London's recovery starts with you

I wholeheartedly support this initiative, and think that shifting to clean transport, clean industry, clean home heating, clean food generation etc has to be our number one priority given the urgency of the climate crisis. Improving insulation, investing in making the city bike-friendly, supporting clean businesses, and protecting/expanding green space would make a huge difference to our bills, our respiratory health, and our children's futures. Of course, the critical thing is that we aim for a just transition so we take everybody with us, which means identifying those who will lose out economically from the death of high-carbon industries and actively helping them to gain the skills and roles to be a part of the new green economy

"During lockdown cycling was a dream" previous commenter

My word it was. Private vehicles have no place in Greater London. School buses should replace parents in 4x4s public transport already replaces execs in their mercs.

NO taxis or buses should exist without being fully electric.

ALL vehicles should be held to the highest envionmental standards.

How on earth can I drive into london in a large Ford transit spewing diesel, straight into the ULTRA low emmission zone, and not have any extra charge or restriction, but on a bike I have to suffer through being cut up, overtaken closely, have no infrastructure and be forced to be a fast cyclist, just to be safe.

Transport will change I understand the banning of cars I don't agree with streets being closed to cars all the time outside schools at times  yes but all the time no. I do not agree with the banning of taxis from the transport network they have never been so green as they are at present and are a noble trade provide a service for the elderly and disabled through certain schemes like taxi card. Also banning the and leaving them redundant in the city is not a good idea they are the safest form of public transport we have in this crazy world 

I would love to cycle to work and for my kids to cycle to school but I'm terrified of London drivers.  I don't have a car so cycling would enable me to get much further without needing public transport. 
I would also love to see a change to tackle all the traffic as a result of online sales/ecommerce - all the Hermes, DPD etc : develop a plan to work towards the last leg of deliveries being carried out either by bikes or by electric vehicles (or dropped in bulk at a central point like a sorting office).  I would pay more for a green delivery option to reduce local air pollution from delivery vans and private cars.  A network of distribution centres in a ring around the city with the last few miles done by bike.  Would create green jobs with a low entry bar and reduce car traffic.  
It could be done by piloting with a single delivery company or with Amazon in a particular area.  

Crack down on idling cars and vans! London is full of stationary vehicles with running engines. There is never so much as a polite sign on the street requesting that waiting cars turn off their engines, let alone any enforcement. Signage would be easy to introduce and would support those brave souls who address the drivers directly. Come on do something about this - it's easy and cheap. 

1. It is essential to officially declare the climate crisis a crisis and make sure the constituents of London realise how big of an issue it is. 
2. Make all vegetable produce plastic free (look at Morrison's) in superstores. 
3. Ban all single use plastics eg plastic forks, bags and replace them with plastic alternatives

4. Put in more good tasting vegan school meals, maybe support local communities to do this 

5. Maybe start some initiatives eg a bike riding initiative. For every 5 days you ride your bike to school you get a free school meal for one day.

6. Including in the education system information about the climate crisis and where it's heading and what each individual can do about it 

7. Working towards breaking the negative stigma attached to veganism

8. I saw someone earlier said home insulation - this is super important to consider esp for those in council issued placements / properties. Communities that may not be able to afford home improvements that could help the world be more green should be considered too.

9. I'm not sure whether we can make vegetables and such cheaper so people lean towards a more organic lifestyle than a processed one but if that can be done I think that will make communities so much more green without having to find loads of space to garden and such, especially when considering such urban environments.

10. Every school should have  a large successful vegetable allotment where students are taught horticulture and basic gardening lessons and how to grow vegetables in an urban setting eg indoors in containers 

Reduce traffic lanes in central London to just one lane in each direction. In the case of Park Lane, the "flagship" temporary cycle lane is a dog's dinner, and represents seriously incompetent urban planning. A temporary cycle lane could have been made along Park Lane without pouring several tons of concrete, without hundreds of metres of solid granite kerbstones, and without moving any bus stops: if the cycle lane had replaced the fast lane of the southbound carriageway.

