Ealing Council has made significant progress in reducing harmful emissions and defending the borough from flood, drought, energy and food risk since it launched its ambitious climate strategy in 2021.
A 2-year progress report outlining key highlights and future ambitions is now available to view on the council’s website.
As part of its commitment to be open, transparent and inclusive, the council is working closely with local people and community groups to tackle the climate crisis in the borough. Residents helped by shaping the strategy, which focuses on five key areas that will reduce carbon emissions and increase protections from the impact of extreme weather and food and energy shortages:
- Energy
- Food
- Nature
- Travel
- Waste.
Energy
Improving the energy efficiency in homes
Over the past two years, the council has:
- Installed hundreds home measures in the borough, from installing solar panels to insulating roofs and walls
- Established Healthy Homes Ealing which provides free advice to residents on simple measures that help save energy and identifies grants to help residents carry out the work
- Deep retrofitted 44 council-owned homes on the Village Park Estate in South Ealing, by providing insulation and ventilation, low-carbon heating systems, and solar panels for on-site energy generation.
Improving the energy efficiency of public buildings
Over the past two years, the council has:
- Secured £16m of funding to pay for huge retrofitting programmes for council buildings, including solar power and other low carbon alternatives
- Started work on replacing fossil fuel heating systems with lower carbon alternatives in 8 schools and 4 sheltered housing blocks, with plans for 18 more buildings by the end of 2024
- Worked with 17 schools to install solar panels, creating potential savings of 134,910kg of carbon dioxide each year, equivalent to taking more than 100 cars off the road.
Councillor Deirdre Costigan, Ealing Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for climate action, said: “Tackling the climate crisis is a top priority for the council. Energy used to heat and power buildings is one of the main contributors of carbon emissions in our borough.
“That’s why in the last 2 years we have been working to improve the energy efficiency not only in residents’ homes, but also in public buildings. We are determined to continue to help schools, households and businesses to make energy efficiency improvements by replacing natural gas heating with low-carbon and renewable energy.”
What we will do by 2026 to achieve zero carbon future
The council will:
- Deliver energy audits in 60 schools and 20 leisure centres to decarbonise heating systems
- Retrofit 8 schools to reduce energy demand and decarbonise heating by summer 2024
- Expand council’s free Healthy Homes Ealing programme to deliver even more home visits and energy efficiency measures to residents
- Ensure new buildings in the borough meet the council’s zero carbon ambitions and borough’s ‘retrofit first’ rule
- Develop a council-led scheme to encourage and make it worthwhile for Ealing residents in privately owned properties to install solar panels.
Read more about energy efficiency on council’s website.
Other council commitments include:
- Planting 50,000 trees across the borough and opening 10 new parks to help soak up emissions and improve air quality
- Adding 400 Electric Vehicle Charging Points (EVPC) on borough’s streets each year, reaching 2,000 by 2026 – to help residents and businesses switch to electric vehicles and reduce the number of high polluting cars
- Setting up the Ealing Food Partnership together with the community – promoting healthy, seasonal and sustainable food whilst increasing the levels of food waste and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Read the full 2-year progress report on the council’s website.
