Boris Johnson unveils vision for creating 'green' economy in London » Environment » 24dash.com

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has outlined his vision to create a 'green' economy to encourage the capital to become more energy efficient to help cash-strapped households cut energy bills and make London a more pleasant place to live.

In the Mayor’s first major speech on the environment since being elected, he set out his priorities on how London can cut carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2025 and make the city a 'greener', more civilised place to live and work.

Speaking at the Environment Agency’s annual conference, the Mayor stressed that London was ideally positioned to lead in turning today's environmental challenges into real economic opportunities.

He outlined how London's economy could benefit through thousands of new ‘green collar' jobs, by leading in the adoption of new energy technologies and by energy savings from energy efficiency measures in homes and businesses. He emphasised that London's global competitiveness would continue to turn on London being an attractive place to live and work.

The Mayor's strategy includes:

• Working with London's boroughs to ensure all Londoners have access to minimum hassle, zero upfront cost energy efficiency measures to reduce energy consumption in their homes - delivering on average £300 a year savings on energy bills.
• An unprecedented ramp-up in investment in decentralised energy eg: Combined Heat and Power plants, to deliver 25 per cent of London’s energy locally by 2025, thereby improving London's energy security.
• Catalysing the large-scale uptake of new technologies such as low-carbon outdoor lighting, LED traffic lights, and electric vehicles through the Mayor’s procurement and policy powers.
• Helping London’s businesses reduce their energy costs, in part through a major expansion of the existing Building Energy Efficiency Programme to all public sector buildings, which represent 25% of all commercial carbon emissions in London (currently being piloted on GLA family buildings).
• Ten new Low Carbon Zones in London which will concentrate energy efficiency programmes and new technology opportunities for residents and businesses.
• Extracting the huge economic value in London’s waste. If London’s waste could be converted to energy – rather than buried in landfill or burnt by incinerators - it would be worth several billion pounds.
• The newly created Waste and Recycling Board has up to £84 million (of which up to £24m is provided by the London Development Agency) to invest in new waste technologies. As Chair of the Board, the Mayor will work to leverage in additional funds equal to £100,000s
  A step-change in recycling – the Mayor will work with London’s boroughs to create positive incentives for recycling through the introduction of schemes such as Recycle Bank

Making London a better place to live:

• Improving green spaces – the Mayor launched a public vote today to decide which of London’s parks will benefit £4million worth of investment.
• 10,000 new street trees across London.
• Improving the public realm across London through the Mayor's Design Panel and Outer London Commission.
• Improving Londoners' overall quality of life through a wide range of measures, including driving the development of a New York style ‘101’ number with our partners including London’s boroughs, for Londoners to have a one-stop contact to find out about city services, and report non-emergency issues such as fly-tipping and graffiti.

The Mayor, said: "Protecting our environment is one of the key issues we face today. Londoners deserve to live in an attractive, green, clean city, and we have a duty to see that we improve Londoners' overall quality of life.

"Climate change is a major threat, not least to London. But it also creates new opportunities for us as a city. Volatile oil prices and an economic downturn are coming together to make action on climate change a potential boom industry.

"I want to unleash the potential to create a thriving eco-economy in London providing new ‘green collar’ jobs, skills and businesses. This is a rapidly-growing, multi-billion pound global industry and we can and must take advantage of it.

"It includes opportunities to save on our energy bills in difficult economic times, opportunities for new jobs in rolling out low-carbon technologies and programmes such as building installed with measures to make them more energy efficient.

"London’s competitiveness with other global cities turns on what London is like not just to do business, but to live, work and play. Making London a more attractive place makes common sense in lean economic times.

"Today I have outlined my priorities is to introduce programmes that will help London recycle more, save energy through cutting emissions and become a leafier, more pleasant place to live."

The Mayor will be publishing an overview of his environmental programmes, including targets and budgets, in early 2009.

Commenting on the Mayor's 'green economy' plans, Labour's environment spokesman, Murad Qureshi, said: "On the very same day Boris tries to re-invent himself as pro-green and pro-environment, the reality at City Hall is true blue. He has decimated the environmental department and slashed their budget.

"Boris' anti-climate change views are well known, he is a Johnny come lately to environmental matters. It wasn't so long ago he was siding with George W Bush on Kyoto and likening belief in climate change to a stone-age religion.

"His actions in office suggest he hasn't changed his mind - whatever he says to the Environment Agency today.

"It appears Boris can only see projects in terms of the cost on a balance sheet. He can see the cost of everything, but the value of nothing. How does he expect us to believe he has any real vision for London when he can only see as far as the next budget cut and until he wanted to get elected in London was a borderline climate change denier.

"Londoners will see through his cynical Damascene conversion."