Hackney,
01
November
2022
|
13:39
Europe/London

Have your say on how Hackney responds to climate change

A draft climate action plan that sets out the borough’s journey to net zero has been launched for consultation by Hackney Council. 

It shows the steps that need to be taken by businesses, organisations like the Council and the NHS, and local residents to help respond to climate change, reduce their impact on the planet and secure benefits for local people, like cleaner air, greener neighbourhoods and cheaper heating and electricity. 

The plan sets out five themes that define the borough’s response to the climate emergency: 

  • Adaptation: Ensuring that Hackney is prepared for and resilient to the impacts of the climate emergency, protecting our most vulnerable residents
  • Buildings: Removing gas boilers, adding solar panels and decreasing energy use in the borough’s existing buildings by retrofitting and ensuring new buildings (where required) are fit for the future. This will help to reduce fuel poverty
  • Transport: Reducing emissions from the transport network, improving air quality and helping residents live active and healthy lifestyle
  • Consumption: Changing what and how everyone in the borough buys, uses and sells, creating a new green economy in Hackney
  • Environmental quality: Maximising the potential for biodiversity in our green spaces, reducing pollution and helping local ecosystems thrive.

Within each theme are goals and objectives for the borough that will help guide how residents, businesses and organisations respond to the climate crisis. 

The development of the climate action plan follows engagement with residents at the Council’s climate summit earlier this year, where it asked local people about their priorities for responding to climate change, and with a green recovery event with local community organisations last year. 

The Council is now asking residents, businesses and local organisations to have their say on the draft climate action plan. The survey is available for feedback online and there will be a series of drop-in events around the borough. 

As part of the draft Climate Action Plan’s approval by the Council’s Cabinet last week, it agreed to rejoin the UK100 network of local authorities, committing the Council to reaching net zero emissions across key Council functions by 2030.

 Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney

When it comes to tackling the climate crisis, we’re one of the most ambitious councils in the country.

Since we declared a climate emergency in 2019, we’ve planted thousands of new trees, installed new zero carbon energy on lots of our buildings and transformed more than half of Hackney’s streets to make them better for walking and cycling.

This draft climate action plan is the next step in the borough’s journey, and aims to set out how all of us can work together to respond to the climate emergency.

As a Council, we are responsible for about 5% of the borough’s emissions, so it’s key that we all work together to do everything we can to rebuild a greener Hackney, and call for more resources, funding and action from government, national institutions and big business where we need it.

Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney
Cllr Mete Coban MBE, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport

From speaking to many Hackney residents - out in the borough and at our climate summit earlier this year - we know we can only tackle the climate and ecological crisis through collective action - sharing knowledge, building expertise and working together.

This climate action plan is designed as a guide that everyone can refer to and that we can work together on. We welcome your comments, your scrutiny and, above all, your participation in tackling the climate and ecological crisis.

Cllr Mete Coban MBE, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport

Read the draft climate action plan and respond to the consultation by 10 January at: https://consultation.hackney.gov.uk/public-realm/climate-action-plan-consultation/