The council is urgently calling for more climate change funding – warning the risks of action ‘have never been so clear’
A South London council says it urgently needs funding to take effective action on climate change as it is “on the frontline of the climate crisis” – facing a dual threat of extreme heat and frequent flooding.
Lib Dem-run Kingston Council said it can’t tackle climate change alone and needs long-term funding from the Government to protect residents and the environment.
The authority said the warning signs of the impacts of the climate crisis are mounting, as the UK experiences its third heatwave in a summer which has already seen multiple broken records. It is the first year to see temperatures of 35 degrees or higher in May, June and July, with scientists linking more than 2,700 excess deaths to the May and June heatwaves.
The council passed a motion on Tuesday night (July 15) warning the borough is “on the frontline of the climate crisis because the borough faces severe local risks – like frequent flooding and extreme heat – while concurrently holding the direct responsibility to protect vulnerable residents, manage localised infrastructure, and reduce emissions to achieve net-zero targets by 2038″.
The motion warned the council’s budget is already squeezed by skyrocketing demand for care and housing services, and it needs funding to deliver action needed to effectively tackle climate change.
It said local authorities are best placed to lead on community-based solutions, from retrofitting homes to building public transport infrastructure and supporting sustainable land use.
Kingston Independent Residents Group tabled an amendment to the motion, asking the authority to go further by agreeing to measures – including publishing a heat resilience action plan by the end of the year, reviewing its tree planting programme and making sure there are resources for long-term watering of new trees.
The amendment was rejected, with Lib Dem councillors saying the measures were already largely covered in the Kingston Climate Action Strategy up to 2040 and the original motion was asking for funding to carry out the action needed.
Lib Dem councillor Mark Durrant said: “We need to adapt, we need to upgrade our housing stock and we need to invest in homegrown secure energy. The Government holds the financial initiative, yet the gap between our local ambition and delivery capacity is widening.
“We are calling on the Government to act with pace. We need the promised funding, not just for the occasional pilot project but for a systematic heat-ready approach that covers our infrastructure, our health services and our built environment.”
Lib Dem councillor Tom Reeve said Kingston was “doing locally and deliberately the things that keep people alive because councils like Kingston are on the frontline”.
Councillor Reeve said: “We are the ones who check on vulnerable residents, who open cool spaces, who plant the trees, who clear the drains when it floods, and we are asked to do all that with our hands tied.”
He added: “My hope is that this summer is a wake-up call to this Government and to all councils that we are not yet serious enough about climate change. This motion shows that we are serious about this.”
The council passed the motion at the meeting, with 34 councillors voting in favour, two against and two abstentions.
The authority pledged to lobby the Government to urgently increase funding for councils so they can make decisions that protect residents.
It will write to the new Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero outlining its concerns and calling for more climate change funding.
The motion warns “the costs and risks of inaction have never been so clear”.
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