London must “accelerate action on climate and nature emergencies”, according to its deputy mayor.
Shirley Rodrigues, London’s deputy mayor for environment and energy, says that although the capital’s environment strategy is making the city healthier, a number of challenges continue to persist.
In a blog posted on the Green Alliance website, Rodrigues said the environmental challenges facing the UK’s capital are “greater than first thought”.
She said: “We know we need to accelerate action on the climate and nature emergencies. We’ve had setbacks, not least a global pandemic and national political uncertainty.
“There are also areas where we would like to do more, but where we do not have sufficient powers to do so; for instance, retrofitting more homes for energy efficiency or cleaning up London’s rivers.”
While there are still challenges, Rodrigues also pointed to progress that has been made in the capital on the eco front.
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For example, she highlighted London boasting the “world’s largest clean air zone of its kind, with 95 per cent of vehicles driving into the city being ultra low emission zone compliant, up from 37 per cent eight years ago”.
Rodrigues also pointed to the capital’s transport being “cleaner’, saying that there are now “well over a thousand zero emissions buses on the city’s streets, alongside a third of the UK’s electric charging points”.
Furthermore, she said London’s cycle network is four times larger than in 2016.
Earlier this month, Transport for London (TfL) published a new green infrastructure and biodiversity plan as part of Sadiq Khan’s ambition to make the city carbon-neutral by 2030.
