Camden’s environment chief Councillor Adam Harrison

THE target for Camden Council is to reach carbon net zero by 2030.

Or in other words, in just seven years time, harmful emissions will be balanced out so the borough is no longer contributing to global warming.

So how is the Town Hall going to hit the bullseye? A climate action plan has been drawn up and it includes policies to cut traffic –these have already been seen around the borough, sometimes sparking great controversy – insulating homes and increasing biodiversity.

But environment chief Councillor Adam Harrison said local authorities needed cash. “We go for every funding pot we can find but it is not sufficient for us to go as far as we wold like to or could do,” he said.

A council report shows that carbon emissions have fallen significantly – and the trend is downwards.

Cllr Harrison said: “We are ahead of where we need to be as a borough to be carbon neutral by 2030, but that is just a portion of what we need to do. When we are thinking about carbon reduction it has to be seen in wide terms. “We need to look at ways we can reduce our impact by focusing, for example, on sharing spaces, re-using items, repairing things. This is about bringing people together and creating green communities.”

But the scale of the task is revealed in his action plan report. It shows how the Town Hall has explored ensuring its 33,000 council homes to achieve net zero, and to do so in a cost-effective way would mean a bill of around £706m.

Cllr Harrison said: “It is a huge task. Buildings are one of the major sources of carbon emissions. We have been working on this for years, putting in new windows and insulation where we can. This has shown us how council housing stock can be more energy efficient. And many are – many more than private homes, for example.”

Camden’s climate action plan was developed through 2020, building on work by a citizens assembly that the Town Hall set up in 2019. Changing how we travel is also crucial, added Cllr Harrison. Camden has stood firm with the introduction of cycle lanes – and clashed with TfL when it removed one on the Euston Road that had been installed during Covid.

He said: “Overall, we have seen car ownership fall dramatically in the past 10 years and we expect that to continue. That is important for improving our neighbourhoods.

“It has a big impact on airborne pollution. In the coming years, we will see new greening, more traffic calming. We need to ensure our streets are designed to be for the majority of the people who move around the borough, and open more ways for people to walk and cycle.

“At the moment, many are excluded from doing this. Our streets should be seen as shared public services and when some groups are not able to access those public services, you have to consider why and work to ensure equality of access.”

Will it all work? In the context of a climate emergency, seven years will zip by.