London Borough of Southwark

The London Borough of Southwark has long recognised that it has a key role to play in reducing carbon emissions from energy use. The municipality is a major landlord and manages around half of all the homes in Southwark. But it can also tackle carbon emissions through its plans for major development schemes throughout Southwark.

There have already been some successes. Southwark has pioneered the use of alternative fuels for transport, and currently has a fleet of 70 vehicles running on 20% biodiesel blend. The fuel is sourced from reclaimed vegetable oil from catering businesses. The local energy agency established a London-wide solar thermal funding scheme for residents, and the municipality has installed solar thermal systems in whole streets of its own properties.

But Southwark now needs a coherent action plan to reduce carbon emissions across all sectors of the community. It also needs a cross-sector Forum to help drive forward this action plan.