Bexley Council is to face calls to join other authorities in declaring a “climate emergency”.

Dozens of councils have now declared a “climate emergency”, including nearby Greenwich and Lewisham, however no steps have been taken in Bromley.

A motion put forward by opposition councillors this week will pressure Bexley Council to pledge to  become carbon neutral by 2030.

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Labour councillors have proposed to make the council free from single use plastic by next year, to create a strategy to focus on climate change and to have a cabinet member and a senior officer hold a role in dealing with climate change.

The motion reads: “The London Borough of Bexley notes the impacts of climate breakdown are already causing serious damage around the world” and “that all governments (national, regional and local) have a duty to act, and local governments that recognise this should not wait for their national governments to change their policies”.

The Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has previously called on councils to cut carbon, whilst Theresa May has already committed to net zero UK carbon emissions by 2050.

If approved by councillors at a meeting on Wednesday, July 17, Bexley will become the fifteenth London borough to adopt a “climate emergency” mantra.

Last year, Bristol city council became the first local authority to declare a climate emergency.

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It comes as Extinction Rebellion campaigners embark on a fresh round of protests across the country.

The group, which is calling on the government to declare a climate emergency, said it was beginning a five-day “summer uprising”.

Locally in south east London, Extinction Rebellion has been campaigning against the controversial Silvertown Tunnel, which will link Greenwich to Silvertown.