City of Doncaster Council

City of Doncaster Council declared a climate and biodiversity emergency in September 2019. The council committed to putting 'sustainability, biodiversity and carbon reduction at the heart' of its agenda, and noted Doncaster's low woodland and canopy cover compared to regional and national averages in its Environment and Sustainability Strategy.

Goals

Following this declaration, the council has made several pledges to help tackle the biodiversity and nature emergency, including to:

• increase the proportion of land given over to woodland, wood pasture and wildflower grassland.
• become carbon neutral by 2040, including an aim of reducing carbon emissions by 85% by 2030.
• plant one million trees between 2021 and 2031.
• embed 'Tackling Climate Change' as a core priority for the council, with the biodiversity emergency as part of its foundation.

Achievements

In the first five years, over 300,000 trees have been planted and in 2023, Doncaster was named a 'Tree City of the World' by the Arbor Day Foundation and the United Nations. The council was also a recipient of the Woodland Trust's Emergency Tree Fund which has further boosted tree planting across the city.