London's recovery starts with you

The worst polluters where we live are the wood burning stoves. It is so bad that my daughter, who has asthma, cannot go into the garden many winter evenings. Walking down the road the smell of wood fires is very strong. 

I am happy for the low emission zone and with the green idea too, but what will be with the diesel monster what run on the Thames river?

After 2021 the goverment will expand the low emission zone until north circular. So if everything will work as the goverment imagines. The city airport area would be the most polluting area. Any future plan with that?

Also, I live in newham borough and  I know few place around me where they dump the rubbish. This should eliminate too. There are alredy at least 2 years.

I personally believe this green new deal's aims are what we really need. I hope those targets are ambitious enough and Lpndon has the power to reduce car ownership and force efficiency standards when retrofitting offices. Living in a residential area and commuting to an old building converted to an office,  I see far too many single occupancy cars in zone 2 and zone 1, and ghe office air con struggles on hot days... the buildings insulation is probably poor from what I can tell.

I agree with this, I didn't realise how pollution affected me until lockdown, and if anyone noticed how more virulent the trees plants were, my headaches became non existent and my breathing was so much better, and yes I was going out to work during this time.

I live in council property, flats and we do have recycling bins around, but was so angry during lockdown as to all the amazon boxes just being placed in the general waste bins, just because the residents were too lazy to walk a few more yards to the recycling bins, it is hard to police recycling in large blocks. I also feel disavantaged as I cannot have solar panels to help reduce my electric bills, this is something the local councils need to think about, especially as the government is encouraging people to buy electric cars, and also some of the more disadvantaged  people live in local accommodation it would help them with lowering their bills, what is surplus the council could sell back to the electric industry. I personally appreciated  lockdown the quietness, clean air, no noisy drunks or kids hanging around, even the shoplifting in our store dropped. Just saying.

THe UK has the oldest housing stock in Europe, with over 4 million Victorian and Edwardian properties. These properties do not respond to modern retrofitted insulation very well as for example lining traditional brickwork with PIR insulation; gypsum plaster or using gypsum plasterboard, which contributes to brickwork holding moisture.  If you add to that cement based pointing, then the moisture contributes to the spalling of bricks, the rotting of the ends of joists and rafters which rest on the brickwork and adds to both damp and mould throughout the property as the cement pointing cannot "wick" away excess moisture.  .Builders are completely unaware of the consequences and damage they are causing, so we need people who are educated, knowledgeable  and specifically trained in how period properties function.  Lime based pointing; lime plaster,wool or wood fibre insulation or hemp insulation, breathable membranes  are the direction we need to be going in. Leaving air dried wooden window frames in place, rather than replace them with kiln dried wooden double glazed units with a ROI of 40 plus years or even worse UVPC ones which will add to the issue of moisture. draught-proofing the original windows, installing secondary glazing, or using solid wooden shutters to reduce draughts is more thermally efficient AND cost effective (and therefore cheaper to heat)  Moreover, I am told, but do not understand the processes; that properly functioning traditional brickwork  can reduce CO2 emissions, that definitely requires more research, because that could be a unique answer to London's pollution problems.  We need leadership on this issue on a London wide basis, setting standards of materials and workmanship for Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian properties and whilstt the Grenfell inquiry is continuing, we must be reminded that standards of materials will need to be independently tested and approved. Use what we have wisely.

Great goal. As part of this, why dont we aim to take all our schools in London to zero carbon by 2030? Retrofitting the schools would create the badly needed local jobs, while also saving schools money (on fuel bills - the second largest item of school budgets), reducing carbon and showcasing what can be done. School children and staff could get behind the goal in other ways eg: from walking to school to reducing meat in school meals and this would respond to the concerns of young people. 

Need massive investment in re-training people for new green jobs as  some of the old economy employers, e g retail, hospitality, will not recover post-Covid.

This is a fantastic mission and I am delighted to read it.

I have been troubled by the governments recent housing white paper that does not require developers to be carbon neutral before 2050. I am hoping this can be reviewed (pressure from the opposition?).

With so much of new building being done by private developers, legislation needs to be passed to ensure they are not only not adding to emissions/ pollution but also redressing the balance by having more green areas as part of their build, fitting in with a wider national plan to allow for pollinator and wildlife corridors.

As many commenters have noted, littering is a real problem in local parks and we need national and local schemes that educate/ re-educate communities on the importance of valuing green spaces and wild life. 
Finally, it would be great if local community groups can have a chance to tend council gardens/ green patches which councils often keep barren and which could be better used as wildflower meadows or gardens for locals to use.

Subsidies available for those on a low income to properly insulate all existing properties. Any spare space that is not suitable for redevelopment to become community gardens/allotments. Cookery training readily available to avoid food waste and encourage healthy eating. 

The government should increase funding for the purchase of electric vehicles. I am being forced out of my PCP deal due to emissions on a 6 year old vehicle, but the price of an electric vehicle remains inaccessible to the average Londoner. Can they not do a deal with electric vehicle manufacturers for city dwellers?

