City keeps its A-grade for climate and nature leadership
Brighton & Hove’s work on net zero and biodiversity has achieved an A grade from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) for the third year in a row.
The announcement comes after a year of action across the council, from housing, transport and waste to nature recovery and climate resilience.
CDP operates the world’s only independent environmental disclosure system. More than 1,000 cities, states and regions reported environmental data through CDP in 2025.
Demonstrating best practice
To score an A, cities must demonstrate best practice and ambitious goals on adapting to climate change, reducing its effects, improving the environment and enhancing the economy.
Councillor Tim Rowkins, Deputy Leader and Cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services, said: “Action on climate change is a moral imperative. We are absolutely determined to continue our work to reduce emissions, adapt to an already changing climate and to improve the lives of our residents.
“We’re thrilled to have achieved an A grade for the third-year running, recognising the hard work of many partnerships in the city to create a better future. It shows that we are on the right track, using global best practice to report progress and evidence-based planning that is seeing real impact on the ground.”
What we achieved last year
Achievements since the last assessment in 2024 include installing over 300 new solar power systems on council homes, and bill savings for council tenants from our solar PV programme total around £75,000 for the year.
88% of council homes now have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of C or above, and 99% of remaining gas boilers are A-rated for efficiency
On our non-domestic buildings, 5 leisure centres reached the milestone of producing 1 million kilowatt hours of clean energy through their rooftop solar, helping to reduce operating costs and emissions; 35 of our school sites now host solar PV systems, saving £24,900 annually, while Peter Gladwin Primary School became the first fully zero carbon heated school.
Last year the city also made huge strides on waste reduction, with recycling collections expanded to include new materials from June, and the first weekly food waste collections from September.
The growth of our electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure took another big step forward with the signing of 2 new contracts which between them will provide 6,000 lamppost chargers and more than 1200 fast, rapid and ultra rapid chargers.
By spring 2025, half a million journeys had been recorded on the city’s cycle hire scheme. More than 86,000 people have used either pedal or electric bikes to cycle around the city, travelling a combined 1.2 million kilometres.
The first 16 electric buses are due to enter service in March 2026, supported by new charging facilities now being built at the Conway Street depot. This investment from the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) 2 project will cut emissions on key bus routes.
Councillor Trevor Muten, Cabinet member for Transport and City Infrastructure, said: “We’re working with residents, partners and external funders to reduce carbon emissions from our transport network, tackle air pollution and make the city climate resilient – from supporting the transition to electric vehicles alongside active and inclusive travel, to providing infrastructure that is helping to protect and conserve drinking water, cool public spaces, and prevent flooding.”
On climate adaptation, we began the biggest sea defences scheme in the Hove to Shoreham area and completed the largest sustainable drainage scheme to date in Wild Park, protecting drinking water, creating a new wetland area and helping to reduce flooding.
We’ve planted more than 25,000 trees across the city, including new woodland areas, Ash tree regeneration, community-led tree planting in parks and gardens, and wildflower meadows in Valley Gardens and Wild Park.
With the help of residents, 2 wildlflower banks were created in Vale Park and Wish Park. There are now 20 of these B-banks, which have attracted over 700 different wildlife species.
More information
Brighton & Hove’s net zero work is underpinned by the Decarbonisation Pathways Study, the Climate Risk and Adaptation Plan, a refreshed council plan and new City Transport Plan.
In January 2026, we will publish an updated routemap and action plan for the circular economy and complete the first Biodiversity Duty report setting out our actions on conserving and enhancing nature.