Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham, Cllr Stephen Cowan, pictured speaking at the 2021 H&F Climate Summit
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has been named the top council in London and ninth in the UK for climate emergency plans.
The independent assessment was done by not-for-profit organisation Climate Emergency UK using their expert-approved checklist.
“I’m delighted that the ambition and scale of our Climate and Ecology Strategy has been recognised,” said Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham. “This is a testament to the tremendous work of our resident-led commission, officers and councillors working together.
“We’re determined to continue leading the way and translate this ambitious strategy into action and carbon reduction at pace.”
Climate plan scorecard
The assessment compares the quality of council climate plans following declarations of a climate emergency.
325 plans from councils were assessed against the criteria.
H&F Council’s Climate and Ecology Strategy received a total of 80 per cent, receiving full marks in:
- mitigation and adaptation – how we plan to reduce emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change
- measuring and setting emissions targets – how we plan to measure progress towards net zero
- co-benefits – how the benefits of acting are described
- education, skills and training – how we are upskilling our workforce and local community.
This puts H&F Council in ninth place out of 335 with the highest score of any London council.
From strategy to action
H&F Council has set a target to reach net zero emissions across the borough by 2030.
Our Climate and Ecology Strategy lays out an ambitious programme of work to get there which has already begun.
This includes the following.
- Buildings: retrofitting council homes to be carbon positive and building the greenest civic campus in Britain.
- Travel: expanding our network of cycle lanes and electric vehicle charging points.
- Things we use: opening a new Library of Things in Hammersmith.
- Ecology: increasing the number biodiversity-rich Tiny Forests.
- Adapting to climate change: expanding our network of rain gardens to help manage flooding.
- Education and innovation: developing an award-winning climate education programme.
- Finance: having the lowest investment in carbon of any pension fund of any council in the UK.
- Decision-making: evaluating all key council decisions against their impact on the climate with our climate implications toolkit.
These are just some of the ways we’re taking Climate Action Together (YouTube video).
Read more to find out what else we’re doing to tackle the climate and ecological emergency in H&F.
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