Croydon’s ambition to become London’s greenest borough took another step forward as the independent Croydon Climate Crisis Commission held its first meeting this week.
Building on the work of the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change, the commission was created to help the council achieve its aim of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, and to help tackle climate change.
The meeting was held virtually on Tuesday where the members mapped out their key areas of focus including housing, transport and jobs.
The commission also discussed the impact of Covid-19 and resolved to ensure its work helps Croydon’s economic recovery through promoting climate-friendly jobs and fairness for all residents.
Five working groups chaired by commission members will focus on the following areas to create an action plan and priority actions for the future;
- Housing, built environment and planning
- Transport and energy
- Adaptation and resilience
- Skills, jobs and development
- Awareness, engagement and communication
The feedback from the citizens’ assembly, which met over the past year, will also be used to inform the commission’s work.
Residents will play a key part in the programme and there will be lots of opportunities for them to get involved with further details to be announced in due course.
“As we continue to live and work in these very challenging times we must not lose sight of the environmental challenges we still face, and must respond to.
“Covid-19 has changed the way we live now and for the foreseeable future and we must ensure we emerge from this stronger, with a renewed focus on the work we do together to create a better, more environmentally sustainable borough.
“We are committed to working quickly to make the council carbon neutral and reduce the borough’s footprint with the Croydon Climate Crisis Commission central to helping achieve this.”
Councillor Tony Newman, leader of the council
Commission chair, Miatta Fahnbulleh, CEO of New Economics Foundation, said: “It was fantastic to see the commission meet formally for the first time and connect the wealth of experience and knowledge the commissioners possess. We will work to drive a rapid reduction in carbon emissions across Croydon in a fair and just way, so everyone can benefit from creating a greener Croydon.”