Two-way traffic should be reinstated on East Carriage Drive - the current northbound carriageway - reversing the strategic error of the 1960s, and following other examples such as Tottenham Court Road, Baker Street, Gloucester Place, Portman Square, Piccadilly, Pall Mall, and St James's Street. East Carriage Drive could have a character similar to that of The Mall - a major tree-lined avenue, and link Trafalgar Square to Marble Arch via The Mall and Constitution Hill. TfL's East Carriage Drive is now close in character to Blackfriar's Road, and is entirely out of place alongside Hyde Park. Think how The Mall is so elegant alongside St James's Park. East Carriage Drive could be similar alongside Hyde Park.

The Mayor needs to recognise that TfL are not remotely competent to plan major urban realm along Park Lane. If necessary an international design competition should be organised to show how bad TfL's planning is.

Park Lane could become major pedestrianised urban realm with cycle lanes alongside, west-facing onto Hyde Park, and more than 1000 metres long. The opportunity is there and should be grasped, but not by TfL. Their incompetent and very expensive 'temporary' scheme disrespects both the landscape and the history of Park Lane. Two-way traffic existed on East Carriage Drive from at least 1799 until the 1960s. By reinforcing the strategic error of one-way carriageways, TfL have shown that they have no vision, where major vision is urgently needed.

Thanks for putting this together! London has huge potentials to become a much better city! I would focus primarily on getting cars out of parts of the city! 

1) Covent garden and Soho should be entirely car free! They annoy people who are packed against the pavement. If someone wants to take a taxi they could walk a few blocks! 

2) Make Piccadilly Circus carefree as well! 

3) Keep all current cpvid-19 car free streets. People love it and it adds so much to the charm of the city! 

4) Each year turn 1-2% of the streets over to parks and walking and away from cars! Many streets are rarely used by cars and would be much nicer as green spaces. 

5) Require all roofs to either be green, plants and wildflowers or covered by solar panels. 

6) Break up the unhealthy pattern of commuting. Make no party of the city more than 40% offices and allow people to work and live close by. 

7) Make London run 100% on renewable energy for all companies and homes. Make this a law. 

8) Keep adding biking lanes seperated.

9) Plant trees and let them grow to their full potential! 

10) Clean the themes and allow swimming there along the banks! 

Yes to all your proposals. I would emphasise two points:

Skills: London's further and higher education institutions are excellent and well-placed to provide effective learning environments to train up the green economy workforce we need. Setting up a Green Skills Board, a partnership between those institutions and the Mayoralty, with financial allocations (associated with 16-18, 18+ and adult skills budgets) will catalyst this learning future.

Mobility: Simply replacing all the motor vehicles on London's roads with zero carbon vehicles will be a lost opportunity. Most private cars sit around for the majority of their time. More and more goods are transported relatively small distances across the city. Seeing a transition to fewer private vehicles (shared ownership, car clubs etc giving access to private transport for those who can't afford capital costs of their own vehicles) will release acres of road space previouspy used for car storage for other uses (trees, parklets, bike storage, community space). Replacing 'white vans'  with cargo bikes will provide active, healthy jobs that will move swiftly across London, reducing powered vehicle demands. Creating mobility hubs, with car club, bike storage, delivery points etc, associated with public transport hubs will give Tfl a truly strategic role in mobility for Londoners. 

A green recovery is not just a recovery that will improve our impact on the environment, it will be better for all Londoners. Putting people at the heart of the green recovery will be vital for a transition supported by all Londoners.

There is far, FAR too much aviation traffic over London. 

It's disgusting that the mayor's office is making it so difficult and expensive for London's self employed who depend on their vehicle, but will allow low flying planes to give us the worst lung cancers and noise pollution just so some foreign businessmen have a slightly shorter journey. It's a disgrace. City airport serves 0.2% of Londoners. If they mayor cared at all about London's health and integrity it would at least halve the amount of air traffic. 

