Newham Council is reviewing the progress of its Just Transition Plan, a borough-wide strategy designed to tackle climate change, economic pressures, and social inequalities. The plan, approved in December 2023, is structured around three core principles: increasing equity, reducing emissions, and building long-term resilience. Community engagement is at the heart of the Just Transition Plan, which was developed through extensive consultation with residents, businesses, faith groups, and the voluntary sector.
The council meeting on Monday, December 8th, 2025, included a report from Councillor John Whitworth, Cabinet Member for Air Quality, Climate Emergency and Environment, outlining the two-year impact of the plan. The report highlighted key initiatives and identified areas for continued investment.
The Just Transition Plan focuses on several key areas:
- Improving homes, workplaces and schools through retrofit programmes.
- Developing a resilient and equitable energy system.
- Promoting sustainable transport.
- Building a circular economy to reduce waste.
- Creating healthy food systems.
- Developing green, connected neighbourhoods.
According to the Two Year Impact from the Just Transition Programme report, key initiatives making an impact include the Warm Homes Programme, community-owned energy projects, pocket forests, and sustainable transport schemes. The Warm Homes Programme has upgraded 359 social homes through retrofit, insulation, and solar panel installations. These upgrades aim to create more energy-efficient homes for residents.
Councillor Blossom Young, Cabinet Lead for Council Housing Improvement, welcomed the report, emphasizing the importance of equity and resilience. She highlighted the impact on housing, noting that the Warm Homes Programme has upgraded 359 social homes through retrofit, insulation, and solar panels. She also mentioned the use of environmental sensors in homes to detect issues like damp and mould early on.
The report also identifies the need for continued investment in innovative finance models, data systems, and cross-sector partnerships. To secure this investment, the council is exploring innovative finance models such as public-private partnerships and flexible funding cycles. The council is also looking at bankable climate adaptation solutions via a 4-year EU project. The council is also modernizing its data infrastructure to improve data handling systems to track the progress of the Just Transition Plan and ensure accountability. This will support better decision-making in key climate areas and enable greater investment moving forward. The report mentions a need for reliable, centralized data across energy, social housing, and corporate buildings.
Councillor Whitworth stressed the importance of maintaining the resolve of all sections of society, from central government and industry to local authorities and individuals, to take the necessary measures to adapt to climate change.
To ensure residents and businesses participate and support the Just Transition Plan, the council is building on existing community infrastructure by collaborating with local assets, including community libraries, youth zones, schools, councils for voluntary services and community organising groups. They are also amplifying existing engagement work while embedding climate-related projects for residents, including reusable textile workshops, community-led roundtables and just transition workshops. The council is activating civic engagement at a hyper-local level, such as the Heat and Energy Forum in North Woolwich, and supporting community projects through the People Powered Places scheme.
Councillor Nate Higgins, Green Group Leader, acknowledged the right ambitions of the plan but expressed concerns that delivery isn't matching the scale or urgency of the climate emergency. He noted that only 359 out of 17,000 homes have been retrofitted and called for bolder targets and genuine investment in large-scale retrofit and adaptation. He also criticised the lack of mention of London City Airport in the report, calling it the single most climate-damaging site in our borough.
Details of the sustainable transport schemes include:
- Expanding Healthy School Streets from 38 to 50 schools.
- Introducing 20mph zones borough-wide.
- Increasing EV charge points from 140 to 1,260.
- Starting a Newham car club.
- Investing in modal shift by improving cycling infrastructure.
- Transitioning the council fleet to electric vehicles.
- Launching a sustainable transport strategy.
- Running weekend walking and cycling programmes.
- Delivering safer walking and cycling routes on Royal Docks Corridor, Romford Road, Leyton Road, Westfield Avenue and Woolwich Manor Way.
- Distributing grants for cargo bikes for businesses as part of the Zero Emission Network (ZEN) project.
Despite the challenges, Councillor Whitworth affirmed the council's commitment to combating climate change and setting an example for other authorities. He emphasized that the climate action work, as outlined in the Just Transition Plan, should provide tangible benefits to residents and help them prepare to thrive in an uncertain future environment.
