The Climate Action, Environment and Highways Policy and Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to meet to discuss the council's work programme, its response to extreme weather, and its progress towards becoming a net zero city by 2040.

Net Zero 2040

The committee was scheduled to receive a report inviting feedback on the council's approach to influencing and enabling reductions in city-wide emissions and progress towards the net zero 2040 target.

The report noted that Westminster City Council declared a climate emergency in September 2019, committing to achieving net zero emissions by 2030 for the council and by 2040 for the wider city, ten years ahead of the UK national targets.

According to the report, citywide emissions have decreased by 17% between 2017 and 2022, with a large driver being the decarbonisation of the national electricity grid¹. The report stated that there is much work to do to ensure that Westminster meets its citywide target by 2040, and that progress towards the wider 2040 net zero goals will be predicated on national action, policy and regulatory mechanisms, but local activity is essential to plan for the transition, support, represent and influence businesses and residents across the city.

The report outlined the following topics:

• Emissions sources and the progress in tackling city-wide emissions relative to the 2040 target.
• The citywide net zero pathway to 2040, as informed by the outputs of Westminster's Local Area Energy Plan.
• Projects and activities led by the council that are contributing to city-wide emissions reductions, including:
  • Energy system decarbonisation planning and delivery
  • Place-based action, working with vulnerable communities
  • Harnessing council levers to support citywide action by others.

The report suggested the committee consider:

• other opportunities to leverage impactful action across the city to bring down city-wide emissions
• insights that could help the council strengthen its narrative to the public around environmental action
• how the council can better strengthen the co-benefits of delivering climate action to drive improvements in health, wellbeing and inequality across the city.

The report stated that the council was ranked in the top ten leading single-tier councils in the country for climate action in 2025.

The report also detailed the council's emerging programme on clean heat and heat networks, which aims to accelerate the development of strategic heat projects, with the potential of unlocking investment, reducing energy demand, delivering decarbonised energy solutions, addressing a key local source of local air pollution, and supporting greater local energy resilience for the city.

The report stated that the council is working with the GLA to support retrofit of energy-efficiency and clean heat systems in low-income privately-owned properties in Westminster over the three years to March 2028, through the Warm Homes Local Grant.

The report mentioned the Sustainable City Charter (SCC), a public climate action pledge for businesses with an 8-point sustainability commitment framework, established in 2022 by Westminster City Council and the Westminster Property Association.

The report also stated that a key opportunity to help reach the council's 2040 goals is the Carbon Offset Fund, which has collected over £15 million in developer contributions for carbon since 2012.

Extreme Weather Impacts

The committee was scheduled to receive a report on Westminster's ongoing management and response to extreme weather, particularly to flooding and extreme heat.

The report stated that as climate change drives increasingly severe and frequent weather events, the urgency for Westminster to adapt and strengthen its resilience continues to grow. The report covers the council's approach to proactive adaptation measures and building city-wide climate resilience to two key areas of weather-related risk: heat and flooding.

The report highlights the development and early implementation of the Cool Neighbourhoods Strategy, published in July 2025. The strategy is structured around three pillars (Cool Communities, Cool Buildings and Cool Places) and includes 18 actions designed to help residents, the built environment and the public realm adapt to rising temperatures.

The report also stated that Westminster City Council is designated as a Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) by the Flood & Water Management Act 2010², giving the council powers and responsibilities in relation to managing local flood risk (surface water, ordinary watercourses and groundwater).

The report outlined the LLFA's approach to these duties and progress made to date on the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS) 2024-2030. The strategy consists of 57 actions covering areas such as Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) delivery, community engagement, sustainable development and emergency preparedness.

The report suggested the committee consider:

• whether the overall approach to tackling flooding and heat addresses the key risks and priorities that matter most for Westminster's communities
• whether there are any areas of concern or opportunity that the council should consider accelerating or enhancing delivery of in the short and long term.

The report noted that in 2019, the council declared a climate emergency and set a clear ambition to become a net zero organisation by 2030 and a net zero city by 2040. In 2023, Westminster declared an ecological emergency, recognising the growing impact of climate change and urban development on the city's biodiversity and natural ecosystems.

