Last week, we welcomed some of our youngest ever protesters to Hackney Town Hall, who came to protest for action on climate change.

We know that Hackney is a community that cares - but it was truly inspiring to see children (and their parents) from schools around the borough take action on a cause that matters to them.

It was especially poignant because they are - more than anyone else - the generation that will face the devastating consequences of climate change if we do not take action.

We have both met protestors at the Town Hall over the past few weeks because we want them to know that the borough stands with them in the fight to tackle climate change.

As of 1 April, 50% of the Council’s electricity is generated from renewable resources and next year this will increase to 100% as part of our pathway towards renewable energy.

We are creating our own publicly-owned renewable energy company, which will provide clean and affordable energy to people in Hackney.

In February, we proudly declared a climate emergency. We’re backing this up with a full motion to the Council in June, where we set out plans to go even further, including by doing everything we can to limit further global warming to less than 1.5oC, as set out in the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report of October 2018.

By 2030, we will reduce our emissions by 45% against 2010 levels, and by 2040, the Council will achieve net zero emissions.

We will also redouble our efforts to campaign to change national policy, where continuing dependence on fossil fuels, insufficient carbon taxation, and ever-expanding road networks are undermining the decarbonisation of our economy.  

We are committing the Council to this action because, if we are willing to say publicly that there is a climate emergency, we need to demonstrate that rapid transition to a low carbon economy is possible at a local level.

We owe it to our own communities - including those children who came to protest last week - and communities across the world who face drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty as a result of climate change, to take bold action to protect future generations from global warming.