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Clean Air Lambeth

We would like to hear from residents, community organisations, businesses and others who live or spend time in Lambeth, about how we can work together to improve air quality. We want to know about your experience of air pollution, and what actions and which places the council should prioritise in tackling the problem.

Details of the engagement can be found on Lambeth’s consultation page and where you will have the opportunity to share your views and experiences on our Commonplace site .

The engagement will run from 1 Feb to 31 March 2022.

For further information please contact XDESSustainability@lambeth.gov.uk

As world leaders gather in Glasgow for the annual UN climate conference, COP26, residents in Lambeth show the determination for action at the local level. Lambeth’s citizens’ assembly members will be the face of a social media campaign, sharing their ambitious ideas for the borough and beyond.

What is Lambeth Council doing?

Across the 13 days of COP26 (31 October to 12 November) Lambeth's Citizens' Assembly members will feature in a social media campaign, inspired to act by their experiences.

Efe, Citizens' Assembly member

Follow our social channels to get involve in the conversation and hear from local residents . Lambeth_council (Twitter) Lambeth_council (Instagram)

Have your say!

Residents and businesses based in Lambeth are invited to share the actions they’re taking on the Citizens' Assembly recommendations page by https://lambethclimateaction.commonplace.is/proposals/phase-3-recommendations by 14 November.

Why is this important?

Lambeth is working with major institutions and businesses across the borough to develop the Assembly recommendations into a co-produced, collaborative Climate Action Plan. That's why your feedback is so important. It will be framework to support residents, businesses and organisations reach our collective vision of a greener, fairer, better Lambeth. It will be finalised by the end of 2021.

. . .

What is COP-26?

COP 26 is the United Nations (UN) annual climate change conference. COP stands for conference of parties – these ‘parties’ are the 196 nations who signed up to the UN climate treaty in 1994.

This year, it’s the 26th meeting and it’s hosted in the Glasgow from 1-12 November. World leaders will be negotiating and agreeing their targets to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

Find out more here: https://ukcop26.org/

The assembly’s recommendations will soon be presented to the Steering Group made up of key organisations in the borough who have committed to act on the recommendations, such as representatives from the NHS, community groups, businesses and educational institutions.

As other London Councils, such as Hackney, embark on similar journeys there’s set to be a wave of citizen-led climate action plans across the nation’s capital over the coming years, making bolder climate commitments than central government ahead of COP-26. As Advisory Board member, Emma Jones , from Ashden , said:

The recommendations will be presented to the borough at full council in the Autumn and a collaborative effort is underway to build them into a climate action plan for the borough.

Stakeholders involved in guiding the next phase of work will include key organisations in the borough who have committed to act on the recommendations, such as representatives from the NHS, community groups, businesses and educational institutions, alongside other key organisations

We want every resident and organisation to have their say on the recommendations to feed into the Climate Action Plan. Visit the recommendations page here.

Check out our new Lambeth organisations page on Commonplace.

Here you can find a list of our fantastic local partners who have supported the Citizen’s Assembly in various ways: from spreading the word in their networks, to hosting ‘watch alongs’, to presenting during the discover phase .

You can also find videos from inspiring Lambeth organisations and activists who are tackling the climate emergency in different interesting and innovative ways.

If you are a local organisation or business and would like to get involved, please get in touch with us at XDESSustainability@lambeth.gov.uk.

Over the last two weeks, during Phase 2 of Lambeth’s Climate Assembly , 50 residents have been discovering solutions to tackling carbon emissions in the borough across three themes: transport , businesses , and homes . During Phase 1 , assembly members learned about the climate crisis and possible pathways to get to net zero which also provide co-benefits of improved livelihoods and reduced inequality. The outcome of these learning and discovery sessions during Phase 3 will be to recommend a set of principles, guidelines and actions for a borough-wide climate action plan .

Across Phase 2 , assembly have spent Thursday evenings listening to presentations from experts working on climate change and Tuesday evenings virtual breakout rooms engaged in structured discussion exploring questions such as:

1. How should Lambeth council, residents and businesses act in response to climate change?

2. How do these responsibilities interact?

3. How can we ensure fairness is at the heart of this?

Mural boards from assembly members

Responses ranged from specific ideas such as….

“We need more community food growing gardens in council estates”…

…to powerful statements about fair consultation over the long term…

“We want more platforms for residents to communicate with the council to ensure change and fairness”

Mural boards from assembly members

As with all citizens’ assemblies, in addition to giving a diverse group of people the time and space to come up with their preferred solutions to complex problems, hearing from most affected groups is crucial to making sure the final recommendations are fair and balanced. As part of this, Lambeth’s Climate Change team hosted two focus groups with people with disabilities and young people to understand their hopes and fears about the climate crisis – the findings will be presented to the assembly. Two youth councillors, Prisca and Jeminat from Lambeth’s Youth Council, presented their responses directly the citizens’ assembly , urging members to consider environmental justice between and within generations.

As well as hearing about lived experiences, listening to evidence from outside speakers about what can and is already being done to get to net zero helps assembly members develop radical yet realistic recommendations. To frame their ideas on transport and energy use, they heard quick fire presentations on their top suggestions from 7 expert speakers.

On transport, Tim Schwanen, Director of the Transport Studies at Oxford University , presented his top priorities for transforming travel - from a situation where the petrol or diesel car is the default option to walking and cycling. He ended his speech with strong message on flying:

Sam Longhorn, Head of Corporate Environment at Transport for London and Rob Whitehead, from the Centre for London , set Tim’s recommendations in the London context, urging assembly members to consider the co-benefits as well as the challenges for particular groups in our city.

