Sustainability

The pandemic lockdown led to an unprecedented decline in emissions as many people stayed at home.

Now that the capital is busy and thriving again, there is an opportunity for London to drive a sustainable, positive and inclusive change by becoming a centre for excellence on climate change matters.

We want London to successfully transition to become a more sustainable and ultimately net-zero city, leading and driving best practice across the UK working with other cities.

In doing so, our work is focused on supporting businesses to commit to ambitious sustainability targets, safeguarding the capital against the adverse impacts of climate change and ensuring that London is a world-leader for green growth and jobs.

BusinessLDN is seizing the opportunity to build a more resilient, sustainable and low-carbon future by focusing on the following areas:

Current/Future workstreams

Net-Zero: Providing advocacy around ambitious net-zero science-based standards and identifying the right approach for businesses to meet their climate targets while supporting the capital’s 2030 net-zero ambition. To that end, we published our ‘Creating a Greener City’ report in partnership with WSP, on how London government and businesses can drive a successful net zero transition. We are currently considering next steps including a potential series of masterclasses across sectors to drive knowledge sharing and collaboration on decarbonisation actions across key sectors of the economy.
Offsetting: Investigating the mechanics of a business-led UK-wide Collective Offset fund and the associated benefits and challenges of such an endeavour both for London and the UK. Our ‘UK Collective Offsetting Fund’ report, in partnership with Arup, sets out a blueprint for creating a business-led UK Collective Offsetting Fund. The Fund would enable businesses to offset their residual emissions with confidence in UK offsetting schemes and for the UK to benefit from investment in climate action.
Energy transition: Looking at the interplay between the public and private sectors in driving a clean, just energy transition in London and exploring the role that local area energy plans and other mechanisms can play in providing a framework and evidence base to push forward the scale of investment required and set an example for other cities to follow. At the same time, we will be focusing on the evolving landscape of data centres, the strategic importance of data infrastructure in London’s economy and how best to drive sustainable practices in the sector.
Climate resilience: Supporting and working alongside the Independent Climate Resilience Review team and the GLA to ensure London is prepared for extreme weather scenarios such as prolonged heatwaves and flooding.

Ongoing workstreams

Retrofitting: We have looked into the necessary changes that are required in the current policy landscape and the most suitable funding mechanisms that will enable a wide and successful uptake of residential retrofits in London. Please see our 10-point action plan. We are currently investigating ways we could be contributing further to the conversation and our advocacy role with regional and central government.

BusinessLDN has a role in raising the ambition, driving collaboration between cross-sector business, facilitating knowledge sharing and supporting business in the transition to a truly net zero carbon and sustainable future.

The race to net zero should not be just viewed through an environmental lens, but an economic one too. Seizing the green growth opportunity in London will contribute to the capital’s decarbonisation and create jobs, while helping retain London’s status as a global business hub. The time for action and implementation is now.

The race to net zero should not be just viewed through an environmental lens, but an economic one too. Seizing the green growth opportunity in London will contribute to the capital’s decarbonisation and create jobs, while helping retain London’s status as a global business hub.

Matthew Fell, Director of Competitiveness

Sustainability is crucial for London’s future as it ensures the city remains resilient, adaptable, and liveable for generations to come. By prioritising green infrastructure, clean energy, and responsible consumption, we can reduce our environmental impact, enhance quality of life, and ensure that the city's growth aligns with sustainability goals.

Victoria Armstrong, Senior Policy Officer