Southwark Council decarbonisation work will save estimated equivalent of flying around the world 340 times

That is the same amount of carbon emissions as flying 340 times around the word in a standard jet plane and would take around 1,241 acres of forest to offset.

Carbon emissions damage the environment by trapping heat in the atmosphere, warming the planet and changing global climate systems.

Heat pumps, solar panels, better insulation and new windows are just some of the ways the buildings are being made greener to reduce carbon emissions.

Cllr Eloise Waldon-Day, Executive Member for Climate and Council Co-ordination, said:

“Climate change is a real and present threat, and we’ve already experienced the impact this summer with the heat waves that have left London sweltering.

“Now is the time to act and at Southwark we are willing to put our money where our mouth is by investing in significant works that will make our biggest carbon-producing buildings greener and environmentally friendly.

“For example, our leisure centres need lots of energy to heat the pools and cool the gyms, but the older equipment runs on fossil fuels, which produce large amounts of carbon.

“By installing the more environmentally friendly heat pumps at Surrey Docks, Peckham Pulse, The Castle and Camberwell, plus a few other energy saving measures like solar panels or better insultation, we can save around 928.5 tonnes of carbon – the same 360 homes use in one year.”

Around £15.6m is being invested in the leisure centre work, which will start this summer. This investment will also deliver long-term savings, reducing the council's energy bills significantly.

Whilst we are working to ensure the upgrades will cause little disruption to centre users, we will be keeping members up-to-date of any impacts.

Further work is ongoing in some of our libraries, including installation of new air cooling systems at Dulwich library and Brandon library and youth centre as part of current refurbishment works, to be completed in autumn 2026; and scoping for an air-cooling system at Camberwell library currently underway with expected installation in early 2027. 

Find more from Southwark Council here.