A LEADERBOARD ranking the UK's authorities on their efforts to tackle climate change puts Allerdale ahead of its neighbouring councils.

Allerdale Borough Council has been given a score of 57 percent for its climate action plan on Climate Emergency UK's scoreboard of district authorities.

Carlisle City Council scored 54 percent, South Lakeland District Council scored 39 percent, Copeland scored 25 per cent and Barrow-in-Furness scored 20 percent.

Deputy leader Marion Fitzgerald told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that "a lot of effort has gone into" setting-up Allerdale's green agenda.

Cllr Fitzgerald said: "It all started in 2019 when there was a lot of petitions and questions at full council expressing residents' concerns about climate change.

"As a result in the summer of 2020 during the lockdown we managed to pull together a cross party Climate Change Advisory Group."

The headline work programmes of Allerdale's climate task force include carbon literacy training for councillors and staff, a pledge to be mindful about the carbon footprint of services.

More electric charging points are also being considered.

Cllr Fitzgerald said: "And there's measuring the carbon footprint of our buildings as a prelude to the new authorities. With local government reorganisation, irrespective of whether the buildings are kept, it's quite useful to know."

Allerdale Council's leadership are pleased to see their efforts pay-off.

Cllr Fitzgerald said: "Full credit to the communications team who managed to get all of that up online, I think maybe some of the district authorities haven't been quite as successful in publicising everything."

The deputy leader said that it is right to prioritise climate action as it is at the forefront of the public conciousness.

"I think we've reached a point where people are more aware than they ever have been in the past. At whatever level, everything helps."

On the leaderboard for county council, Cumbria County Council received 16 percent.

Despite receiving 39 per cent overall, South Lakeland District Council received full marks in the co-benefits category which is about understanding the benefits of climate action for the council and its people as well as the health risks of global warming.

Eden District Council's score is displayed as 0 percent on the leaderboard but when asked, Climate Emergency UK confirmed that this was because the authority was not assessed in the latest round of updates.

The council published a Zero Carbon Eden Strategy after the deadline for assessing climate action plans which was September 20.