Civic.ly: Backing the councils that lead on climate
Author: John Fagan, chief executive officer and founder, Civic.ly
When people picture the fight against climate change, they tend to think of national targets, big infrastructure and international summits. They rarely picture a parish council. Yet the work of reaching net zero, protecting nature and adapting to wilder weather is, in large part, local. It happens on the greens, in the woodlands, along the footpaths and around the buildings that parish, town and community councils look after every day.
That is why we at Civic.ly are proud to sponsor the Climate Response of the Year category at the Star Council Awards 2027.
We build asset-management software for local councils, and that work has given us a close view of just how much climate responsibility already sits with the sector. A council might steward ancient woodland, manage a nature reserve, run allotments, maintain drainage along a well-used path, or heat a village hall through the winter. Each of those is a climate decision waiting to happen, a chance to cut emissions, improve biodiversity or build resilience against flooding and storms. But you can only manage what you can see, and too many councils are still trying to hold all of this in spreadsheets, paper files and one person's memory.
We think councils deserve better tools, and we believe good data is the foundation of good climate action. Some of our councils are already using Civic.ly to capture this kind of data. They log their electricity, gas, water and fuel consumption against the buildings and sites that use it, track waste through their bins, and record vehicle usage, including whether each one is electric or diesel, so the numbers live in one place rather than scattered across utility bills and invoices. Once that information is being captured consistently, the harder questions become answerable: which sites cost the most to run, where energy is being wasted, whether it is time to move the fleet to electric, and what a realistic path to lower emissions looks like.
From there, the picture only gets richer. When a council can see its energy use at a glance, it can bring emissions down with evidence rather than guesswork. When it can track the condition of its trees and green spaces, it can protect and grow them. When it can score biodiversity across its land, it can show residents real progress, not just good intentions.
That is the future we are building towards. Alongside the everyday asset register councils use today, we are developing carbon-footprint tracking, energy monitoring and biodiversity scoring, so that a clerk can walk into a meeting with a clear, credible picture of the council's environmental impact and hand members the evidence to act. We want sustainability reporting to be something a small council can do in an afternoon, not a project it never quite gets to.
We are also mindful that climate change is not only about emissions; it is about adaptation. Wetter winters and more frequent storms put real pressure on the assets communities rely on. Trees need checking after high winds. Drainage needs to work when the rain comes. Play areas and paths need to be safe in conditions they were never designed for. Helping councils stay on top of inspections and maintenance is, quietly, climate-resilience work, and it keeps residents safe.
Sponsoring this award is our way of saying that this effort matters and deserves to be seen. Parish and town councils rarely get the recognition that larger authorities do, yet they are often closest to the land and closest to the people affected. The councils shortlisted for Climate Response of the Year will be the ones turning concern into action: planting and protecting, cutting waste, saving energy, restoring habitats and preparing their communities for what is coming. We want to celebrate them, and we want others to learn from them.
If our software can take some of the administrative weight off those councils and give them the data to make bolder decisions, then we are doing our job. These awards are about the people doing the work; we are simply glad to support them.
To every clerk, councillor and volunteer already making the case for climate action in their community: thank you. We can't wait to read the entries.
The following blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional or legal advice. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the National Association of Local Councils. Any links to external sources included in this blog post are provided for convenience and do not constitute endorsement or approval of those websites' content, products, services, or policies. Therefore, readers should use discretion and judgment when applying the information to their circumstances. Finally, this blog post may be updated or revised without notice.
