Oxfordshire ranked higher, after a nine-month assessment process.
Councils were marked according to responses to questions around issues such as retrofitting properties, whether they used electric vehicles, whether they have climate action plans and how high recycling rates are.
The marks were then converted into percentage scores. Norfolk County Council was ranked 50pc overall - the average for county councils was 35pc.
Eric Vardy, the council's cabinet member for environment and waste, said: “We recognise urgent action on climate change is vital, so it’s welcome that the ambitious net zero targets we set, and changes and innovations we’ve already made, are being recognised in this independent survey of how councils are performing.
"We know there’s still more work to do, so we’re building on the progress we’ve already made to halve emissions from our buildings, vehicles and street lights, and over the next two years we will be investing as part of our Bus Service Improvement Plan to better connect the county, and also roll out electric vehicle chargepoints."
The council has, however, recently come in for criticism over its commitment to the controversial Norwich Western Link road, which opponents say will be financially and environmentally disastrous.
Other scores in Norfolk were: Norwich City Council 37pc; West Norfolk Council 32pc; North Norfolk Council 29pc; Broadland District Council 28pc; South Norfolk Council 25pc; Breckland District Council 15pc and Great Yarmouth Borough Council 12pc.
Climate Emergency UK co-director Annie Pickering said: “The low scores across the board show there are national barriers for local authorities that make it harder for most councils to deliver the necessary climate action."
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