Hackney environmentalists seek CO2 pledge from councils

Environmental campaigners in Hackney are urging local authorities to sign up to a new framework for reducing Carbon Dioxide emissions in the near future.

Friends of the Earth are campaigning for stringent CO2 reduction targets. Photo: scoobygirl @ flickr

Environmental campaigners in Hackney are urging local authorities to sign up to a new framework for reducing Carbon Dioxide emissions in the near future.

Hackney and Tower Hamlets Friends of the Earth are hoping that Hackney Council will pledge its support to their ‘Get Serious About CO2‘ campaign, which includes drastic CO2 reduction targets for the next ten years.

Kate Hand, Coordinator of Hackney and Tower Hamlets Friends of the Earth, said: “If councils get serious about climate change there are huge benefits to be had. It will boost the local economy, create jobs and slash fuel bills, reduce health problems and improve public transport.”

“A low-carbon local economy will see local benefits of reduced energy bills, greater resilience to fluctuating energy prices, and the avoidance of high-carbon infrastructure that will be a growing financial burden,” she added.

If the authority were to sign up to the scheme, it would commit the borough to reducing CO2 emissions by 40 percent by 2020 – an aim they describe as ‘the kind of target that the science demands.’

Hackney Council has already committed to other environmental schemes, such as the ‘10:10‘ initiative – which aims to reduce emissions by 10 percent in 2010 – and London’s 60 percent reduction goal for 2025.

However, campaigners have described existing targets as ‘too end-loaded,’ and criticised what they see as a lack of clarity in the area’s current environmental planning.

The ‘Get Serious About CO2’ campaign has already garnered the support of nearby boroughs Haringey and Islington, whose councils unanimously passed it last year.

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