Climate Emergency Action Plan
The Plan was adopted in 2019/2020 to run through to 2030 in line with the commitment to reach net zero for council operations and estate by 2030.
Hounslow’s Climate Emergency Action Plan (CEAP) 4th Annual update realigned Hounslow’s activity and delivery across three key areas:
- Council operations: Decarbonisation of Council operations to achieve net zero by 2030
- Wider borough: Influencing a reduction in wider borough emissions by 2050
- Making the borough resilient to the impact of climate change
The ten year is currently undergoing its halfway point review which will result in a Climate Emergency Action Plan 2026-2030 due to be published November 2025 cabinet.
The Council has set a target to make all its estate and operations; including fleet - net zero by 2030.
Corporate buildings are defined as those the council both owns and manages directly. These are places where we deliver services ourselves and have full control over how energy is used.
The Council is currently undertaking net zero carbon surveys to inform the specific interventions which need to be implemented alongside building use optimisation.
Our Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP) sets out how an area can reduce carbon emissions and transition to a low-carbon, net zero energy system. It provides an understanding of the nature, scale, rate, and timings of changes needed for the transition to a net zero energy system.
The Greater London Authority commissioned the delivery of a Phase 1 LAEP for the West London sub-region. Completed in 2023, this strategic plan provided an overview of the existing energy systems across the nine West London boroughs and Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC). It identified priority areas for action to help the region reach its net zero carbon targets.
Building on this regional evidence base, the London Borough of Hounslow developed its own detailed, borough-level Phase 2 LAEP. Finalised in Summer 2025, the plan outlines a clear pathway to transition to a net zero energy system in Hounslow. It identifies key interventions and timelines, prioritises areas for action, and aims to ensure a fair and inclusive transition, supporting both residents and local businesses.
District Heat Network
District Heating Networks (DHN) are a low-carbon method of supplying heat to homes and businesses throughout the borough. Excess heat energy that is extracted from renewable sources such as the ground or a water body, or from industrial processes such as manufacturing, is supplied to residential homes and businesses through a network of pipes.
Following feasibility study in 2023, detailed proposals for the initial phase of a district heat network was developed, which was approved by cabinet in February 2025. The Phase 1 of the network will take heat from Thames Water Mogden sewage treatment works to supply low-carbon heating to buildings in Isleworth and Brentford. The subsequent phases will expand this to supply heating to Hounslow and Feltham, with potential to extend to Hounslow.
The heat network proposal will make important contribution to wider borough net zero targets, delivering low-carbon heating at lower overall cost, while also improving local air quality and mitigating grid constraints.
Further detail can be found in the Hounslow Heat Network project cabinet report.
You can access the mapping the potential of a new heat network in Hounslow feasibility study undertaken by AECOM for more information.
Net Zero Neighbourhoods
Net Zero Neighbourhoods is an approach to improving energy efficiency in domestic properties, and decarbonising or reducing emissions from domestic energy, by adapting homes through retrofit and delivering wider neighbourhood improvements to support more sustainable lifestyle choices.
In 2023, Hounslow Cabinet approved the development of a feasibility study to explore this approach, to determine whether this can be a viable way for the borough to influence emissions reduction across homes in the borough and support residents with adapting their homes for the future, whilst also creating more comfortable living environment and greener better-connected neighbourhoods.
Adapting homes at the scale and pace required, can be prohibitively expensive for the Council and its residents, and this approach looks at a new way of funding the delivery of these improvements, by attracting private investment whilst ensuring residents’ priorities for their neighbourhoods and homes are captured from the early stages of development.
You can access the cabinet paper with further detail on the feasibility study.
To find out more, and get in touch with us, you can visit the Net-Zero Neighbourhoods page.
The London Borough of Hounslow is developing a Climate Change Resilience Plan (CCRP) to assess the risks of climate change on the Council’s services, assets and people in the borough. The CCRP will consolidate existing plans to build on work already underway in the borough and identify any gaps to deliver new actions. The CCRP will also seek to reduce climate vulnerabilities in the borough, geo-spatially and identify groups adversely sensitive to the climate impacts.
