The actions outlined in this action plan are approved. By themselves, they will not be enough to achieve carbon neutrality. Additional funding resources will be required, as outlined in Implementation under Finance.
The action plan will be updated as new opportunities are identified and our monitoring reports will evaluate the gap between our progress and carbon neutral trajectories – which will inform future evolution of the plan. Read an outline of our Governance arrangements.
Category of building
Action
Measure of progress
Target
Target date
Council housing
Establish a clear baseline to better understand and manage energy and emissions from council housing stock
Is the baseline and monitoring process established?
Baseline established; monitoring process established.
Dec-21
Council housing
Undertake deep/whole block energy efficiency retrofit for Council housing (including building fabric, energy supply and controls)
Energy demand and carbon emissions of retrofitted homes
Deliver two whole block retrofit pilots
Dec-24
Council housing
De-carbonise energy systems for Council housing
Number of low carbon heating schemes achieved, removing fossil fuels
Deliver five low carbon heating schemes
Mar-22
Council housing
Support council tenants to reduce emissions and tackle fuel poverty
Number of homes provided with energy awareness advice
Energy awareness support and assessment provided to 30% of council tenants
Dec-23
Private sector housing
Promote home energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation in private housing sector (rented and owner-occupier), (including building fabric, energy supply and controls)
Number of homes improved
Estimate of annual carbon saving
1000+
2024
Private sector housing
Target low income households in promoting home energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation in private housing sector (rented and owner-occupier), (including building fabric, energy supply and controls)
Number of 'low income homes' improved
Estimate of annual carbon saving - formula-linked to scheme details
300+ homes
2023
Council buildings - non-domestic
Produce Heat Decarbonisation Plan for Council's corporate estate to guide future investment
Stage of development of heat decarbonisation plan
Heat decarbonisation plan produced and agreed
Winter 21
Council buildings - non-domestic
Identify and deliver pilot projects for energy efficiency retro-fit works to programme of 10 schools and 8 corporate buildings through Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund
Installation of proposed energy and carbon saving technologies
Completion
30-Mar-22
Council buildings - non-domestic
Use data collected in 2 actions above to create programme of works to optimise carbon reduction
Stage of development of the plan
Programme produced and agreed
Winter 21
Council buildings - Non-domestic
Gather accurate energy usage data across the portfolio and analyse to identify priority high energy use buildings
Data being gathered via Heat Decarbonisation Plan
Review when Heat Decarbonisation Plans complete
Winter 21
Council buildings - non-domestic
Create carbon reduction policy for lifecycle replacement of equipment to reduce carbon of corporate estate, including alignment to tenancy occupation and tenant obligations
Draft policy created
Policy agreed
Spring 22
Category of new development
Action
Measure of progress
Target
Target date
Council housing
Ensure Council new build housing projects are carbon neutral where possible
% average carbon reduction of new build homes, beyond Building Regulations standard
90%
Ongoing
All
Strengthen Local Plan to deliver zero carbon development: Adopt tiered carbon off-set price via SPD
Officer appointed, then new target-66946849-4s to follow
Policy agreed
Autumn 2022
All
Produce Carbon SPD and scope/evaluate options for Local Plan review
Qualitative description of progress
SPD produced, aligned to Carbon Neutral Plan.
Scoping activity complete, for new Local Plan to address 'carbon neutral agenda'
Autumn 2022
All
Increase planning officer understanding to negotiate higher standards
Identify and deliver training sessions
Training to be undertaken by appointed officer
Autumn 2022
All
Manage the planning dimensions of District Heat Network Development
Qualitative description of progress
Integrated planning considerations arising from heat network feasibility report into planning documentation for relevant districts.
Spring 2022
Streetlighting
Replace 19,000 inefficient streetlights with LED lighting
Number of streetlights replaced
19,000 streetlights replaced
Summer 2024
Relevant transport modes/ sectors
Action
Measure of progress
Target
Target date
Car parking
Develop Kerbside and Parking Strategy and establish Controlled Parking Zones.
Finalisation of strategy
Adoption of Kerbside and Parking Strategy and development of action plan
Winter 2022
Car parking
Re-prioritise kerbside space, to create more space for public transport, walking and cycling.
To be defined through Kerbside and Parking Strategy
To be defined through Kerbside and Parking Strategy
Winter 2022
Car parking
Explore potential for establishing system of emissions-based parking charges
Development and adopt banded parking and permit charges (depending on vehicle emissions*), for new and reviewed CPZs, and Council car parks.
