Annual Report 2023

Borough wide picture

In this section:

Working across the borough

Our strategy and action plan is for the whole borough to become carbon neutral by 2030.

The council is directly responsible for around 12% of emissions and so while we are working hard to reduce these, we must also lead the borough, its residents, businesses, partners and others to take action so that together we can all create a net zero borough. This section highlights how we are doing this.

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Southwark Climate Day

Southwark Climate Day was held on 11 March 2023. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the first in-person climate conference we have held since launching our climate strategy. We brought together over 200 people who live, work and spend time in the borough, to learn, discuss and share ideas for how we can become net zero.

There were world-class guest speakers, such as the High Commissioner to Fiji in the UK – a nation that is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, as well as workshops covering issues such as air quality, energy efficiency, fashion and climate, and creating wild spaces. We heard from local groups like Extinction Rebellion Southwark, as well as academics and others at the forefront of climate thinking and ideas.

There were stalls promoting the great work going on throughout the borough from sustainable food and fashion, to green skills courses and energy efficiency advice. Lots of practical action also took place, as Repair Café Nunhead fixed people’s household items, the Energy Advice Centre provided help and advice on home energy efficiency and bike mechanics fixed and serviced people’s bikes for free all day.

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Southwark Climate Action Schools

This year we launched Southwark Climate Action Schools, a network to connect and empower schools in the borough. It provides a space where schools can share their work on tackling the climate emergency with each other and learn about new opportunities to support their goals. Working with environmental charity Ashden we have also been supporting schools who want to do more to tackle climate change and inspire the borough’s young people to do more.

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Progress this year

The climate action plan details how working together, we can reduce our carbon emissions. The full set of actions, their milestones and their progress can be viewed through the climate action plan online dashboard.

This section sets out some of our highlights from the past year for our work supporting the borough to reduce its emissions. You can jump to specific themes which you are interested in:

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Greener buildings

We want to make it easier for people to make their own homes greener and more energy efficient. That is why we have introduced a bundle of measures to streamline the process for green planning applications. This includes helping residents install renewable technology, improving the online pre-planning advice service on renewables and a quicker decision process for green applications.

We have set up a Green Buildings Fund using money from new developments to reduce carbon in the borough, initially focused on council projects such as retrofit on the Tustin Estate.

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Active and sustainable travel

We have improved access to walking and cycling in the borough, with 1.3 kilometres (km) of new segregated cycle lanes delivered, alongside an increase in the number of cycle hangars to 626. Our school streets programme has created 23 more school streets. These make streets around schools greener and safer and discourage car trips to schools at drop off and pick up times. Children now have more space at the school gate as a result.

The rollout of electric vehicle charging points is ahead of schedule with the number of new charging points increasing to 812. Later this year we will be publishing our electric vehicle strategy to ensure that while always promoting active travel, we also have the infrastructure in place to get petrol and diesel vehicles off the road.

Due to funding pressures from central government in 2022, Transport for London (TfL) put at risk many of Southwark’s most important bus routes. In response, we ran a successful campaign to save Southwark’s bus routes, bringing together residents and communities. The campaign led to the Mayor of London announcing that the 12, 45, 78 and N133 buses will be protected and that people in Southwark can continue to use them to get to work and to visit family, friends and more. The council has continued its campaign to reopen Camberwell Station and extend the Bakerloo Line.

The council has also worked with partners on the Smarter Greener Logistics (SGL) project, which is exploring how we can use the River Thames for freight and logistics, instead of our roads.

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A thriving natural environment

In partnership with Earthwatch, the council planted two new Tiny Forests in Peckham Rye. Tiny forests are closely planted fast-growing woodlands, and Southwark now has two of the newest sites at Peckham Rye Park. Over 1,200 native trees were planted in March 2023, with the help of local schools as well as 125 members of the community.

Overall, 8,000 new trees have been planted across the borough over the past year and the council has created 108 new allotment plots for community growing.

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Renewable energy

Promoting renewable energy remains a key priority. In early 2023, we partnered with industry experts at London South Bank University’s (LSBU’s) Net Zero Building Centre, to launch the green homes advice service. This service provides free expert advice to residents on green home upgrades (such as solar panels or air source heat pumps) and retrofit measures (including double-glazing and loft insulation). Residents who contact the centre get help from an expert advisor to identify which measures are best for their property, which could be as simple as switching to LED light bulbs or a more detailed approach to upgrading to an air source heat pump.

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A circular economy with green jobs

1,240 green jobs have been created in the borough, helped by our investment in net zero projects, employment support targeting green jobs and the construction of low-carbon buildings.

A good example of how these green jobs are being supported is the launch of the Green Skills Hub hosted by London South Bank University, which has trained 234 Southwark residents in skills for the green economy.

This year we have launched a new sustainability blueprint for events in the borough. The Event Environmental Sustainability Guide (EESG) helps event organisers to understand how they can identify and tackle their carbon emissions, while also improving their sustainability.

