Havering Council Scraps Climate Emergency Declaration As 2040 Target Faces Review

Reform UK-run Havering Council has withdrawn its 2023 climate emergency declaration. The vote does not itself erase the borough’s 2040 carbon-neutral ambition, but it starts a review that could reshape environmental targets, reporting and spending.

Havering Council has formally rescinded its climate emergency declaration after councillors backed the Reform UK administration’s motion by 32 votes to 13, with one abstention, at a full council meeting on Wednesday, 22 July.

The decision came less than three months after Reform won 39 of Havering’s 55 council seats, making the outer east London borough the party’s first council administration in the capital. Councillor Gary Payne presented the climate motion, arguing that future environmental decisions should be based on affordability, evidence and benefits for local residents rather than what the administration considers symbolic commitments.

During the debate, Payne compared recent temperatures with hot weather recorded four decades ago and said “nothing has changed apart from the way we look at it”. However, the Met Office said June 2026 produced a provisional English record of 37.7°C and that more than 150 weather stations recorded their highest June maximum temperature.

Council leader Keith Prince said the declaration risked forcing the authority to pursue “arbitrary targets that cost the taxpayer money”. He insisted that Havering would continue environmental projects where they were practical, affordable and produced clear local benefits.

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What Havering’s climate emergency vote actually changes

Explore the decision, the borough’s existing 2040 ambition, the policies now facing review and the steps required before further changes can take effect.

2040 Target under review

Declaration Rescinded

The 2023 climate emergency declaration has formally ended.

Decision date 22 July 2026

The motion was approved at a full meeting of Havering Council.

2040 ambition Not automatically ended

The carbon-neutral ambition predates the emergency declaration.

Next development Officer review

Strategies, targets, reporting and spending must now be examined.

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The declaration has ended, but the wider policy has not vanished

The council’s decision removes the formal climate emergency declaration and begins a broader examination of environmental and net-zero policies.

Decision approved

What councillors formally resolved

Havering Council approved a Reform UK group motion to rescind the climate emergency declaration adopted in March 2023.

The motion also instructed council officers to identify policies, targets, work programmes and spending arrangements that depend on the declaration or are materially shaped by non-statutory net-zero ambitions.

• The climate emergency declaration itself is no longer in force.
• Existing environmental policies are not all automatically cancelled by the vote.
• Officers must identify which policies or targets may require amendment.
• Any resulting policy or governance changes must return through the appropriate council decision-making process.

Administration’s stated position

The council leadership says environmental action should focus on affordability, value for money, practical delivery and measurable benefits for Havering residents and businesses.

Information checked against Havering Council records available on 24 July 2026. The section distinguishes decisions already taken from policies that remain subject to review. It does not assume that every strategy named in the motion will be amended or cancelled.

What Does The Havering Climate Emergency Vote Change?

The approved motion does more than remove the declaration. It instructs council officers to identify strategies, targets, workstreams, reporting arrangements and budget provisions that depend on the declaration or have been materially shaped by non-statutory net-zero ambitions. Any proposed changes must then return through the council’s usual constitutional decision-making process.

That distinction matters because Havering’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2040 predates the climate emergency declaration. The council adopted its first climate action plan in November 2021, while the emergency was declared in March 2023. The vote therefore does not automatically cancel the 2040 target, although that ambition is among the policies that could be examined during the officer review.

The council’s most recent published progress report said 30 per cent of actions scheduled under its 2024-27 environmental plan had been completed during 2024-25, while another 48 per cent were on track. The framework covers buildings, energy, transport, procurement, waste, public protection and resilience to extreme weather.

Transport and Homes Dominate Havering Emissions

Havering’s latest available borough-wide figures showed greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 were at their lowest level since 2005. Despite that fall, Havering still recorded the 14th-highest total emissions among London boroughs and the seventh-highest emissions per resident. Transport accounted for 46 per cent of the total, with domestic energy use contributing another 37 per cent.

Opposition leader Gillian Ford argued during the meeting that the declaration itself “costs no money” and said measures such as tree planting, cycling schemes and energy efficiency could produce financial, health and community benefits as well as reducing emissions. Her group proposed reviewing the existing climate strategy instead of rescinding the declaration, but the amendment was defeated.

The administration says it will continue work on clean streets, parks, biodiversity, waste services and flood resilience where projects offer value for money. The motion sets no deadline for the wider policy review, meaning the next significant development will be the publication of officers’ recommendations on which environmental plans, targets or budgets should be retained, amended or replaced.