On 23rd July 2025, just thirty minutes of heavy rain was enough to bring parts of Hastings to a standstill. Streets flooded, drains backed up, and local homes and businesses faced yet another round of disruption and damage. For residents in areas like Hollington, it was a stark reminder that the climate crisis is not a future threat. It is already here.
And this time, it is not just communities ringing the alarm bell. In a groundbreaking judgment, the International Criminal Court has ruled that governments which fail to act decisively on the climate crisis may now be considered to be acting wrongfully under international law. This includes granting licences for new fossil fuel extraction or continuing with business-as-usual emissions.
The ICC Confirms What Greens Have Long Said: Climate Inaction Violates Human Rights
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer MP welcomed the ruling, saying:
“The UK has a legal duty to speed up the transition towards a cleaner, greener economy and block any new licences for the extraction of fossil fuels. The court has recognised that rich countries like the UK, responsible for ongoing and historic pollution, have a special responsibility to act, and to offer compensation to communities already suffering from floods, droughts, and rising sea levels.”
This ruling confirms what Greens have said for years. The climate crisis is a human rights crisis. Inaction puts lives, health, homes and livelihoods at risk. And for wealthy, high-emission nations like the UK, failure to act is now a breach of responsibility, both moral and legal.
The UK’s Legacy and a Responsibility to Lead
The United Kingdom’s industrial legacy means it has one of the largest historical carbon footprints in the world. That legacy comes with a duty to lead, not to cut corners.
But in 2021, the UK government reduced its overseas aid budget from 0.7 percent of national income to 0.5 percent. In 2025, this was cut again to 0.3 percent. These decisions directly undermined the UK’s climate finance commitments to vulnerable countries and communities.
Schemes like the Africa Climate Change Fund — which delivered clean energy and early-warning flood systems — relied on international aid. Without consistent funding, many programmes face scaling back or cancellation, leaving communities less protected and more exposed to harm.
Why This Matters in Hastings
This is not just a global issue. The climate crisis is reshaping life here in Hastings.
Sea levels are rising. Rainfall is intensifying. Infrastructure is under strain. The flood on 23rd July was just the latest in a growing pattern. We are already seeing the cost of delay, and the impact is hitting working-class communities first.
This is why local leadership matters. And this is why Greens are making a difference.
What Hastings Greens Are Doing
Since taking leadership at Hastings Borough Council, Green councillors have made climate and nature a priority, after years of neglect.
✅ On local climate action, we have:
- Declared both a Nature and Climate Emergency
- Committed the borough to reach Net Zero
- Raised Hastings’ Climate Emergency UK Scorecard rating from 24 percent in 2023 to 32 percent in 2025
- Invested in tree planting, improving biodiversity in the borough
- Supported home retrofit and community energy schemes, helping to cut bills and carbon
- Pushed for sustainable transport and cleaner public vehicles, making it easier for people to move around without pollution
- Secured funding to appoint a dedicated climate officer inside the council
- Passed a Plastics-Free Hastings motion, reducing single-use plastics across council operations and public events
- Introduced higher building standards for new council housing, ensuring greater energy efficiency and climate resilience
- Supported Clean Water Action and coastal conservation, working with community groups including Plastic Free Hastings
- Pressed for retrofitting to be included in the East Sussex County Council Housing Strategy, while advocating for a joined-up green jobs plan
- Brought forward and passed the Climate and Nature Motion in November 2024, which committed the council to:
- Publicly support the national Climate and Nature Bill
- Inform local residents and media of the council’s backing
- Write to campaign groups and MPs urging national support
- Take responsibility for reversing biodiversity decline and embed nature protection in all decisions
- Create a cross-party working group to identify priorities, strengthen officer capacity and develop a climate adaptation plan for the town
- Work with local partners to fund a climate assembly or town-wide forum involving residents, schools, health services, businesses and community groups
The motion was rooted in local reality. February 2024 brought the heaviest rainfall in over a century, with repeated flooding and landslips across the borough. The council acknowledged that Hastings cannot afford to delay action any longer — and that climate and nature must be tackled together.
Climate Targets and the Truth
We are often asked if Hastings will reach Net Zero by 2030.
The honest answer is no. Not because the goal is wrong, but because the time was wasted before the Greens took office. There was no meaningful strategy in place. Five years is not long enough to reverse decades of inaction.
What we can do, and are doing, is put the right foundations in place. That means building local expertise, committing to community-wide adaptation, and acting with urgency and transparency.
From Flooded Streets to the International Stage
The flooding on 23rd July showed what happens when the climate crisis is ignored. The ICC ruling shows what happens when the world stops accepting excuses.
This is a moment of reckoning.
The future of our town — and our role in a fairer, more sustainable world — depends on what we do now.
Be Part of the Solution
Hastings Green Party believes in climate justice. We believe action must match the scale of the crisis. We believe in truth, in transparency, and in taking responsibility — locally and globally.
We believe that Hastings can lead.
But we cannot do it without you.
You can join the Green Party. You can support climate action in your ward. You can vote for candidates who prioritise people and the planet. And you can demand that national government funds local action, not undermines it.
You can do all this from as little as £6 a year.