27.09.10: Cllr Linden agrees to set a 'challenging medium term target' for C02 reductions

On 15th September Hackney and Tower Hamlets Friends of the Earth (FoE) made a deputation to Hackney Council, at which Cllr Sophie Linden accepted the need for a 'challenging medium term target' for C02 reductions.

FoE members have subsequently met with Cllr Linden (Cabinet Member for Crime, Customer Services and Sustainability) to discuss the call for a 40% carbon emissions reduction target, which the council is committed to exploring. In a letter to residents who support the campaign Cllr Linden re-iterated that Hackney council are 'extremely serious about C02', but accepted that 'more needs to be done' to tackle climate change in the borough.

The proportion of emissions coming from housing stock, and necessary regeneration work, make this a particular challenge. FoE believes that our proposed policies of providing loft and cavity-wall insulation to every home that needs it, and retrofitting for renewable energy systems, will significantly help to address these difficulties. However, we acknowledge the difficulties of this area, and will continue to support Hackney council to achieve sustainable solutions.

In the deputation FoE group member Jo Finburgh stressed the huge benefits of local action on climate change:

• boosting Hackney's economy
• creating jobs (Independent research from FoE UK shows that at least 70,000 new local green jobs could be created by loft and cavity wall insulation, and fitting domestic renewable energy)
• slashing rising fuel bills
• reducing health problems associated with pollution (Hackney has amongst the highest child asthma rate in the country), and
• improving public transport.

The deputation also stressed the good work that Hackney have already done on climate change, including:

• signing up to the 10:10 campaign
• adopting a climate change strategy that commits it to an overall 80% carbon emissions reduction by 2050.
• having NI186 in its National Indicator set.
• committing in Hackney's Sustainable Community Strategy, "to achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions from the local area in line with national and internationally set standards from domestic, commercial/industrial and transport emissions."

In the regional context, the Mayor of London has set a target for a C02 reduction of 60% by 2025 (a target which Hackney council 'acknowledge and aspire to achieve'). In the national context, 11 councils have already adopted the 40% target, including Haringey and Islington, and Camden is close to doing do.

Hackney residents are keen for the council to take further action:

• 350 residents have now signed postcards to their councillors calling for a 40% target;
• residents have written letters to their councillors in support of the campaign
• local community groups like Hackney Cyclists and Shakespeare Neighbourhood Residents' Association support the campaign
• local businesses like Growing Communities and Hackney City Farm also support the campaign

FoE research, and the example of other councils, has demonstrated it is entirely possible to fund this work. Councils can generate new money in a range of ways, for example:

1. generating revenue from the new feed-in tariff;
2. using section 106 or Community Infrastructure Levy payments to fund low-carbon initiatives; or
3. by increasing business rates in order to fund low-carbon transport.

Councils can also redirect funding. Using the transport example, some existing funding could be redirected into low-carbon modes of transport.

There are a wealth of options to choose from across energy provision, housing, transport and other areas. Camden have recently commissioned a report on how to meet the Get Serious target, and that paper suggests that they can meet 20% of the Get Serious target with Combined Heat and Power, which is already a focus of Hackney's climate change strategy.

Ultimately it will be up to the council to consult local communities on a plan that works for Hackney, but on a national level FoE are lobbying for more and better-coordinated money from central government. We believe that local carbon budgets would be an effective mechanism to deliver support and finance from central to local government and we're lobbying for that at a national level.

FoE believes that a low carbon future is a really positive vision, and it is one that is supported by Hackney's residents.

To find out more about the Get Serious campaign, visit the national FoE website, or get in touch.