Eight in ten councils have suffered climate-related incidents in the last five years, new research has revealed.
The Local Government Association (LGA) found just over 23,000 properties in England have been affected by flooding in the last five years.
The survey found that nine out of 10 councils have declared a climate emergency since 2019, with 80% setting an official target for the authority to become carbon neutral.
Cllr David Renard, LGA environment spokesperson, said: ‘Councils recognise the urgent need to tackle climate change and are making active changes to benefit the environment. This includes tackling harmful air pollution by devising clean air zones, encouraging the use of electric vehicles through promoting recharging points, and installing energy saving measures across council’s own building stock.
’However, national climate change targets are unlikely to be met unless councils are given long-term funding, devolved powers and easier access to complex government funding pots.’
Councils warned that funding, legislation or regulation, and lack of workforce capacity were the biggest barriers to tackling climate change, according to the survey.
