Town hall unveils plans to tackle climate change

More tree planting, buying 100 per cent renewable electricity, and training staff to be carbon literate are among one town hall’s measures to tackle climate change.

Wandsworth council has launched an “ambitious” action plan after it declared a climate emergency last year.

It has now set targets to become a carbon neutral organisation by 2030, zero carbon by 2050 and the greenest inner-London borough.

Councillor Rory O’Broin, cabinet member for finance and corporate resources, is leading the climate change work in Wandsworth.

He said: “Action on climate change is a priority for this council and this action plan sets out what we plan to do to reduce our carbon emissions and support the reduction of emissions in the borough.

“I am particularly enthusiastic about our proposal to allocate £5million to projects which support the achievement of the council’s 2030 target.”

But he added: “We can’t do this alone and collaboration with the people who live and work in the borough is absolutely essential for our climate change aspirations to be a success.

“We all have a responsibility when it comes to climate change, and the council is fully committed to working with residents, communities and businesses in partnership to ensure we co-produce and continuously improve our actions to address this emergency.

“We particularly want to work with young people – giving them a real voice in the work that we are doing – as ultimately they will be inheriting the legacy of what we are trying to achieve.”

He added: “We know the importance of this undertaking and want to embrace partnerships and collaboration. The council working alone will never have all the answers.”

The action plan will be considered on Thursday and if approved will then go before the council’s executive on January 27.

The full action plan has been published and can be viewed here.