News from Caroline Russell: Mayor should make emergency 12-year climate change plan

The Mayor admitted there is only a ‘short time to act’ on climate change and warned by the 2030s two-thirds of flats could overheat, and that 1.3 million people already live and work in areas at risk of flooding, when questioned by Caroline Russell AM today.



Caroline Russell challenged the Mayor to back the call for a national taskforce, working across Government departments, to drive climate action at the borough level.

The Mayor said that it needs to happen ‘as soon as possible’. [1]



Caroline also urged the Mayor of London to develop a 12-year emergency climate change plan after the IPCC report, published last week, made it clear that even if all parties deliver on their Paris Agreement pledges, global warming is expected to bust the target limits. [2]



Caroline Russell says:

We are on the cliff edge of global warming and climate change. We have been warned that we are as little as 12 years away from climate breakdown that would leave Londoners exposed to floods, heatwaves and extreme weather events.



The Mayor said meeting the current targets nationally is already in doubt, which is exactly why he must prioritise a 12-year emergency carbon reduction plan for London. I’m disappointed he doesn’t see the urgency in reviewing his current plans.



Without immediate, effective intervention to radically bring forward measures to slash carbon emissions, we put the stability of our city at risk.”