Net zero targets: Mayor shrugs off doom and gloom as two-thirds of councils flag lack of funding

Targeting net-zero. Hackney Mayor Caroline Woodley with Mete Coban, Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy. Photograph: Hackney Council

Hackney Council has assured residents its decarbonisation mission is on track, as a significant number of councils lose faith in their ability to fund net-zero targets by 2030.

In March, the Local Government Association (LGA) revealed only a third of councils are confident they will hit their net-zero targets within set timeframes, due to the lack of a “sufficient” funding plan.

Speaking at a conference in July organised by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, Cecilia Booth,  the executive director of corporate services and section 151 at Peterborough City Council, stated that her “immediate instinct” is to say that “we [local authorities] can’t afford net zero” when looking at the budgetary pressures facing the sector.

But Mayor of Hackney Caroline Woodley remains bullish.

She said: “Despite significant financial challenges, we’re committed to our net zero ambitions and creating a greener, healthier borough for everyone – with locally generated clean power, more trees and greenery and a programme to decarbonise council buildings.

“We have ring-fenced funding that will help us achieve this and we continue to be successful in securing external funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, the Green Heat Network Fund and Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund.”

The Mayor’s office also pointed to the recent launch in May of a green investment programme to finance sustainable initiatives, which so far, has raised “£600,000 from 469 investors”.

In November last year, the Town Hall declared the borough to be one of the capital’s greenest, with its 58 parks and green spaces amounting to 282 hectares.

The council, in partnership with other local authorities in London, also won the sustainable planning prize for its low-carbon development toolkit at the Planning Awards 2024 in June this year.

The LGA’s survey of more than 300 councils revealed a quarter of councils are generally unsuccessful in their attempts to get net zero funds from Whitehall.

Forty per cent of respondents said “not at all” when asked to what extent has central government’s overall work with their local council on net zero given them confidence of achieving a “just transition”.