Help shape our new Climate and Nature Strategy

This year, we’re launching a new Climate and Nature Strategy for 2025-2030, building on our work to protect our borough from the effects of climate change and ensure everyone who lives, works and studies here benefits from the opportunities these actions bring. 

Tell us what you think of our bold new plans in our consultation survey.

Our new strategy will drive us toward our ambitious goals to become a carbon-neutral Council by 2030 and a Net Zero Borough by 2043 - seven years ahead of the national target. Community input is vital, and we are committed to keeping the views, concerns and priorities of our residents and partners at the heart of what we deliver. 

Cllr Julia Neden-Watts, Chair of the Environment, Sustainability, Culture and Sports Committee, said:

“We are determined to lead the way in creating a more sustainable, resilient borough for our communities, and we’ve made significant progress since declaring a climate emergency in 2019. But we know there’s still more to do.

“Our communities have stepped up in a big way to lead the charge with us. We are very proud to have worked in direct partnership with local people to develop this ambitious strategy, building on our achievements and setting out a bold, collaborative path forward.”

The draft strategy has been shaped by residents, businesses, schools and community groups over the past year. In 2024, we launched an innovative Community Reporter Scheme, working with 15 local people to help us gather insights on climate-related challenges and opportunities in each of our communities. Their findings have directly informed the strategy, which focuses on five key areas:

• Our buildings: Making homes and businesses more energy efficient
• Our travel and air: Expanding sustainable transport and reducing air pollution
• Our nature: Enhancing our green spaces and supporting biodiversity
• Our resources: Moving toward a zero-waste economy
• Our resilience: Preparing our borough for climate risks like flooding and heatwaves

We have also developed a Retrofit Strategy and Adaptation and Resilience Strategy to focus on reducing carbon emissions from homes and businesses and further support our communities to adapt to a changing climate.

Head to our climate consultation hub to read the draft Climate and Nature Strategy and share your views with us by 5 May 2025. The final strategy is set to be adopted in June 2025.

Share your views today

A year of action: our progress in 2024

We’ve made considerable progress against our 2024 Climate Emergency Action Plan, in collaboration with residents and local partners. Highlights include:

• Supporting 29 community-led projects through microgrants, exploring everything from community gardening to re-use and repair in schools
• Distributing hundreds of warm home energy efficiency packs to residents on lower incomes
• Expanding our EV network to nearly 1,000 chargers - among the most per capita in London
• Boosting local cycling infrastructure and delivering dedicated cargo bike parking bays - on course to become the cargo bike capital of London
• Significantly expanding local food waste and small electricals recycling schemes - as well as local re-use opportunities - as we make plans to launch our first Circular Economy Hub in 2025
• Opening the borough’s first Library of Things to encourage borrowing of household DIY items, rather than buying new
• Delivering nature-based flood management in the Beverley Brook catchment area through the innovative Community BlueScapes programme
• Planting over 800 trees across our highways, parks and open spaces as part of our largest tree planting programme yet, championing our community-led Friends of Street Trees initiative and launching our first free tree giveaway for the community
• Reintroducing water voles to Crane Park, restoring the Native Black Poplar across the borough and making significant progress against our Biodiversity Action Plan
• Introducing the UK’s most ambitious air quality targets in our new Air Quality Action Plan, carrying out nearly 10,000 local interventions to reduce vehicle idling and continuing to oppose the expansion of Heathrow Airport 

Read through our full 2024 progress update.

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