Time to act on environmental catastrophe is running out

So the dust has settled on the local council elections in May. Labour retained control of Redbridge Council, taking 43 seats. The Independents (Your Party) got nine, the Greens and Tories five each. Thankfully only one seat for Reform. The Greens took Walthamstow Council from Labour. It will now be interesting to see if the Greens are greener in power than Labour - a big ask, especially in Waltham Forest. In Redbridge, the opposition parties will have to ensure that Labour steps up to the plate on the environment. In March, the Labour Council passed a nature emergency motion. Some suspected green washing but now is the time to prove the doubters wrong and deliver. A lot of the biodiversity gains in Redbridge have been due to the actions of residents and volunteer groups, like the Wrens, Wanstead Community Gardeners and the Friends of Wanstead Park. There has been the adoption of tree pits and creation of pollinator pathways (which include tree pits and stopping the use of pesticides in the streets). Unfortunately, there are just 10 pollinator pathways in 1800 roads in Redbridge. So, a long way to go. The concept of grow zones, where areas are allowed to run wild have been a success. Developments at Fairlop and Hainault Forest have also been encouraging. The concern though is that the council is happy to empower residents to act, just so long as it doesn't cost too much. What a real commitment to address climate and biodiversity emergencies requires is real funding and officer resources to make it happen. There also needs to be an overall effort to deepen and increase biodiversity.Too much of the borough has disappeared under concrete. Why not incentivise people to re-green their front and back gardens. Our gardens have huge potential for biodiversity - the creation of corridors and connection. There is a lot to do to really move forward on the environmental agenda. Nationally and internationally, the climate and biodiversity disasters attract a varying level of reaction. These go from Donald Trump's total denial that the disasters exist at all to the likes of Reform and the Tory Party in this country, who accept the problem but not prioritisation. Both target net zero policies as a bad thing, a luxury that cannot be afforded, whilst arms spending spirals upwards. The nihilist approach on fossil fuels like oil and gas underline the point. The country is too dependent on these energy sources, so instead of moving away from them to renewables, the Tories and Reform believe we need to double down on production. Turkeys voting for Christmas doesn't really cover it. So there are challenges at all levels. Pressure needs to be brought on national and local governments to accelerate programs to address climate and biodiversity emergencies. Denial is not an option. We must all act in different ways to bring about the change at local, national and international levels