Nature Emergency UK

Surrey Heath Borough Council

Council type
District Council
Nation and region
England, South East
Rural/Urban profile
Urban
Deprivation quintile
5th IMD quintile (least deprived)

Nature commitments

Nature emergency

Surrey Heath Borough Council declared a nature emergency in 2021.

Read the full declaration

RESOLVED that this Council(i) believes that:a. all governments (national, regional and local) have a duty to limit the negative impacts of Climate and Ecological Breakdown; local authorities should not wait for their national governments to change their policies;a. all tiers of local government are well placed to lead the way in reducing carbon emissions and tackling the ecological emergency as they have closer links with their residents;b. having already declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 and committed to carbon neutrality by 2030, there is also an ecological emergency;c. the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill needs the full support of local government to highlight the urgency of the twin climate and ecological emergencies;(i) declares an ‘Ecological Emergency’ to accompany the Climate Emergency it has already declared;(ii) commits to:a. leading by example and promoting the good work it is currently undertaking;b. working with partners and volunteers locally and regionally to drive coordinated leadership and collaborative action to aid the recovery of nature and natural environments and identify areas for greater biodiversity;c. ensuring irreplaceable habitats are protected, the biodiversity mitigation hierarchy is followed and that net biodiversity gain is fully implemented;d. reviewing and implementing a borough-wide Tree Strategy;e. continue to review Surrey Heath’s Green Infrastructure Strategy;f. demanding that new developments contribute to increasing biodiversity and ecological improvementg. register its support for the CEE Bill with the CEE Bill Alliance;h. write an open letter, to be shared through local media; andi. write to the Member of Parliament for Surrey Heath to urge him to sign up to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill.”

— Full Council (Source)

Evidence-based action plan

Surrey Heath Borough Council has committed to develop an evidence-based action plan for pushing nature into recovery.

Embedded in strategy

Surrey Heath Borough Council has not committed to embed nature’s recovery into all strategic plans and policy areas.

30 by 30

Surrey Heath Borough Council has not committed to protect and manage 30% of council landholdings for nature recovery by 2030.

Next steps

Share this page

Restore nature where you live

Nature is in decline, but local action can make the difference. Find out how to get involved.

Take action in your community

How does this council compare?

Here are the 10 most similar councils, based on a combination of distance, urban/rural split, emissions profile, and deprivation.

Council Similarity Nature emergency Evidence-based action plan Embedded in strategy 30 by 30
Surrey Heath Borough Council This council 2021 Yes No No
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 90.9% No No No
Surrey County Council 90.7% No No No
St Albans City and District Council 90.1% 2023 Yes No No
Buckinghamshire Council 86.7% No No No
Mid Sussex District Council 85.9% No No No
Elmbridge Borough Council 85.5% No No No
Tandridge District Council 85.4% No No No
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council 84.8% No No No
Three Rivers District Council 84.2% No No No
Hampshire County Council 83.9% No No No

Something not right? We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this information. However, if you have any corrections, please contact governmentaffairs@woodlandtrust.org.uk.

Nature Emergency UK has been developed by the Woodland Trust in association with mySociety and Climate Emergency UK.

mySociety Climate Emergency UK