A petition signed by more than 12,000 people calling on Wandsworth Council to declare a climate emergency will have its opportunity to shine.

The petitioners are asking the council to recognise what they believe is the "serious impact climate change will have on the local, national and international communities," and to develop a specific plan of action to make Wandsworth carbon neutral by 2030.

Children, residents and scientists marched into the council building on Tuesday to present the petition in person.

“The scale of this emergency is clear,” said Glyn Goodwin, one of the organisers.

“We want to work with Wandsworth Council to do their bit to start reducing carbon emissions.

"In an emergency, we must come together to act for the greater good – climate change is not just something that will happen to other people, we here in Wandsworth will suffer too if nothing is done to tackle it.”

The Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly, Westminster Parliament, Bristol, Manchester and London, along with other local authorities have already declared climate emergencies and pledged to reduce carbon emissions in line with recent recommendations from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Many signatories to this petition are under 18, something that has been allowed by the council petition office in this instance as future generations are likely to be affected by climate change.

“We need to take drastic action to prevent this emergency,” said Sandra Brady, a volunteer who helped collect the signatures.

“But there is huge support for this in Wandsworth.

"I had parents at a local primary school queuing to sign their names and thanking me for doing this. They want Wandsworth to help ensure their children and grandchildren don’t suffer because of our inaction now.”

The threshold for ensuring a petition would be discussed by a full meeting of the council is 10,000.

A council spokesman confirmed this target was met.

“We have received this petition and because it has been signed by this number of people it will be debated at full council meeting,” the spokesman said.

Organisers of the petition said it was a high target to meet, but one which was exceeded "due to the dedication of the volunteer team and recognition by the public of the need of the seriousness of the issue."

Simon Hogg, Wandsworth Labour leader thanked everyone who signed the petition. 

"Real politics comes from the ground up," he said.

“It was an important moment when Labour’s Climate Emergency motion recently passed in Parliament.

“I look forward to working with all Wandsworth councillors to agree an ambitious plan on this crucial issue.”