News from Caroline Russell: Fast forwarding London to a Zero Carbon future

London will finally be able to make plans to become carbon neutral by 2030 after the Mayor picked up an idea put forward by Caroline Russell AM.

Caroline first proposed that London declare a climate emergency in December 2018 – and was backed by the Assembly and the Mayor, who agreed to bring forward the zero carbon target from 2050 to 2030. [1]

However, there has been a lack of progress on plans – Caroline has continually pushed the Mayor to make 2030 compatible plans and last month put forward an amendment to his budget that found funding for him to update his Zero Carbon Pathways Tool from a 2050 to 2030 timescale.

Now the Mayor has confirmed that he is finally looking to update his Zero Carbon Pathways Tool with the latest methodologies.

Caroline Russell AM says:

I am relieved to hear that the Mayor is at last responding to my proposals to bring forward the timescale for getting London to net zero.

We have just this week heard from the Environment Agency that the UK could be heading to a worst-case scenario. Councils cannot plan for a recovery out of the pandemic, while being in the dark without guidance for reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

As it stands the tool only gives guidance for councils to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 - almost thirty years away. That’s not a tool for responding to an emergency - it’s a plan for maintaining business as usual until it’s too late.

The Mayor needs a clear plan for what needs to happen to bring the net zero target forward by twenty years The Zero Carbon Pathways Tool will help the Mayor to gather evidence to lobby the government for the funding and powers needed for London to address the climate emergency in time.

This tool would give local authorities the information they need to reduce carbon emissions to net zero, and give them evidence to lobby the Government for the extra resources, funding and legislation changes needed to do it in time to address the climate emergency.

Today Caroline Russell put forward an amendment to the Mayor’s budget in six parts. The amendment in full included the following proposals:

1. Providing a new pathway to move London’s zero carbon target from 2050 to 2030
2. A package of measures to make our city better for people who walk, especially in outer London, including improvements to junctions, more crossings to cross the road safely and better learning and engagement on new plans
3. The purchase of new London Living Rent homes owned by the GLA to help key workers
4. Dedicated funding for youth homelessness services and beds
5. A road charging study that focuses on engagement with Londoners and explores preferred schemes, outcomes and mitigation measures
6. Funding grants for London’s independent renters’ rights groups

The proposals will be funded using a total of £425.15 million, including drawing down £400 million in total from funding unallocated in the 2016-23 affordable housing grant programme funding and the portion available for acquisitions within the 2021-26 affordable housing grant programme, £1.85 million from the £176.5 million business rates reserves, £3 million by diverting some of the proposed transfer to the MDC reserve, and £20.3 million over two years raised by increasing Transport for London (TfL) traffic enforcement notices on red routes.