Croydon Council slammed for doing 'very little' in 5 years since declaring climate emergency
| Published date | 22 April 2024 |
| Publication title | MyLondon (England) |
This apparent lack of progress has prompted a wave of protest from green groups across the borough, including a dramatic 'die in' demonstration outside Croydon Town Hall as the council was meeting on Wednesday April 17. Connie Duxbury, CEO of Croydon Community Energy, led these protests by calling for greater environmental commitment from the council.
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Duxbury told the crowd: "As part of the climate and ecological emergency pledges made in 2019, the council committed to being carbon neutral by 2030 – now not even six years away. Since that date, there has been a Citizen's Assembly, a Climate Commission, and an Action Plan, all of which required the time and effort of local volunteers and other citizens of Croydon, not to mention the costs to the council, but it has resulted in very little meaningful action. We heard the phrase deeds, not words – where are these deeds"
The phrase 'deeds not words' was used by then Labour Council leader Tony Newman when announcing the declaration at an event in 2019. This phrase was accompanied by ambitions for Croydon to become London's 'greenest borough'.
While Croydon does have some of the largest areas of green space in the capital, its population size and geography place it at an acute risk of being disproportionately affected by climate change, as Duxbury told the Local Democracy Reporting Service LDRS following the protest. Indeed, higher rainfall than usual over the winter has left large parts of Croydon covered by a flood alert warning of heightened groundwater levels. People in Purley and Kenley have been warned of an almost constant risk of flooding for weeks.
She said: "It's the most populated London borough, it's got above average levels of fuel poverty and there's loads of flooding risk. Of course, it affects the world, but specifically in Croydon there are lots of people that are going to be affected by climate change."
She added: "Back in 2019, like many other councils, Croydon declared a climate emergency. Since then there have been assemblies and action plans but they haven't actually done anything, it's just not good enough.
"The Croydon Climate Crisis...
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