On energy use in the home and for businesses – making up the majority of emissions in the borough - assembly members heard from 4 expert speakers. Sam Kimmins, Head of RE100 at The Climate Group and L auren Snoxell, Senior Policy Researcher at Citizens' Advice , spoke about policy recommendations with Sam focussing on businesses and governments and Lauren on individuals. Members then heard from practitioners Afsheen Rasid, Co-Founder of Repowering London and Matt Copeland from Action on Warm Homes about empowering the most vulnerable in society to make change.

In the final speaker session, assembly members heard from inspiring organisations on their doorsteps in Lambeth. Firstly, Rebecca Trevalyan, co-founder of Library of Things spoke about switching to a local circular economy. Then volunteer directors Kate Crawford and Nick Anim from Transition Town Brixton , discussed their approach to visioning and making Lambeth fairer, greener and more cooperative. They shared examples of their visions made real including Lambeth Community Solar, the Brixton Pound , the Remakery and Incredible Edible. You can watch their 'What If' video here!

This week, assembly members will be bringing everything they have heard and discussed together in their recommendations in the final Phase 3.

Participants in Lambeth’s Climate Assembly have successfully completed ‘Phase 1 - Learn’. On 25 May, 50 residents representing the population of Lambeth, met for the first time to collectively decide upon priority areas for reducing the borough’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero. Crucially, they are also exploring the trade-offs involved in such a huge step-change for every Lambeth citizen and organisation. In 3 weeks’ time, this diverse group of people will have developed and agreed upon a set of recommendations in response to the question:

On Tuesday evenings, assembly members have reflected on expert presentations and debated what is important to them – from fairness to taking urgent action. During Thursday evening sessions, assembly members have heard from experts about the causes and solutions to the climate crisis.

During the first Thursday session, we heard from Alice Bel l talking about how long we have known about climate change. Interestingly, the link between carbon dioxide and global heating was first discovered in 1856 by a female scientist, Eunice Foot. Dr Neil Jennings then talked through the positive co-benefits that can arise through climate action eg children missing 21% less school days due better insulated homes in New Zealand. Cllr Holland closed the session by setting our vision for Lambeth - where justice and climate action are intertwined and all residents are brought along the journey. Her speech set the scene for assembly members to think about their role in shaping the future of Lambeth.

In the second Thursday session we heard from Tessa Khan discussing the historical context of UK emissions. In her video here , you can watch a powerful synopsis of the historic emissions of the UK worldwide. Dr Vanessa Caston Broto then gave a passionate presentation about the importance of inclusion and designing for the most vulnerable when considering solutions. She said “No one know what this transition looks like” . This quote summarises the tough task that assembly members have as the future path is not defined. Our assembly members are envisioning a net zero future and agreeing upon best pathways to get there.

Finally, Hannah Jameson, Climate Lead at Lambeth Council , talked us through the emissions of the borough and set out the role of the council within this. The graphs shared show the three areas which need tackling: transport (24.8%), domestic (41.2%) and commercial (33.9%).

Within those areas, private car use accounts for 50% of emissions from transport, while warming homes accounts for 63.6% of emissions within domestic. Tackling those two issues will have huge impacts decreasing the carbon emissions of the borough, while also realising other benefits including cutting fuel poverty and improving respiratory health through improved air quality.

The overarching observation from phase 1 of the assembly is the importance of the process being representative and deliberative . Assembly members are not a homogenous group, and the diversity of views has been so important in raising valuable questions about proposed solutions. Who across the borough will be affected if we do not act? Will the most marginalised communities across Lambeth be further impacted by the real and immediate impacts of climate change like we see globally?

This brings us to the end of Phase 1 on a hopeful but determined note. There are huge challenges ahead which the assembly members will grapple with over the next few weeks as they Discover the solutions and what is already happening in Lambeth, before moving onto the final phase to Recommend how we reach net zero emissions Lambeth.

We're pleased to announce that Lambeth’s first Citizens' Assembly on Climate Change will launch in 11 days! 50 residents from across Lambeth’s communities have been selected selected by the Sortition Foundation to reflect the demographic make-up of the borough.

Facilitated by independent organisation, Traverse , from 25th May – 3rd July, participants will learn about the climate crisis, hear from experts and local communities, and develop a set of recommendations for how Lambeth should respond.

On behalf of Lambeth Council and our partners, thank you for the evidence submitted to the Climate Action Hub last year. This evidence has been collated, and will be shared with the assembly members to help them understand what people in Lambeth think about climate change and the solutions we already have in the borough that we can build on.

We are so excited to re-launch this site, which will be updated with expert presentations, learning materials and questionnaires as the process unfolds. You can watch along and engage across the 3 phases: learn , discover , recommend !

We will be sharing your comments with the assembly, and hope to create a process that is as transparent, accessible, and inclusive as possible. So, please share this site with your networks.

Check the site out now

Sign up to stay updated with ways to get involved

For more information, please take a look at the full article here: https://love.lambeth.gov.uk/lambeth-climate-assembly-steering-group/

Ultimately, I want to see us getting to carbon neutral in Lambeth as quickly as possible, and that is going to require everyone playing their part, with those able to do more of the heavy lifting doing so and recognising that for some, smaller sacrifices are relatively larger.

The steering group will return to this and I suspect we all have a very different set of desired outcomes! However,​ this is not about the steering group and what our hopes and dreams might be. The assembly will create a set of recommendations on how everyone across the borough can do its part. Big organisations, local shops, individual residents, and everyone in between.

I aim to blog regularly on love.lambeth.gov.uk and send updates like this. Please also keep an eye on our website and the Lambeth Climate Action Hub where we will be posting the information, documentation and the sessions themselves.

Cllr Jack Hopkins

Leader of Lambeth Council