Brent Climate Emergency Strategy 2021-2030

We are already seeing the devastating effects of climate change. 2020 has been punctuated by more volatile and unprecedented weather taking place around the world on a regular basis, whether it be wildfires in Australia or floods in the UK. The climate risk to Brent is no different. If we do not act, it is inevitable that the worst effects of climate change will directly affect all of us in the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a widespread impact on Brent and our residents. The pandemic has laid bare existing inequalities, with some of our most vulnerable residents hit the hardest. Similarly, the effects of the climate emergency will disproportionally affect the groups who are least resilient to them. This must bring into clearer focus our duty to act. There will be no vaccine to save us from climate change in years to come.

The time to start acting is now. Brent has declared a climate and ecological emergency and pledged to do all in our gift to achieve carbon neutrality in the borough by 2030. This draft ten-year strategy follows that pledge, and provides a focus for climate action through five key themes, with the speed and urgency it requires. The government’s plan for a net zero UK by 2050 is a timescale that is not nearly ambitious enough to tackle the problem in front of us. We are clear at the outset that the scale of the challenge to achieve carbon neutrality will be too great for the council to act alone. We will only be successful if we are working collaboratively with our residents and communities every step of the way.

This draft strategy seeks to reflect the priorities of our residents and will be open for public consultation from 16th November 2020 to 11th January 2021. I encourage anyone reading this document to provide us with your thoughts and to think about what you can do to contribute to tackling the climate emergency in Brent.

Read Brent Climate Emergency Strategy 2021-2030