What are we doing to tackle climate change?
We have committed to becoming a Council that takes robust action to tackle the local and global threat of climate change, both internally and in partnership with local organisations and residents.
Our progress
We are working hard to deliver our Climate Emergency Strategy and Action Plan and have been awarded a CDP A rating for the second
Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan
In July 2019, Richmond Council declared a Climate Emergency, committing to working towards becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
- View the borough's Climate Emergency Strategy
- View the Climate Emergency Strategy 2023 Action Plan
Reducing our borough’s carbon emissions will require changes to the way we live and work, and changes from government and business. But change doesn’t have to be a difficult, individual task; this is a unique opportunity to work together as a community to improve our quality of life and create a borough that’s healthier, better to live in and fairer for everyone.
We need to be ambitious to combat climate change and reduce air pollution, and have made significant progress so far against our goals.
Consultation with residents
In September and October 2019, we consulted residents on a draft Climate Change Strategy, to ensure our work to protect the borough reflected as many local voices as possible. This included a youth-focused summit with 160 children from 19 schools across the borough and Sir David Attenborough. An adult focused event was also held, and 130 people attended to help develop the draft plan further.
See the results of:
- The youth consultation
- The adult consultation
- Feedback from the youth summit
- Feedback from the general summit
The amended Climate Emergency Strategy has been overhauled to reflect the feedback. This includes improved language to reflect the urgency of the situation, but also the strategy now sets out not just what we will do, but also what the community and local businesses can do and how we can support them.
A detailed action plan setting out what we will deliver, with clear reporting and evaluation, has also been published. In addition, analysis and data on borough-wide carbon emissions has also been included, along with stronger actions on using our influence to lobby for more support and action on climate change.
Focus areas
Stay up to date! Make sure you subscribe to our climate change email updates.