Percentage of controlled parking spaces with banded charges.
100%
Winter 2022
Cycle parking
Increase cycle-parking provision
Cycle parking spaces installed (publicly available, excluding new developments)
300% increase on current levels.
Establish baseline cycle parking figures
2026
Winter 2022
All
Council staff travel inc business travel
Number of ICE / private vehicle staff trips and mode split of travel to work (should be ahead of borough-wide target-66946849-12s).
80% of trips by walking, cycling and public transport.
reducing share of ICE vehicle trips in remaining 20% of trips.
2025
All
Business travel planning: encourage employers to conduct travel surveys and review transport policies
% of trips by public transport, walking, cycling amongst participants
Fraction of private powered vehicle trips where vehicle has internal combustion engine
80% of trips by public transport, walking, cycling amongst participants.
reducing share of ICE vehicle trips in remaining 20% of trips amongst participants.
2030
Motorised road transport
20mph limits on residential roads
Coverage of main non-residential streets.
100% coverage of an agreed network of appropriate streets.
2030
Motorised road transport
Electric vehicle charging
Number of chargers vs number required for projected EV fleet size.
>100% of required provision.
2030
Cycling and walking
Cycling and walking infrastructure: create new, and improve existing, cycle network and walking routes throughout the borough, including looking for resources to conduct a feasibility assessment for new strategic river crossings suitable for cyclists and pedestrians
Proportion of aspirational cycle network completed (kms).
100%
2030
Council vehicle fleet
Convert fleet to ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicles)
% vehicles that are EVs (prioritising larger fuel-consuming vehicles)
100% converted
2030
Council's contracted fleet for Assisted School Travel
Incorporate carbon neutral aspirations within School Travel Assistance service level agreement (SLA)
New SLA incorporating carbon neutral aspirations
100% school travel plans (renewed 3 yearly)
Winter 2021
Relevant scope
Action
Measure of progress
Target
Target date
Heat supply
District heat networks: complete techno-economic feasibility studies and develop plans for commercialisation
Clarity of commercial viability
Investment in place
Commercialisation stage underway, to be funded by BEIS' HNDU, or ESCO identified that will commit to commercialise the network(s).
Apr-22
Heat supply
Pilot ground source heat pump ambient loop network in private sector housing subject to business case.
Progress on project programme
Install at least one pilot network subject to business case
Dec-24
Renewable electricity
Solar Together: participate in London-wide scheme to support installation of solar panels on residential properties and any other similar initiatives
Number and capacity of PV installations
100 installations, 150kW capacity
Mar-22
Relevant scope
Action
Measure of progress
Target
Target date
Household waste
Reduce waste
% reduction of waste quantity/ household (baseline: 972kg municipal waste/household 2019-20)
Aspirations: 632kg municipal waste/ household (35% reduction)
Work with organisations across the borough to procure and operate within the Good Food in Greenwich guidelines; promoting sustainable, healthy and affordable food and food waste reduction
Food environments KPIs re GFiG charters (coverage based)
Support 25 settings to implement the Good Food in Greenwich Charter
Engage 30 new partners annually to be part of the GFiG partnership
Support 20 settings annually to make GFiG pledges.
Annual target-66946849-16
Food waste reduction
Track use of surplus food by the Greenwich Food Action Alliance
Weight of surplus food.
Number of food alliance members.
To be confirmed when accurate data is available (expected in late 2021)
Annual
Relevant scope
Action
Measure of progress
Target
Target date
Parks maintenance
Reduce parks emissions - via transfer to battery-operated hand tools from 2-stroke hand tools
% of hand tools that are battery-operated
100% of hand tools are electric by 2030 and 25% of hand tools are electric by 2023
2030
Tree planting
Tree planting
Number of trees planted from Nov 2021
300+ new trees
Winter 2022
Biodiversity enhancement
Conservation Grass Programme
Hectares of conservation grassland
(During 2021 we have introduced new conservation grass areas into 16 large parks and now have 26 park/cemetery conservation grass areas that equates to approximately 35% -40% of the RBG parks green space)
Accurately measure area of parks and cemetery spaces maintained as conservation grass areas and fine tune maintenance regime to ensure enough space for recreation
Review RBG housing estates maintenance programs to identify opportunities for new conservation areas on estates
Spring 2022
Spring 2023
Green waste as mulch
The Council's green waste will be managed and returned to the soil as mulch
Tonnes of green waste returned to the soil.
