London councils rank top for environment efforts

Rowena Champion (right) and director of climate change and transport Martijn Cooijmans on the roof of the Islington waste and recycling centre

Islington Council has been been ranked as the best single-tier local authority in the country for efforts to tackle climate change, with the Greater London Authority (GLA) being awarded best for combined authorities.

Climate Emergency UK’s “climate scorecard” rankings were based on actions taken by councils towards becoming net zero.

In a statement, Islington Council’s environment chief, Rowena Champion said the news marked a “recognition of all our efforts”.

So far, the council said it had taken steps such as decarbonising Islington’s waste recycling centre, electrifying and shrinking the size of its vehicle fleet, and “working hard” to retrofit its social housing stock.

‘Climate emergency’

Champion added: “We know that people in Islington care deeply about the environment, so we are working hard to empower local people and businesses to take steps to help lower carbon and make Islington greener and healthier.”

She said Islington was one of six London boroughs “most susceptible” to climate change, and as such, there was a “large potential impact” for residents.

Following Islington’s declaration of a climate emergency in 2019, the local authority said it had set “ambitious targets” to tackle climate change.

Climate Emergency UK’s assessment of the council was carried out between July 2024 and March 2025.

Top 10 local authorities in the Climate Scorecard:

• Islington Council
• Hammersmith and Fulham Council
• Merton Council
• Southwark Council
• Wandsworth Council
• Camden Council
• Lambeth Council
• Bristol City Council
• Lewisham Council
• City of Edinburgh Council

Source: Climate Emergency UK

Reacting to the rankings, Isaac Beevor, partnerships director of Climate Emergency UK, said the organisation was “pleased to see councils using scorecards to improve”.

However, he called on the government to make climate action a fully-funded legal duty.

Climate Emergency UK said that overall, UK councils’ net zero progress had been “slow”.

“The 2025 highest scores are mostly seen in London council where the [GLA] already has a legal duty to act on climate action,” it added.