In March 2023, a new Waste Management Strategy Extension was approved. This sets out the council’s priorities for managing waste up to 2025. A government mandate around extending food waste recycling facilities is expected this year, so we are making sure we are ready to recycle food waste on our estates in Southwark. Currently, 32% of the borough’s waste is recycled, which is one of the highest rates in central London. However, this is below our ambitious 36% target, so we will be continuing to talk to and work with residents to improve recycling rates.

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Emissions in Southwark

To understand, measure and target our work, we need to know where greenhouse gas emissions are coming from.

At a borough level, this is reliant on large national datasets. These datasets have an inherent time lag, which means the information we have is never as up-to-date as we would like it to be. This makes it challenging to obtain the quality and quantity of data that we need. However, it is still essential in highlighting where the council should target our resources, funding and lobbying asks of central government.

In the last two reports, we calculated the emissions for the borough using a tool called Scatter. This included emissions from residential homes, vehicles, industry and business. This tool has not been updated since last year, so we have used government data from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), now called the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

Greenhouse gases are categorised into three groups or scopes: scope one covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources; scope two covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, heating and cooling; scope three includes all other indirect emissions that occur in the supply chain.

We measure our emissions in kilotons of carbon dioxide equivalents, also written as kt CO2e. The BEIS data used in last year’s report, from 2019, gave a total scope one and two emissions of 824kt CO2e. This year’s updated 2020 data shows a slight fall in emissions, to 809kt CO2e.

While the overall reduction in borough-wide emissions is positive, the pace of reduction needs to rapidly increase to achieve our 2030 net zero target. Emissions associated with domestic buildings have remained static, while those in the industrial and commercial sectors have increased.

Overall emissions from road transport are down in the borough when compared to the previous year’s data. This reinforces the need to focus on emissions associated with heating and powering buildings, which account for nearly 80% of all scope one and two emissions in the borough.

Borough-wide emissions in Southwark

  • 2018 = 1030 kt CO2e
  • 2019 = 824 kt CO2e
  • 2020 = 809 kt CO2e

One tonne of carbon is the same as a flight from a London airport to the east coast of the US, or travelling about 3,500 miles in the average car.

Borough-wide emissions

  • residential buildings = 293kt CO2e, 36%
  • industrial and commercial buildings = 334kt CO2e, 41%
  • road transport 178kt CO2e, 22%
  • other 4kt CO2e, 1% (rounded up)

Significant reductions are needed. Our climate action plan includes work we're doing to support residents and businesses in reducing emissions, but the funding gap from central government is stark. We will continue to lobby at a London and national level for the changes and funding required.

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Looking ahead to the next year

Over the next year, the council will continue to deliver and invest in important projects across each area of our Climate Change Strategy in a targeted, decisive and positive way. This will ensure we can have the biggest impact on tackling our emissions in Southwark, with the resources and funding we have available.

Importantly, a comprehensive stakeholder plan will be finalised and implemented over the next year. It will bring together the borough’s networks and deepen our relationships with community stakeholders, businesses, delivery partners and schools while reforming our expert panel. This will enable the council to develop a clear picture of the climate work that is happening right across the borough. 

In this section, we have summarised some of the key upcoming work on the following themes

Greener buildings

New planning policies are being developed to further address energy use and retrofitting through an update to the Southwark Plan (2022). This will take place alongside the publication of new planning guidance for how to best meet our ambitious planning policies, and work on a new local carbon offsetting price. We will be extending the Green Buildings Fund and this year will be launching it publically for groups in the borough to access funding to reduce emissions on community buildings.

Back to looking ahead to next year

Active and sustainable travel

In July this year, we will be launching our new Streets for People Strategy. This looks holistically at our transport system, which needs to balance the increasing demands upon space, and sets out a direction for transport in Southwark that is sustainable and equitable. This will set out how our roads, streets and kerbsides are designed to continue to promote active and sustainable travel. We will also be consulting on borough-wide walking, cycling and electric vehicle strategies.

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A thriving natural environment

This year we will engage and consult on a Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation Strategy. This will set out how we can make sure the borough is ready for the impacts of climate change that we cannot avoid.

The council will also be preparing a new Local Nature Recovery Plan and implementing new legal requirements for biodiversity net gain that will increase habitats in new developments.

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Renewable energy

The council continues to support local energy groups’ funding bids to the GLA’s local community energy fund. Over the next year, we will be launching the Southwark Community Energy Fund to the public to fund local renewable energy projects.

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A circular economy with green jobs

Over the next year, will use the Southwark Pioneers Fund to support new green businesses in the borough. Southwark Green Finance will be launched so that local people and businesses can invest in climate projects.

Our first Library of Things will also open in summer 2023 at Canada Water Library, to help promote borrowing and the circular economy by offering residents the opportunity to loan household items such as DIY equipment, rather than buying.

In the next year, the council will adopt our Sustainable Food Strategy (SFS) and Right to Food which will lead to the development of a Sustainable Food Action Plan. The School Meal Transformation Programme will introduce more climate-friendly school food menus in 2023/24, including weekly meat-free days and daily options for vegetarians and vegans in all schools.

Back to looking ahead to next year

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Page last updated: 03 November 2023

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