London,
14
October
2021
|
11:23
Europe/London

Council announces plan to create climate bonds to fund green projects in Camden

At Full Council on Monday 11 October, councillors, community groups and climate experts came together to discuss ways to tackle the climate crisis ahead of this year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).

Councillors considered the latest evidence on the climate crisis, spoke about the work Camden is doing to achieve the ambitious 2030 zero carbon target, and outlined how the Council will strive to make further progress in this area in the lead up to the global climate summit COP26 in Glasgow later this month.

A plan to unlock local investment by creating Camden Climate Bonds to help finance a range of environmental projects across the borough was also discussed.

Cllr Georgia Gould, Leader of the Council
With each day that passes the need for a decisive and collective international response to the climate and ecological emergency becomes increasingly and perilously overdue. Since 2005 Camden’s borough wide CO2 emissions have reduced by 43%, however, our hard work must continue with urgency if we want to protect our planet and our future generations. The realities of the climate crisis are already being seen in Camden with significant flooding this summer. I am so proud of the groundswell of resident and community action taking place across the borough and the hundreds of organisations joining our growing climate alliance. But we can’t face this alone and I will be at COP with local leaders from around the UK calling for a massive investment in a green new deal to insulate homes, reduce fuel bills, create jobs and help save our planet.
Cllr Georgia Gould, Leader of the Council
Cllr Adam Harrison, Cabinet Member for a Sustainable Camden
Put simply, the climate emergency is the most serious threat to our planet and we as a community must do everything in our power to tackle this growing threat. Camden is a leading local authority on the climate agenda - we have committed to do all that we can to make Camden a zero-carbon borough by 2030, twenty years ahead of national targets set within the UK Climate Change Act. However, we must all go much further and quicker if we want to make a real difference, and we can only do that through a joined-up approach with communities and organisations across Camden.
Cllr Adam Harrison, Cabinet Member for a Sustainable Camden

What has Camden done so far to respond to the climate crisis?

To shape Camden’s approach to the climate emergency, the borough held the UK’s first Citizens’ Assembly on the climate crisis in 2019 whose recommendations shaped a new Climate Action Plan for Camden in June 2020. Other actions include:

  • Switching our corporate and educational estate to 100% renewable electricity supplies in October 2020.
  • Launching a programme to replace all street lanterns with high efficiency LED lights.
  • Securing over £1million of Government funding for energy efficiency retrofit to Council housing and corporate buildings.
  • Creating the first “sustainable urban drainage” raingarden on Camley Street.
  • Increasing tree coverage in the borough with over 579 trees planted in 2020/21.
  • Doubling the amount of segregated cycling routes in Camden over the last year.
  • Creating fifteen new Healthy School Streets and twenty residential road closures to reduce through traffic.
  • Continuing to work with grassroots climate groups (such as Think and Do) who have just finished a two-week community led climate event in Somers Town.

What is Camden going to do next?

  • Unlock local investment by creating Camden Climate Bonds that help finance environmental projects across Camden such as a new generation of solar power in the borough.
  • The Leader of the Council will attend COP26 in Glasgow to represent the voice of local government and press the UK government and others to agree as ambitious new goals as possible
  • Camden will also contribute to COP26 by hosting a series of climate action events at the Samsung space in Coal Drops Yard, Kings Cross, which will form part of the COP Regional Green Zone.
  • The Council is launching a new Schools Climate Charter on 3 November.
  • The Council plans to continue its ambitious programme to decarbonise transport by making our streets safe for both climate and people, by enabling more walking, cycling and public transport.
  • We are also launching a new Biodiversity Strategy with the aim to expand and join natural habitats and species to allow nature to move freely around and thrive within Camden.
  • The Council is also developing a comprehensive retrofit programme for its own housing stock.

For more information head to: www.camden.gov.uk/climate-crisis