Lewisham Council has published an action plan just over a year after it announced a climate emergency.  

The council, which accounts for about three per cent of carbon emissions in Lewisham, is aiming to make the borough carbon neutral by 2030. 

It expects the cost of reaching that target to be around £1.6 million for everyone involved.  

Outside of the council’s control, domestic electricity, gas and heating accounts for more than 50 per cent of emissions, while transport accounts for 25 per cent. 

Industrial and commercial emissions make up just under 20 per cent.  

The climate emergency action plan is divided into five key areas – leadership, housing, transport, becoming greener, and ‘inspiring, learning and lobbying’.  

Those areas are further divided into challenges, what has already been achieved, plans for the future, and what the council needs to ask of others.  

Some of the changes proposed by the council include a new policy of only serving vegan food at corporate events, increasing the number of vegan options in schools, adding an extra meat-free day in schools, and promoting the use of local produce.  

Improving heating systems in housing stock, using cladding that provides better insulation, and offering a discretionary grant to help home owners upgrade their heating are also proposed.  

The council is aiming to ensure all its housing stock to meet energy standards. 

It also wants the Government to lower the voting age to include 16 and 17-year-olds.  

“Young people will be disproportionately affected by a changing climate and have been at the forefront of action to raise awareness of the need for society to tackle the climate crisis.  

“Extending the voting age gives younger people a stronger voice in relation to the choices that need to be made now that will impact on their future,” according to the plan.  

Only electric ice cream vans might be allowed to trade in Lewisham in future, but the council will also look at “more radical solutions such as avoiding vehicles altogether, creating opportunities for local mobile vendors using carts instead of a vehicle”.  

Planting more trees and agreeing a local plan that supports the London Mayor’s target of 80 per cent of journeys in the capital to be made by walking, cycling and public transport by 2041 is also proposed.  

The council wants to upgrade its vehicles to Euro 6 standards, including all 25 street cleansing and refuse vehicles. 

It plans to promote active travel and public transport among council staff and more widely across the borough.  

A new climate change trained teacher could be introduced to every school.  

The plan highlights the “big challenges” faced, which include the poor state of council buildings, finding funding for schools, and the cost of improving buildings that do not meet existing or expected energy standards.  

The council intends to lobby the Government for more funding and to set out clear plans of how it will decarbonise heating systems.  

It is also asking for an early decision and faster work to bring the Bakerloo Line extension to Lewisham.  

In a joint foreword the Mayor of Lewisham, Damien Egan, cabinet Lead for environment, Sophie McGeevor, and the young mayor, Femi Komolafe said that “society faces a climate and ecological crisis that is the legacy of a generation of inaction”.  

“The declaration of a climate emergency by Lewisham Council, and hundreds of other organisations up and down the country, is the first step in answer to the call for a new response to this crisis.  

“The difference in the impetus for change is that this call for action has come from citizens, and particularly from young people, internationally, but also here in the borough.  

“Collectively we have an obligation to future generations.  

“We also have a duty to protect the most vulnerable members of our society.  

“Globally, and locally, the oldest, youngest, the least well off and those with health conditions will bear the brunt of a changing climate.  

“As a society our way of living needs to be based around a new contract.  

“A contract that ensures government, business, media, communities and individuals are accountable for their actions and choices, and that we find the way to balance the demands of today against the needs of the future.  

“Meeting this challenge will fundamentally change how we live, but if it is to be successful, this change will not be about giving things up: instead it will be a way to enrich our lives,” they said. 

The plan is set to be approved by mayor and cabinet on Wednesday March 11.