The mission statement, like all such things, is great - but it's being implemented without considering 'the law of unintended consequences', which is actually making things worse.

For example, the use of emergency Covid-19 powers to avoid statutory public consultation to close roads all over Chiswick, West London is causing chaos: the need to travel much further and the increased traffic congestion means pollution is going up, not down. The imposition of an unsafe cycle superhighway along Chiswick High Road (against the majority of local residents who objected to the scheme) will make matters far, far worse.

 Improve household recycling in London but having a separate collection for cardboard (not in green bags - it gets wet and dirty). Obligation   for businesses to have food waste bins.

 Subsidy if you buy or rent a property with energy rating A+ and/or solar panels

 Clean ponds in parks (especially in Clissold Park!)

 More plants and flowers. 

 Punish littering by heavy fines.

 Ban BBQs from parks once and for all & music. I'd rather read my book with no music in the background and smell of sausages...  

We can make London greener, but first education is needed from the council that littering is unacceptable. Due to covid people go to the parks instead of pubs. That's great. But over the 3 months the litter left on primrose hill, hampstead heath has increased drastically in 28 years I heard from a park ranger. Its a shame and it makes the experience of visiting nature a shame. Its not only teenagers. Its parents too. I think there need to be more respect and visability to the ones cleaning our junk, so there is insight what our contribution or distruction is. Educate people when making more parks to get filled with rubish this can be done by advertisements and create jobs to avoid litter instead of picking up litter..

Increase the tax on petrol.  I know politicians are scared to do that because of the impact on the economy and the power of the road lobby.  And I know it's a national tax, not the responsibility of the mayor.  But it's the way to go if you really want to make a significant change.

We need a holistic strategy for London where the Green Deal money is combined with creating jobs in the city and reducing homelessness. So if we want more moss walls which clear pollution from the air, as found in Tower Hamlets, they should be made in the city where the manufacturing process can support local jobs. Tree planting in areas which are less affluent should be done by employing people in those areas. Solar panels and wind turbines should be made in or near the city. Wales produces the best steel for wind turbines in the world, it should not be imported from China. We need a holistic approach to regeneration of the economy. 

Curreent number of cycling lanes are not enough, there're roads that have no cycling lanes and they're dangerous for cyclists. There should be no road without a cycling lane. 

There should be campaigns to encourage people to live without cars in cities, only essential services should use them, no emission CO2 vehicles should be available for all needs. 

Solar panels should be installed in all buildings.

I live in an area with high pollution levels, high traffic noise levels and a lack of safe routes for walking and cycling. It is a beautiful part of London but it is difficult to enjoy the area and cut back on adding to the environmental problems of using a car, due to poor planning. 

There is no incentive to get out of the car and keep fit. The traffic includes heavy lorries travelling through areas that were not designed to take the weight resulting in constant road repairs. Vehicles are not stopped from travelling at dangerous speeds. 

This is not good for the environment and not good for public health or for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. 

I would like to see roads closed to traffic, lower speed limits, wider pavements, pedestrian crossings (especially near the very large comprehensive schools) and safe cycle lanes. 

A new green deal for London is SO important and now is the time to really make that change.  For example, all new building developments and existing regeneration projects should have to have a certain quota of green space and use renewable energy, solar panels, etc. as standard.  Media campaigns to highlight the very real threat of climate change, emphasising that we need to act now and make change as this really is an emergency that cannot be ignored - educate the London public on the lifestyle changes they can make that really will make a difference.  Even small changes at local levels can make such a huge difference:

Increase the availability of Santander Cycles to incorporate much more of Greater London, and also increase awareness and reach of other bike hire schemes like Lime and Uber bike hire.

Promote schemes like Freegal, which is such a fantastic rescource to reuse unwanted items and reduce landfil.

Increase the amount of electric car charging points.

Increase the Thames Clipper service so that commuting by boat becomes a much more viable option, and promote the service more.  Start running the service on weekends across the whole route (i.e. departures from Putney Pier on weekends).

Encourage grocery stores to be zero-waste where customers have the option to bring their own containers for refills - from laundry detergant and hand wash to dry goods, fruits and delicatessen items. 

Increase the amount of water fountains around Greater London so people are able to refill reusable water bottles.

Inrease the amount of plastic bag recyclying stations around Greater London - i.e. every supermarket must have them.

I very much welcome the idea of a green economy in London. It will mean change for many people - particularly in giving up so much car use - but we have to make sacrifices for sake of fresh air, climate change and safer streets for people not vehicles. I have noticed how much better my lungs have been during lockdown with reduced traffic in my road particularly, and in the Holloway area generally. I used to get lung congestion every day, and now I hardly get it at all. I have no desire to go back to how it was before, and locally in Islington we're already making some changes to the way cars use our roads