Agenda item

The Leader stated that since 2014 the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF) had asked residents and experts to carry out independent commissions to form policy ideas. He was grateful to those who dedicated their time on a voluntary basis to provide LBHF with support and guidance.  In this instance the LBHF Resident-led Climate and Ecological Emergency Commission was setting out the findings and recommendations to protect the environment.

Councillor Wesley Harcourt stated that this report was prepared by members of the LBHF Resident-led Climate and Ecological Emergency Commission. It followed up from the Council decision in 2019 to declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency, aiming for the whole Borough to reach net zero-carbon emissions by the end of 2030, which was a very ambitious target. Local people looked at the areas that the  Council needed to address and presented this well received report by the Community Safety and Environment Policy and Accountability Committee (CSEPAC) in March. He thanked all the Commission members for their work.

The Chair of the Commission, Paul Beaty-Pownall, highlighted the following four key deliverables and summarised the proposed actions for achieving a net zero borough by 2030:

1.    Stablishing a vision that encouraged change to a zero-carbon society

2.    Communication and engagement with residents, and sharing information

3.    Building local sources of knowledge

4.    Creating an effective plan to net zero, starting with planting lots of trees in the immediate term, followed by generating local carbon-free energy supplies and lobbying the Government for change in the long term.

The Leader welcomed the report and added two years ago the Council had set up the Climate Change Unit to look into how the Council would rise to the climate change challenge. A commitment to responding to the Climate Emergency had become one of the Council’s six core values and was now the responsibility of every Council’s department.

Councillor Ben Coleman also thanked the work done by the Commission and the way it was presented. Particularly the focus on food/healthy eating and the positive impact of the traffic schemes in south Fulham, which reduced the overall volume of cars coming through the area by 75%.

Councillor Harcourt stressed that one of the comments received at CSEPAC was that the Council needed to change the culture of the entire borough through an effective and sophisticated communications strategy to help deliver the recommendations in the report. The Council would need to prepare a robust communications plan which explained the necessary actions in order for residents to understand the climate change implications in all schemes being done by the Council.

Paul Beaty-Pownall stated that food was a very important point in relation to climate change. The Council could enable and facilitate access to quality, healthy food at a fair price. He added that Scarlett Knowles, the Youth Mayor, had joined the Commission and her role had been critical in coming up with solutions that would help implement positive changes for young people and the future generations.

The Leader added that it was important to engage with young people’s views in terms of their vision for the world. He acknowledged that there was an emerging food poverty problem, and the Council would need to find a solution for a local source of quality and healthy food supply. The Leader concluded by thanking all the Commission members for their hard work towards the findings and recommendations on their report.

NOTED UNANIMOUSLY BY CABINET:

To note and comment on the recommendations on the findings of the LBHF Climate and Ecological Emergency Commission: Summary of findings, detailed in Appendix A.