London boroughs have published the second annual impact report for the London Councils Climate Programme.
They have demonstrated the progress that can be made via cross-city collaboration, while also revealing the scale of the challenge which lies ahead in combatting the effects of climate change in London.
Established in 2020 and funded by London’s borough councils, the programme was designed to help local authorities work together on climate issues that cannot easily be addressed by individual boroughs acting alone.
A headline figure in the report is that the programme has leveraged over £1.3 million in funding for climate delivery models.
While this is encouraging, it is modest when compared with the scale of investment needed to meet London’s longer term targets.
Despite the progress outlined in the report, obstacles remain.
London councils continue to face financial pressures and competing priorities while trying to deliver large-scale environmental improvements across a city of nearly nine million people.
The report also highlights efforts to target climate action in boroughs disproportionately affected by poor air quality, rising costs and risks like flooding and extreme heat.
Local authorities have faced growing pressure to ensure that climate policies do not disproportionately affect lower-income households already dealing with broader cost-of-living challenges.
Cllr Claire Holland said: “The urgency with which we need to act on climate change has never been clearer.
“Responding to this, every London borough has a Climate Action Plan setting out how they will meet their climate targets and deliver a just transition to a more sustainable future for Londoners.
“The London Councils Climate Programme will support these ambitions, ensuring that London local government and our partners are effective and joined up and that we have the capacity to scale and replicate climate solutions.
“The next two years are critical to this task. Choices made in cities today about urban infrastructure, upskilling workers and supporting communities to live more sustainably will determine the extent and impact of climate change, our ability to achieve emission reductions and our capacity to adapt to – and benefit from – changing circumstances.”
Featured image credit: Wikimedia Commons
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