Climate change driving a greener London

Across 130 strategic planning applications approved by the Mayor of London last year, new residential and commercial developments promise to avoid 39,000 additional tonnes of CO2 compared to the applications received during the previous year.

The data suggests estimated CO2 from proposed new developments were down by more than a third in 2018.The level of CO2 reductions from new developments is five per cent greater than from those approved in 2017, and far exceeds the requirements for the far less-stringent national building regulations. In a consultation paper launched last summer, the Johnson Government had beenproposing removing the right of any part of local government to set any energy standards that differ from national building regulations.

In the residential sector, the London report shows commitments to greater energy efficiency and investments in green building technologies helped drive a near 39 per cent year-on-year carbon reduction from major new developments in 2018, while non-residential developments saw a more than 35 per cent reduction.

Taken together, the savings equate to an overall 36.9 per cent reduction in CO2 compared to planning applications in 2017, thereby outperforming the 35 per cent target set out in the Mayor's own building regulations for London.

Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a ‘climate emergency’ across the capital back in December 2018, setting a target for the entire city to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.