Emissions are falling in Haringey but ‘net zero’ still remains a long way off, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Tottenham & Wood Green Friends of the Earth on a climate demonstration
(credit Quentin Given) — Tottenham & Wood Green Friends of the Earth on a climate demonstration (credit Quentin Given)

Carbon emissions in Haringey have fallen by more than two-fifths but are not yet on track to meet a key target.

A report published by Haringey Council last month claims CO2 emissions in the borough fell by 43% between 2005 and 2020 – faster than the national average and exceeding a 40% target.

Two years ago, the authority set targets for it to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2027 and for the borough as a whole to reach net zero by 2041.

Despite the decline, the report reveals the borough is not yet on course to meet the 2041 net zero goal. Emissions only fell by 18% between 2015 and 2020 – below the 34% reduction needed to be in line with the target.

The figures in the report are based on data from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the London Energy and Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

They reveal that for the year 2020, Haringey’s emissions per capita (2.26 tonnes) were below the London average of 3.15 tonnes.

The council claims to have reduced its own annual CO2 emissions by more than two-thirds after spending millions of pounds on making schools, homes and vehicles more energy efficient.

Work already undertaken by the authority to tackle climate change includes retrofitting schools using £2.45million of grant funding, switching to more energy-efficient LED street lights, and installing 38 solar panel systems on council-owned buildings.

Further planned green initiatives include rolling out more ‘school streets’ and electric vehicle charging points, retrofitting the council’s housing stock and planting at least 10,000 trees by 2030.

Mike Hakata, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for climate action, environment and transport, said taking action to address the climate emergency was one of the authority’s “key priorities”.

He added: “From our ‘streets for people’ programme to making our entire council house stock energy-efficient, we will continue to work together as one across all council service areas and with organisations, residents and businesses to deliver a far-reaching, ambitious programme to build a fairer, greener borough.”

Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson Scott Emery commented: “We welcome the progress Haringey has made in reducing its carbon footprint, and Lib Dem councillors have been at the forefront of pushing for changes such as ensuring our pension fund divests from fossil fuels.

“However, Haringey still lags many neighbouring boroughs when it comes to infrastructure to shift the move to active travel, and this must become a top priority going forwards.”

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