Local authorities are not doing enough on net zero, the first study of UK councils’ climate action across all sectors has found.

Councils scored an average of just 32% in Climate Emergency UK’s ‘action scorecards’, with only 41 scoring 50% or higher.

Councils were assessed on actions they are responsible for across seven areas: buildings and heating; transport; governance and finance; planning; biodiversity; collaboration and engagement; and waste reduction and food.

Of the worst-performing councils that scored below 20%, 16 are currently Conservative run, 31 are in no overall control, eight are Labour, one is Lib Dem, and three are run by Independents.

Northern Irish councils performed worst, with an average score of just 21%. Among them, Belfast City Council did best by far (43%), with transport a notable issue for seven (of 11) councils, which scored 0 in this category.

The average score was highest (46%) for combined authorities, led by the Greater London Authority and West Midlands – which were significantly ahead of the North East Combined Authority, which scored 0 in several categories.

Of single-tier councils, Westminster City was among several London boroughs that performed best, with Thurrock faring worst (9%).

Climate Emergency UK co-director Annie Pickering said the widespread low scores highlighted national barriers to local climate action, including a lack of funding and government policy U-turns.

However, she said national barriers could not explain the range of results and said local factors, such as political will and community support, were also at play.

Local government association environment spokesperson Darren Rodwell said: ‘We don’t support league tables as they often paint a two-dimensional picture of the context that councils are working within, and unfairly compare councils with different challenges.

‘Government needs to empower local climate action that can hit targets, mobilise support, and deliver on the evidence showing local approaches can save hundreds of billions.’