This London Climate Action Week (Saturday 20 June to Sunday 28 June) we’re showcasing the ways in which we’re tackling the climate crisis head-on by making Royal Greenwich cleaner, greener and more sustainable.
Manmade climate change is the greatest threat which we face. That’s why we joined local and national governments across the world in 2019 in declaring a climate emergency, and it’s why we approved our Carbon Neutral Plan in 2021 to help us cut emissions, improve air quality, and be more sustainable.
Councillor Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, Cabinet Member for Transport, Climate Change, Waste and Streets, said: “We’re using London Climate Action Week as an opportunity to showcase how we’re working towards a greener, healthier, more sustainable borough.
“We've cut our emissions as a council by a third since declaring a climate emergency, and are stepping up efforts to tackle the climate emergency. Whether it’s retrofitting council houses with energy-saving measures, slashing emissions at the Eltham Centre, empowering local communities to take action with our Community Energy Fund and Green Investment Fund or enhancing our transport infrastructure for cleaner, more accessible travel, we’re both supporting residents and doing our part to make Greenwich a place for the future.”
What we’re doing
Through initiatives such as our Housing Our Greenwich programme’s £50million investment, we’re retrofitting council homes to help residents reduce their emissions, lower their energy bills and live more comfortably.
This investment in existing homes is also supported by green new developments, like Woolwich Waves, an industry-leader in sustainability, and our Greenwich Builds programme, which is seeing a total of 1,750 carbon-neutral homes built across the borough.
Thanks to our Carbon Neutral Plan, our operational emissions (from council buildings, street lighting and vehicles) are down by a third since 2019, and we’ve also planted nearly 6,000 new trees across the borough, far exceeding our target for 2026. We've cut our transport fleet emissions by 97% in the last 4 years, and are installing thousands of EV charging points which will make us one of the top 5 London boroughs for EV charging points.
Our mission for clean, green travel across our corner of the capital is also progressing well through new bus routes, new cycleways, new ways of cutting emissions produced by cars and an expansion of our electric vehicle (EV) charging network. Other improvements like dockless e-bike bays and secure new cycling hangars mean it's never been easier to get on your bike in our borough.
And we’re putting the power back in residents’ hands with nearly £2million raised through our Green Investment Fund which has helped deliver one of the largest energy efficiency upgrades in the borough through the Eltham Centre Air Source Heat Pump project.
Our first-ever Community Energy Fund is also backing local projects which help residents access green energy and cut their emissions.