It has been estimated from previous years green waste that Parks recycles approx. 500 tonnes of green waste annually
Introduction of a fob system to record the number of vehicles in and out of Holbrook Yard to get a more accurate measurement of the green waste recycled to ensure that Parks complies with the Environment Agency exemptions.
December 2021
Relevant scope
Action
Measure of progress
Target
Target date
Council Pension Fund investment
Transition from fossil fuels to sustainable investments
Partner with other London Boroughs through the LCIV to create new sustainable investments
Measure the carbon footprint of fund and develop reporting in line with the Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
Investment in impact investment such as renewable infrastructure
Officers to participate in seed investor group meetings to set up a low carbon equity fund
Report to the Pension Fund Investment and Administration Panel on initial engagement with investment managers and other providers regarding carbon foot printing
Fully invest £42.5m within the LCIV Renewable Infrastructure Fund
Launch LCIV low carbon equity fund
Appoint a provider to measure the carbon footprint of the fund
Dec 2027
Jul 2022
Dec 2022
Council procurement
Integrate low carbon criteria into Council procurement and achievement of social value
Low carbon criteria reported as part of the overall social value highlight report
Low carbon criteria reported as part of the overall social value highlight report
Autumn 2021
Council funding models
Develop innovative funding models to support carbon reduction - creating incentives for actions and taking account of whole life cost
Funding routes/models will need to be considered on a project by project basis.
Also, Finance is liaising with colleagues across London to review green finance opportunities.
Funding routes/models will need to be considered and reported on a project by project basis.
Ongoing
Climate change communication with schools
Items on best practice and carbon neutral funding opportunities are shared through the School's e-bulletin
Number of initiatives and best practice shared through the e-bulletin
1 item per quarter within the Schools e-bulletin
Ongoing
Management of Children's Services buildings
Incorporate carbon neutral aspirations within the development of the CS Property Strategy and Asset Management Plan.
Draft CS Strategy and Plan
Development of CS Strategy and Plan
Spring 2022
Integration of climate change education and building management in schools
Review of opportunity to include carbon neutral training within the Schools Direct Offer (to support the school curriculum and building management)
Meeting taking place between Sustainability lead and Caroline Banin-Taylor to identify opportunities for training opportunities to include in the Schools Direct Offer
Review of carbon neutral training opportunities
Winter 2021
Carbon reduction by small and medium enterprises
Programme of business support for SMEs to reduce carbon emissions.
No. of businesses engaged and adopting carbon reduction measures
A minimum of 150 Business Energy audits by March 2022
Spring 2023
Low carbon technology skills development
Retrofit employment and skills brokerage to match contractors' needs to re-training opportunities and match unemployed residents to jobs/ apprenticeships.
No. of residents trained in green skills
Destinations Tracking
To deliver 2 pilot training cohorts up to 30 over the summer 2021
Support 70% into onward employment, training or further learning
Spring 2023
Low carbon job creation
Develop a job creation scheme providing 6 month placements with training or apprenticeships to support the Low Carbon
Advice service/retrofit programme
No. of BEC Recruited
Recruit up to 4 Kickstart funding Business Energy Champions by August 2021
A minimum of 150 Business Energy audits
Spring 2023
Green technology research and development
Work with HE partners to explore potential for an R&D Innovation hub to promote knowledge transfer/ business start-up around green technology.
Established KTP - Steering group/governance in place
Establish 1 KTP project working with 5 identified SMEs in the borough
Summer 2022
Local food growing
Promote and support community food growing opportunities across the borough.
Activities to support new food growing.
Support 10 community based organisations to develop food growing sites.
Deliver 4 structured 4-week food growing training sessions per year.
Annual target
Sustainable food
Move from RBG as a bronze level 'Sustainable Food Place' to silver level
Level achieved
Achievement of silver
Winter 2021/22
Local food growing
Promote and support food growing opportunities in educational settings - children's centres/schools
Number of children's centres supporting growing/gardening opportunities.
Number of schools engaged in the Food for Life accreditation programme.
Number of schools adopting the Good Food in Greenwich schools' model.
All children's centres supporting growing/gardening.
Ten schools with bronze level FFL.
New Good Food in Greenwich model developing - target to be agreed.
Annual target
Engagement in tackling climate change of organisations across the borough
Develop Carbon Neutral Commitment through partner organisations