UK carbon emissions fell by 36% between 2005 and 2019 – but the picture varies depending on where you live, according to the latest data released by the Office for National Statistics.

Carbon dioxide contributes to air pollution in its role in the greenhouse effect.

You can find out the CO2 emissions in your area for each year between 2005 and 2019 in the search below:

Out of 379 local authority districts in the UK, unsurprisingly parts of London had the highest CO2 emissions in 2019 – with the City of London, historically the capital’s financial district, topping the list with 203 kilotonnes of CO2 per kilometre squared.

It is followed by Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Tower Hamlets, Camden, Islington, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth, Hackney and Southwark.

Only three other areas were in the top 20 – Slough in the South East (21.3 kt per km2), Manchester in the North West (17.5kt per km2) and Leicester in the East Midlands (16.6kt per km2).

Parts of the English capital have previously been found to be in breach of legal air pollution limits with London Mayor Sadiq Khan warning last month the city would be “sleepwalking to a climate catastrophe and thousands more premature deaths from air pollution every year”.

Calls for more trees as planting figures hit 46-year low

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This week the government announced its strategy to meet its promise to cut emissions to net zero by 2050.

The new plan, published on Tuesday, includes a move towards the end of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, and a £450m three-year Boiler Upgrade Scheme to offer households grants for low-carbon heating systems.

CO2 emissions can also be reduced and offset by measures that remove it from the atmosphere, such as planting trees.

You can see how much of your area is covered by woodland in the search below:

ONS analysis shows the area with the highest percentage of woodland cover (excluding inland water) in the UK was Neath Port Talbot in South Wales, where 39% of land was woodland. It had the 23rd highest CO2 emissions by area (per 16 kt CO2 per km2) out of UK local authorities in 2019.

In England, Waverley in Surrey had the highest proportion of its area covered by woodland, with almost 34% in 2019.

The highest in Scotland was Moray, with around 30% of its area covered by woodland, while in Northern Ireland the highest woodland cover was 13% of Fermanagh and Omagh.

The target for new tree planting is 30,000 hectares a year. This is the equivalent to planting enough trees to cover Cardiff twice over every year.

The latest data from Forest Research shows 13,290 hectares were planted in the year ending 31 March 2021.

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