Haringey Council’s plan to tackle the climate emergency has been ranked among the best in London.

The council came seventh in London in a rating system drawn up by campaign group Climate Emergency UK (CEUK), with a score of 69%.

CEUK used 28 questions to assess UK councils’ climate action plans published online before 20th September 2021 and written after 2015, with criteria including whether climate actions are costed, if the actions are assigned to specific teams, and whether the actions have clear goals.

Haringey scored top marks on measuring and setting emissions targets. It also performed well on community engagement and communications, and governance, development and funding. In contrast, it scored only two points out of a possible five on diversity and social inclusion.

Read more: Council ranked among worst in London on plans to tackle climate emergency

Hammersmith and Fulham was the top-rated London borough, with a score of 80%.

Haringey Council formally declared a climate emergency in 2019. Its climate action plan, approved by cabinet in March last year, sets targets for the council to reach net zero by 2027 and for the borough to become carbon neutral by 2041.

Measures set out in the plan include retrofitting council-owned homes and offices to make them more energy efficient, introducing low-traffic neighbourhoods to encourage people to switch to walking and cycling, and boosting the use of renewable energy.

Cllr Mike Hakata, Haringey Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for environment, transport and the climate emergency, said: “It’s great to be recognised as a top performer on the council climate scorecards.

“The environment remains one of our top priorities here in Haringey, and that is why we are putting a number of measures in place to transform our local neighbourhoods into low-carbon, low-pollution, safe areas for our residents and businesses.

“These people-focused measures include, among others, the roll-out of low-traffic neighbourhoods, the implementation of our walking and cycling action plan, and putting low-carbon technology at the forefront of everything we do.

“While we have scored highly in some of the key indicators, which has contributed to us coming seventh in the capital, there remains room for improvement in certain areas like co-benefits, diversity and inclusion and mitigation and adaptation. We readily acknowledge we all can, must and will do better, and more, as we strive together for Haringey to become net zero carbon by 2041.”

Next year, CEUK will rate councils on the actions they are taking to reduce emissions and improve biodiversity.

Isaac Beevor, from CEUK, said: “Local authorities can help to deliver 30% of the cuts in carbon emissions needed to get to net zero, according to the sixth UK Carbon Budget published a year ago, so it is vital that councils do as much as they can.

“This year’s scorecards are just the start of the process. It has been an important exercise to understand what makes a good council climate action plan, and we hope that it will help councils learn from each other and up their game. A good plan will help a local authority deliver effective actions, as well as enabling local residents to know what their council has committed to and so hold the council to account.

“While we understand that councils need much more support and funding from national government and have been stretched by responding to the pandemic, the fact that some councils have developed well thought-out, costed and ambitious plans shows that it is possible.”