Sadiq Khan today announced the latest addition to his top City Hall team by welcoming Shirley Rodrigues as the new deputy mayor for environment and energy.
Shirley is currently Acting Executive Director for Climate Change at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), an independent philanthropic organisation that works to transform the lives of poor and vulnerable children in developing countries, where she oversees a £155million global strategy and portfolio.
Shirley has an impressive track record of developing and implementing new environmental policies in London. She is no stranger to City Hall, having worked in senior environmental policy roles from 2005 to 2009, helping to implement the London Low Emission Zone and programmes to retrofit London’s residential and commercial buildings.
She helped establish CIFF's cities and climate strategy and represents CIFF on the board of the C40 Large Cities Leadership Group – a network of global cities committed to addressing climate change.
With around 9,500 Londoners dying from long-term exposure to air pollution every year, cleaning up London’s toxic air is one of the biggest health emergencies facing London. Shirley will use her wealth of environmental expertise to drive forward the Mayor’s hard-hitting plans for tackling air pollution across the capital including expanding the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), new charges for the oldest most polluting vehicles and creating Low Emission Bus Zones.
Shirley will also oversee the delivery of Energy for Londoners - helping Londoners generate more low-carbon electricity and will help boost London’s recycling rates and cut landfill.
Sadiq Khan said: “Shirley Rodrigues brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience and is the perfect person to deliver my agenda to make London a cleaner and greener city.
“Shirley will drive forward the urgent action needed to ensure Londoners no longer have to fear the air we breathe and will address the failure to tackle the problem by the previous Mayor and Government.
“I am sure she will be a fantastic addition to my top team, taking on a crucial portfolio that has become an issue of life and death.”
Shirley Rodrigues said: “I am delighted to be working with Sadiq on his ambitious plans to make London one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the world.
“Sadiq has already proposed a radical and wide-ranging approach to clean up London’s dirty air and I feel privileged to be able to lead on this vital piece of work that will boost the quality of life and health for millions of Londoners.”
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Notes to editors
1, To request an image of Shirley Rodrigues please email [email protected]
2. Sadiq Khan has just finished an initial consultation on a package of measures to tackle London’s dirty air.
Proposals include:
-Implementing a £10 Emissions Surcharge (dubbed the ‘T-charge’) on the most polluting vehicles entering central London from 2017. The charge would apply to all vehicles with pre-Euro 4 emission standards (broadly speaking those registered before 2005) and will cost an extra £10 per day on top of the existing Congestion Charge.
-Introducing the central London Ultra-Low Emission Zone one year earlier in 2019.
-Extending the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (‘ULEZ’) beyond central London from 2020: for motorcycles, cars and vans, to the North and South Circular; and for lorries, buses and coaches London-wide.
-Developing a detailed proposal for a national diesel scrappage scheme for Government to implement.
-Bringing forward the requirement for all double–deck buses to be ULEZ-compliant in central London from 2020 to 2019.
-Implementing Low Emission Bus Zones– tackling the worst pollution hotspots by delivering cleaner buses on the dirtiest routes.
3, The first stage of the Mayor’s consultation closed at the start of July and results will be published in September. Two further stages of the consultation will focus on more detailed assessment around the £10 Emissions Surcharge (‘T-Charge’) and the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). The next stage is due in the autumn.