1. Homes insulation

Instead of having people buying more and more AC units in summer and heaters in winter we should encourage home (house or flat) owners to increase the insulation of their properties. Some options could be to ensure all properties have double glazing windows, shutters etc

2. Cycling: parking & safety

I would love to be able to cycle more but this currently comes with several challenges that I'd love to see addressed

-  parking: most of londoners do not have space parking options available. It seems ridiculous to me that I could more easily park a car than I can with my bike if I don't want it to be stolen (we already had several bikes stolen)

- roads safety: there are lots of big road to cross and no safe path for cyclists which is not very encouraging

3. More trees & green spaces

We should look at having more trees alongside roads everywhere in London

4 reduce noise & light pollution

Can we encourage companies to stop having their lights kept on at night?

5. Reduce air pollution

This is currently one of the main reason for me to consider leaving London and I haven't seen any improvements in the last years

I would like to cycle more but two things hold me back.

1. bike theft: I am in a block of flats and there is nowhere to store bikes. I bought my daughter and I bikes and they were stolen almost straight away from outside. There are certainly very few places to specifically Lock bikes in the city. It would be great if they were bike locking spots, particularly in our local High Street to support local stores

2. Safety: I simply don't feel safe enough. I used to cycle everywhere in London, But the roads are so crowded, especially now that people are avoiding public transport during the pandemic. There must be ways to get people back on public transport in a safe way

Bolster planning departments so they actually enforce planning restrictions - there is so much illegal building around us it's unbelievable but the council is "not in the business of making people tear stuff down" apparently.

If possible, amend planning rules so that its mandatory for all flat roofs to be green roofs & increase building regulation for residential & commercial development/refurbishment so they have to meet passive house standard.

reduce light pollution by banning illuminated signage on retail premises unless they are open.

reduce noise & light pollution by building in open air sections of the tube. Could provide parkland & cycle super highways on top without taking road capacity. Could also provide space for additional housing.

use the tube for freight. Could transport containers into the centre at night to be lifted onto lorries for the last mile. Reducing large trucks on road in suburbs etc during the day.

build higher barriers/fences down central reservations of main roads -A40, M25 etc. - to prevent dazzling at night & stop rubber necking. This will reduce congestion & therefore pollution & help reduce some of the £9Bn pa lost to congestion/delays.

Reduce light pollution & save energy by reducing the number of street lights on main roads (M25, A40 etc), keep them around junctions only & turn them off in side streets from say midnight to 6 am.

I would love to see community parks for people to be able to pick seasonal fruit & veg as they please implemented across all of the London Boroughs. Having something like this will not only give people a chance to see where produce can come from but connect people more with nature and the greater natural world around them. 

For me and many other young people, London's recovery being green is the main current priority. With such a short time before tipping points for climate change are reached, this is a rare time for London to focus on transforming into a sustainable city. Many aspects of quality of life which we have experienced during lockdown have improved in line with climate based recovery such as air quality and green spaces, therefore, by focusing on a green recovery this prioritises Londoners' quality of life as well.

Eco-friendly changes which have been trialed in London and elsewhere which could be useful to implement here could be pedestrianising busy streets, maintaining green spaces and banning single use takeaway boxes. Also further encouragements of a circular economy such as exchange of excess food ( such as the Too Good to Go app) and fashion in London supply chains could go a long way.

What could be useful as well is having a space to engage the public in green recovery across different ages- similarly to how the Science museum is often an inspiration for younger children and adults interest in Science investigations an interactive planet/ sustainability space could encourage public engagement with city-wide initiatives.

During lockdown cycling was a dream. During the last week traffic has got back to pre-lockdown levels. I feel that an opportunity has been lost already to make sustainable travel in our city more of a priority. The medium term plan to make transport more environmentally friendly will not harness the momentum of new cyclists/walkers/runners because of Covid. It needs to be a short-term aim. 

My concern is also wages. It's as simple as not having the ability to make the right lifestyle choices and be carbon conscious because we can only afford the cheaper option.

I can't save anything. Not a penny. I mean literally, the ends meet with about 30p of leeway consistently every month. I can stay alive but how I am I supposed to live? How am I supposed to save up for a Bike? How am I supposed to volunteer or retrain when I have no spare time or money?