Cllr Adam Harrison

• BEING the first to have a citizens’ assembly on the climate crisis is of no consequence if the council then fails to take action to reduce carbon emissions.

Cllr Adam Harrison’s letter (On climate change we must take grass-roots action, April 14) shows that he does not understand what needs to be done.

Dealing with Cllr Harrison’s list point by point:

— The Passivhaus standard for new homes is very good for reducing energy use for heating but building with high-carbon materials such as concrete, as Camden continues to do, results in a net increase in carbon emissions.

— Increasing cycle lanes is good but we need a more visionary approach to decarbonising transport, including better public transport and incentives for car clubs.

— Camden’s new tree-planting plan will make no difference to the amount of carbon dioxide sequestered by the borough’s trees, because of the felling and over-pollarding that continues to take place.

— The number of new electric vehicle charging points is insignificant. They are randomly dotted around without thought about how to scale up this infrastructure or allow for future cycle lanes.

— The council does have a proposed programme for retrofitting council homes which will cut the carbon emissions produced in Camden by 8 per cent, but no plans to fund it.

Camden Council is tinkering at the edges and taking no significant steps to reduce carbon emissions.

To do so, the council must reduce the carbon footprint of all its departments by changing the way it contracts and provides services.

This includes rolling out a council-wide climate and ecological awareness training programme, along the lines of the excellent “Building Equal Foundations” initiative, aimed at tackling race-based inequalities in the borough.

Cllr Harrison fails to appreciate that climate and social justice are deeply connected.

Climate disruption is already killing people in the global south, including the recent floods in Kwazulu-Natal and devastating drought in the Horn of Africa.

While individual and community actions are important, far-reaching change needs to come from those organisations with the biggest clout.

In Camden that means the council. Cllr Harrison and the rest of Camden’s ruling Labour cabinet must stop hiding behind their wall of complacency and misleading claims.

When candidates come knocking for our votes in the local election, it’s our chance to ask what they are actually doing to protect the environment and lives at home and abroad.

CLIMATE EMERGENCY CAMDEN