The report stated that the Climate Risk & Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA) identified flooding and extreme heat as the two primary climate-related hazards facing Westminster.

The report stated that during summer 2022, the UK experienced five heatwave periods, including a record-breaking temperature of 40.2°C in Westminster's St. James's Park, which caused widespread disruption across London.

The report noted that the urban heat island effect is particularly pronounced in Westminster's most densely built areas, including Marylebone, Queen's Park and Church Street.

The report stated that the council identified and onboarded 25 registered Cool Spaces on the Mayor of London's Cool Spaces Map over the summer, the highest number of any London borough and a significant increase from one venue in 2024.

The report noted that due to the highly built-up nature of Westminster and its limited drainage capacity, surface water is the most likely cause of flooding in the area.

The report stated that WCC owns a large proportion of the existing embankment wall in Westminster, which is a key flood defence for the central London section.

The report also detailed the council's £3.7million SuDS delivery programme to manage the risk of surface water flooding across the city. SuDS are being constructed across public realm improvement schemes and to date have been incorporated in the following areas: Maida Hill Market, Queen's Park Canalside, Shepherd Market, Elgin Avenue and Westbourne Green Canalside.

The report stated that the council has developed its own SuDS Design Manual with typical design details and guidance on selecting, designing and constructing retrofit SuDS in Westminster's highly urbanised public realm.

The report noted that the council has secured £66,606 from the Department for Education to deliver the SuDS in Schools project. Five schools were selected based on high surface water flood risk to receive 21 SuDS planters in total.

The report detailed the Reducing Flooding Through Innovation Programme, which is looking at three new innovative ways to store large quantities of stormwater during extreme events:

• Identifying disused underground spaces in Westminster and investigating the feasibility to re-purpose these spaces to attenuate surface water during storm conditions. Examples of known disused underground spaces include the sunken area behind the fountain at Marble Arch, an old WW2 air-raid shelter in Golden Square, a disused nuclear bunker from the 1960's in Paddington Green as well as a number of disused pedestrian subways and underground toilets.
• Working with the Royal Parks to investigate the feasibility of installing a series of SuDS in Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens which would capture large amounts of surface water runoff from within the park and north of the park, cleaning it before discharging it into the Serpentine.
• Assessing its own Corporate Estate in order to capture rainwater from roofs and slow the flow to the combined sewer.

The report stated that the council successfully applied to the National Flood Forum's (NFF) Flood Action Group Programme and is now working with the NFF, who have established a new resident Flood Action Group (FlAG) in the Maida Vale area.

Work Programme

The committee was scheduled to review and approve the committee work programme for forthcoming meetings.

The report asked the Climate Action, Environment & Highways Policy and Scrutiny Committee to review its work programme and discuss any new topics for scrutiny.

The report noted that the committee is advised that the final remaining meeting date for the 2025/2026 municipal year is set for Thursday 29th January 2026.

The report stated that the committee met on Wednesday 7th May 2025 to discuss items for its work programme after the Cabinet Member Updates held in April 2025.

The report reminded the committee that its work programme is flexible to allow for any urgent issues that might arise.

The report stated that each committee has discretion to establish Task Groups and Single Member Studies to examine key issues in more detail.

The report noted that the recommendations, information requests and actions arising from each meeting are recorded in the Committee Tracker.

The report stated that since the previous meeting of the committee on the 25th September 2025, the committee has received the following:

• Updates from Cabinet Members' on their priorities within their respective portfolios
• A breakdown of average lifespans for the pipework in communal heating systems across Westminster (16.10.25)
• An update on speakers for November's Committee and invitation to visit Bring Energy's energy centre in Battersea, scheduled for December. (10.11.25)
• Papers for the Committee's Call-In of the Cabinet Member Decision Entitled: Cycleway 43 (Section B) Implementation, which was called-in by the relevant ward councillors and held on 14th October 2025.
• Relevant updates from the forward plan of issues relating to this Committee.

The report included the committee's terms of reference³.

Other items

The agenda also included the following items:

• To note any changes to membership.
• To receive declarations by members and officers of the existence and nature of any pecuniary or significant interests in matters on this agenda.
• To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on the 25th September 2025 and the Extraordinary Call-In meeting held on the 14th October 2025.