Viewpoint: Alarmed by insights in RBWM climate scorecards

Alarming insights from climate scorecards

We are entering an important six-month period as the RBWM Environment and Climate Strategy 2026-30 is developed ready for approval in March.

If the borough is to achieve its net zero objectives an ambitious action plan is required.

The 2021 Climate Emergency UK (CEUK) analysis of the borough’s current action plan and ranking against those of the other 185 unitary authorities in the UK, has the RBWM plan in 84th place with a below average score of 48 per cent.

In CEUK’s 2023 climate action scorecard, despite being one of the three best resourced unitary authorities in the UK for climate action, RBWM languished in 82nd place, behind Reading (35th) and West Berkshire (57th). Both had less resource.

In June, CEUK’s 2025 climate action scorecard was published.

No doubt much will be made of RBWM’s eight percentage point increase in score, and 17 place rise in the rankings to 65th place.

However, as always, the devil is in the detail. The borough is now one of the nine best resourced authorities in the UK for climate action but ranks 7th of 9, with just 1 percentage point separating it from Bracknell Forest in 8th and Solihull in 9th place.

Of six local unitary authorities, both Wokingham (38th) and Reading (46th) performed better than RBWM in the 2025 scorecard, and just one percentage point and five places separate RBWM, West Berkshire and Bracknell Forest.

Only Bracknell Forest are as well resourced.

Based upon the 2025 results, Wokingham and Bracknell Forest are the authorities to watch when the next scorecard is published in 2027, not RBWM.

The CEUK scorecards clearly demonstrate that the borough has been badly underperforming both locally and nationally in its efforts to address the climate emergency, despite being one of the best resourced authorities in the UK for climate action.

The RBWM Climate Emergency Coalition have submitted detailed recommendations for an ambitious climate action plan 2026-30.

Only if the borough has the courage to adopt such a plan, and it is then well and fully implemented, will we see the climate action performance that the borough deserves.

If the next action plan isn’t good enough, we will likely have to wait until March 2031 for an opportunity to rectify it.

PAUL HINTON

Windsor

Risks remain despite better aircraft safety

Oh dear, I seem to have ruffled James Aiden’s feathers with my letter (Viewpoint, August 22) regarding the expansion of Heathrow.

I would like to point out that I am intelligent enough to know that the aircraft represented on the Flight Radar app are not to scale, the point I was making was, that there are already a lot of aircraft in a crowded airspace and cramming in another 756 flights a day was plain dumb.

I am not against aviation; I’m a great advocate for it.

I learned to fly when I was 18, my youngest son is a pilot, he flies short and medium private charters and medevac flights, but it will never make him a millionaire. He does it because, like a lot of pilots, he loves to fly.

The wage for a first officer across the airlines is between £27,000 and £38,000, well within the range of a good plumber.

Indeed, aircraft today are far advanced over their predecessors, but systems can still fail, parts fail, maintenance is missed, instruments are misread, ATC instructions misheard, and no matter how idiot proof you make something someone will always make a better idiot.

On another angle, Pakistan International Airlines have only just been allowed to fly back into the UK after a five-year ban because of their horrendous safety record and, after a crash on the outskirts of Karachi, it was discovered that many pilots had fake licences.

I wonder how many more are out there.

If you think there is no chance of a crash around Heathrow, you are extremely naïve. The more planes you put in an already crowded airspace the more chance you have of two coming together, regardless of how good ATC is.

I don’t recall being concerned about ULEZ or net zero, I was merely illustrating the complete lunacy of having an allegedly ultra-low emission zone with two airports within it. As far as I am concerned the ULEZ and net zero are just a big scam foisted on the British public.

Regarding my letter being an excuse to have a bash at Labour politicians and giving everyone a good laugh, I think you’ll find that the whole country is having a pop at Labour politicians because every day we turn on the news they give us all a good laugh.

KEITH CHAPMAN

Cornwall Close

Maidenhead

Call in Miss Marple to tackle Cotswolds crime

What is it about the Cotswolds that attracts so many female crime writers to place their deadly deeds in such a pleasant area? circles as Are they trying to compete with Midsomer Murders for quantity and location?

Such behaviour would not be tolerated by the lady known in police circles as ‘the white-haired cobra’ of St Mary Mead.

Yes, the one and only Miss Jane Marple.

She, her locality and afternoon tea set simply would not allow such activities in their neck of the woods. Certainly not!

Oh! Yes please, just one sugar, thank you.

T D Smith

Village Road

Dorney