Islington Council last night declared a climate emergency and pledged to work towards making the borough net zero carbon by 2030.

A motion was passed at the full council meeting at the town hall following the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in October stating the world has until then to avoid a devastating increase in global temperatures above 1.5C.

The council wants to make reducing carbon emissions central to decision making, publish an annual progress report and hold an environment committee meeting open to the public.

Environment chief Cllr Claudia Webbe said: "We have now taken the important step of pledging to work to achieve a net carbon zero Islington by 2030, an ambition that exceeds the national target of 2050 for a net carbon zero UK. This will build on our pioneering work, which has already brought big reductions in Islington's carbon emissions."

The council has been at the forefront of action to reduce carbon emissions and is on target to reduce them from 2005 levels by 40pc by next year.

It has also saved 8,600 tonnes of CO2 by insulating wall cavities, converted to LED streetlights to save another 28,280 tonnes and installed solar panels to make further savings. Its pension fund investments will be decarbonised by 2022.

The council-supported Islington Sustainable Energy Partnership has helped 40 organisations cut their carbon emission by over 25,200 tonnes, and Islington's new Local Plan includes tough new measures to further reduce the environmental impact of new development in the borough.

Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the passing of the motion. He said: "I congratulate Islington Council and welcome this historic motion. I am proud that as leader of the Labour Party and MP for Islington North I brought a motion before parliament that saw our parliament become the first to declare a climate emergency. Tonight I applaud Islington Council for declaring a climate emergency and setting an example for other communities to also act.

"We have no time to waste. The scale and severity of the climate emergency requires urgent action in every country and in every community.

"We are living in a climate crisis that will spiral dangerously out of control unless we take rapid and dramatic action now. This is no longer about a distant future; we are talking about nothing less than the irreversible destruction of the environment within the lifetimes of all of us living in this borough today."